Standings

1st- Philadelphia Phillies- 27-19

2nd- Atlanta Braves- 25-22, 2.5 games back

3rd- New York Mets- 20-25, 6.5 games back

4th- Washington Nationals- 19-27, 8 games back

5th- Miami Marlins- 13-31, 13 games back

Recap

PHILLIES

The Phillies need to pray they don’t see the Milwaukee Brewers in the playoffs. The Brewers came to Philadelphia and absolutely whipped the Phillies in three of four games. Outside of the first game in the series, a 7-4 win, the Phillies were never really in any of the games, being outscored 22-6 in the final three games of the series. The Brewers hit 7 home runs in the series. Christian Yelich hit two in Thursday’s 11-3 Brewers win. 

A recurring theme so far this season is the Phillies ability to bounce back after bad losses. Well this week they showed their ability to bounce back after a horrible series by sweeping the Rockies in three games at home. Perhaps the most important developments in this series were Bryce Harper heating up and Aaron Nola having an outstanding start. 

Saturday’s game stood out as a good sign for the Phils’ two cornerstones. Nola threw six innings while allowing one run with 12 strikeouts, and Harper hit a mammoth 466 foot home run over the centerfield wall into Ashburn Alley and tacked on three RBIs. Bryce then hit a go-ahead two run home run on Sunday to give the Phillies a 7-5 lead after J.T. Realmuto tied the game with a pinch hit two run home run of his own. 

Upcoming games- Tough seven game road trip that starts with four in Chicago against the Cubs and finishes with three in Milwaukee. 

BRAVES

After dropping the first game of the week against the Cardinals, the Braves then won four in a row, two against St. Louis and two against the Brewers. The win streak was snapped on Sunday after the Brewers beat the Braves 3-2 in ten innings. Atlanta surrendered three home runs in the game, including the first in the career of Brewers’ top prospect Keston Hiura. 

Freddie Freeman homered in four straight games from Thursday to Sunday, the final of which was the 200th of his career. The Atlanta first baseman now has ten home runs on the year and is hitting .339/.369/.726 over his last fifteen games. 

METS

It will be very surprising if by the time next week’s review is published that Mickey Calloway is still the manager of the New York Mets. This week may prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in an already disappointing season for the Mets.

After winning the first game of the week against the Nationals, it all went downhill. Fast. New York dropped the next two games to slide under .500, and then the real disaster hit. It may be too early to call a series a team’s rock bottom in a long season, but the Marlins three game sweep of the Mets sure felt like it. After Calloway was questioned about his job security, the Mets were held scoreless in the final 19 innings of the series. Saturday was a one hit shutout. Sunday was actually an improvement in the sense it was a two hit shutout, even though Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara only threw 89 pitches in a complete game. 

Upcoming games- Seven game home stand with four against the Nationals and three against the Tigers. 

NATIONALS

The Nationals were able to take advantage of the Mets’ tailspin to win their first series of the month. Tuesday’s win saw Patrick Corbin go 8 innings while allowing one run and striking out 11. In nine starts this season, the left-hander is 4-1 with a 2.91 ERA.

Washington then wrapped up the week with a series loss to the Cubs at home. The first loss was by a score of 14-6. Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant hit three home runs in three consecutive innings to close out the victory. The second was a 6-5 affair that the Nats trailed in 6-1 but failed to complete the rally. Washington trails only the Marlins by five losses for the worst record in the National League. 

Upcoming games- Four at home against the Mets, followed by three in Miami. 

MARLINS

After getting swept by the Rays in a two game series, the Marlins completely outclassed the Mets by earning their first three game winning streak of the season. The only team that still hasn’t won three in a row is the Nationals. The Marlins’ pitchers completely dominated the Mets over the final two games, allowing only three hits and no runs. 

Upcoming games they might lose?- Seven game road trip with three in Detroit against the Tigers and four in Washington.