The Phillies hit the road last week for a three-game series in Atlanta to start the week. They played a three-game weekend series in St. Louis to take on the Cardinals to close the road trip.
Braves Series
Game one: Braves 7, Phillies 5
Game two: Phillies 4, Braves 3
Game three: Braves 4, Phillies 2 Final/11
The Phillies ended up losing 2/3 in Atlanta during the week. The bats have been struggling to make consistent contact, and the team hasn’t found much of a power surge yet. The Braves were looking to get back on track after coming into this series with just one win all season. Keep in mind that the Braves will be a tough team to beat this year, especially within our division, despite what their current record says.
In Game two, Trea Turner hit his first homer of the year to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead in the 9th. That was the highlight moment of the entire series for the Phillies. Game three was delayed for 2 hours and 45 minutes. When they finally resumed play, it was nearly midnight. The Phillies had a flight to St. Louis to catch, but that was on hold while they tried to salvage the series. Unfortunately, the bats couldn’t wake up from the delay, and the Phillies could only muster one run in the top of the 11th, which wasn’t enough. A double by Austin Riley, followed by a walk-off homerun by Marcell Ozuna, gave the Braves the 4-2 win and the series win.
St. Louis Blues
No, I’m not talking about the hockey team. I’m talking about the blues you get from watching your baseball team get shut out twice in the same series. That’s what the Phillies did in St. Louis this past weekend.
Cardinals Series
Game one: Cardinals 2, Phillies 0
Game two: Phillies 4, Cardinals 1
Game three: Cardinals 7, Phillies 0
Getting shut out twice in the same series isn’t ideal. Getting shut out twice by a team who is most likely going to finish second to last in the NL Central is even worse. It’s really simple: this team can’t hit right now.
Alec Bohm: .150
Brandon Marsh: .108
Max Kepler: .200
Trea Turner: .240
JT Realmuto: .238
Bryce Harper: .250
I know these players will all finish the season with better batting averages than what’s shown, but it’s concerning that through 15 games, none of these guys are hitting consistently. Brandon Marsh has become a huge issue with his offense being nearly nonexistent to start the season. With Justin Crawford continuing to thrive in Triple-A, I wonder how soon the Phillies will give him a chance. The Phillies have had a few bright spots, especially with Kyle Schwarber, who is hitting .273 with six home runs, which is tied for the league lead. Nick Castellanos has put together a strong start, hitting .291, which currently leads the team in batting average.
After losing 2/3 in St. Louis to the Cardinals, the guys need to get back to Philly and refocus. Rough road trips are going to happen throughout a 162-game season. They went 2-4 over the six-game road trip and now return to Philadelphia for a seven game home-stand.
Looking Ahead
They will welcome the San Francisco Giants (11-4) to Citizens Bank Park for a four-game series during the week, followed by a three-game weekend series against the Miami Marlins (8-7).
If the Phillies can shake off the rough road trip and start hitting at home, this could be the homestand that starts the momentum for May and June. Taking the series against both the Giants and the Marlins would be huge for the Phillies in terms of being able to turn around so quickly after a rough road trip.
There is no off day on Monday for the Phillies, so the series opens tonight at 6:45 at Citizens Bank Park. My prediction this week is a big week from Bryce Harper as he tries and leads this team out of a slump.
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