The Show 20 Phranchise Episode 7

We’ve seen better, we’ve seen worse.

The problem so far is consistency. When the bats are alive, the pitching is… well, less than ideal, which keeps the opponents in the game. When the offense sputters, the pitching keeps us in it. What we saw this homestand was feast or famine on offense, which seems to be the trend for the season so far.

Before we recap, we’d like to announce our next Twitch stream. The game will be this coming Sunday, April 12^th as the Phillies travel to Coors Field to take on the Rockies. Starting pitchers are still TBD but will be announced in the next edition of The Phranchise later this week, so stay tuned!

5/1/2020: Phillies 9, Rockies 4; W: Zack Wheeler (3-0), L: Jake McGee (0-1)

The Phillies scored early and often to put the struggling Rockies behind them in this one. It was a small-ball sort of day, with the biggest hit being a double from Hoskins. Didi stayed hot with a 4-5 day at the plate and a total of 7 Phillies racked up RBIs on the day to keep Wheeler perfect on the young season. Speaking of Wheeler, not a bad day for him either – 7 innings, 3 earned runs, 7 strikeouts on the day, bringing his ERA to 3.85.

5/2/2020: Rockies 4, Phillies 0; W: German Marquez (1-4), L: Jake Arrieta (2-3)

It was not our day. A previously winless German Marquez tossed a complete-game shutout allowing just 4 hits and 3 walks while striking out 7. Charlie Blackmon homered for the Rockies and Trevor Story collected 2 RBIs in a multi-hit game as the Phillies never showed up in this one. That sets up a Sunday afternoon rubber match to decide the series.

5/3/2020: Phillies 4, Rockies 3; W: Victor Arano (2-0), L: Bryan Shaw (1-3)

The Phillies walked this one off in dramatic fashion, battling back from a 3-run deficit in the late innings to earn the W. Trailing 3-0 in the bottom of the 7^th with two men on, Adam Haseley smoked a 2-2 breaking ball into the gap to cut the deficit to one. McCutchen capitalized with runners in scoring position to bring home the tying run in the bottom of the 8^th, and Gregorius singled in Jean Segura in the bottom of the ninth to give the Phillies the series. Eflin had a confident showing, allowing just 2 runs in 6 innings and striking out 8, but Arano gets his second win on the season in relief.

5/4/2020: Braves 10, Phillies 6; W: Max Fried (3-3), L: Spencer Howard (3-2)

Markakis, Freeman, Acuna, Ozuna, and Riley each homered on the afternoon for Atlanta — and Freeman did it twice. That’s right, our pitching staff combined to give up 14 hits and nearly half of them left the yard. It’s hard to win when 2-1 pitches are turned into souvenirs almost every inning. Let’s go ahead and not dig too deep into this one. We’re all hurting enough as it is — you don’t need this right now.

5/5/2020: Braves 6, Phillies 4; W: Mike Foltynewicz (2-2), L: Aaron Nola (2-2)

It was a strong showing from Aaron Nola, who lasted 6 innings and allowed 2 runs. When he departed on the hook for the loss, the Phillies trailed 2-1 thanks to a RBI double from Harper. That score held until the ninth inning, when Alvarez surrendered 4 runs to the high-powered Braves offense in just a third of an inning. Going into the bottom of the ninth and trailing by 5, Alec Bohm (2) stepped up and clobbered a 3-run home run to give the Phillies hope, but the rally would die out as the Braves held on to win.

5/6/2020: Phillies 8, Braves 6 (F/12); W: Brad Peacock (4-1), L: A.J. Minter (1-1)

It was another slugfest at CBP but the Phillies held on to avoid being swept by the surging Braves. The Phillies scored 3 in the bottom of the 8^th to take the lead, but Osuna blew his second save on the year (his first as a Phillie, however) as the game stretched into the late hours of the night. Bryce Harper (8) walked it off with a 2-run homer to cap off a 2-6 day at the plate. This game saw 14 different pitchers before it was decided.

With the recaps taken care of, let’s take a quick look around the league to see how the MLB standings are shaping up in early May:

We remain tied with Atlanta for the N.L. East lead moving into the middle of May.

The Phillies take the short trip to Pittsburgh (15-21) for a 3-game set before heading back home to host the red-hot Dodgers (27-9) and the slumping Cardinals (16-22). With the road trip just being a quick 3-gamer, we’ll roll it all in to one edition of The Phranchise for a mega-recap!

Stay safe, be healthy, and go Phils!