Standings

1st- Atlanta Braves- 50-35

2nd- Philadelphia Phillies- 44-40, 5.5 games back

3rd- Washington Nationals- 42-41, 7 games back

4th- New York Mets- 38-47, 12 games back

5th- Miami Marlins- 32-50, 16.5 games back

Recap

PHILLIES

The Phillies were finally able to snap their seven game losing streak by sweeping the Mets in four games. Thanks to a little help from Brad Miller’s bamboo plant, the Phils’ offense was able to explode in the four games, outscoring New York by a margin of 31-19. 

Philadelphia was able to overcome late deficits in the last three games, with the highlights being Jay Bruce’s walk-off double in the 10th on Wednesday and Jean Segura’s walk-off three run home run in the ninth on Thursday to finish off a rally ignited by a Maikel Franco two run shot that tied the game. Franco is hitting .423/.483/.808 with 8 RBI and three home runs in his last seven games. 

But then the Phils traveled to Miami, where they yet again lost a series to the worst team in baseball, except this time they were able to salvage the last game of the three game series. 

After blowing a 6-1 lead in the second game, Philadelphia was able to get out to a 10-1 lead in the final game and hold on to avoid the sweep by a final score of 13-6. Bryce Harper went 3-4 with 4 RBI’s and a two run home run in the win. 

Upcoming games- Three crucial games in Atlanta followed by three in New York against the Mets. 

BRAVES

Atlanta split a four game series at Wrigley with the Cubs to open their week. The first win came on Tuesday, a 3-2 victory in which the Braves only had three hits but two of which were home runs from Ronald Acuna Jr. and Ozzie Albies. 

Newly signed starter Dallas Keuchel earned his first win as a Brave on Wednesday, going 5 2/3 and allowing 3 runs on 8 hits with two strikeouts and three walks. 

The Braves then went to New York and took two of three from the Mets. 

The first game featured Mike Soroka continuing his excellent season by tossing 6 1/3 innings with 2 runs on 7 hits and 4 strikeouts. On the season, the 21-year-old Soroka is 9-1 with a 2.13 ERA. The second game featured back to back home runs from Nick Markakis and Austin Riley to tie the game and then take the lead in the eighth inning. 

Upcoming games- Six at home against the Phillies and Marlins.

NATIONALS

Washington opened its week with a three game sweep of the Marlins on the road. Max Scherzer continued his ridiculous month by throwing eight innings of one run ball with 10 strikeouts in the first game of the series. The final game of the series saw the Nats hit 4 home runs to finish off the sweep and put them back over .500 on the season. 

Scherzer started again on Sunday against his former team the Detroit Tigers, wrapping up a series win in Detroit by throwing another 8 innings with one run allowed and 14 more strikeouts. Anthony Rendon homered in the 2-1 win, his 19th of the season.

In June, Scherzer went 5-0 in five starts, throwing 37 innings while allowing 4 runs and racking up a whopping 54 strikeouts. For the season, Mad Max is now 8-5 with 2.43 ERA.

Upcoming games- Six at home against Miami and the Kansas City Royals

METS

The Mets were swept by the Phillies to start the week despite having late leads in the final three games of the four game series. The final game was by far the most painful.

After entering the ninth inning down 1-0, the Mets scored three runs in the top of the ninth to take a 3-1 lead. Closer Edwin Diaz entered the game to shut the door in the ninth.

34 pitches later, Diaz had allowed 5 runs on three hits, including a two run tying home run and three run winning home run, to lose the game and blow his fourth save of the season. The showing dropped Diaz to 1-5 on the season with a 4.94 ERA, one year removed from a 57 save season with the Mariners. 

New York then finished off the week with a win on Sunday night to avoid getting swept by the Braves. New York was able to overcome a 5-3 deficit with a 5 run inning in the eighth to win. The rally was started by Todd Frazier, who led off the inning with a homer and finished the night 3-4 with 2 RBI’s. 

Upcoming games- Five at home with two against the Yankees and three against the Phillies.

MARLINS

After getting swept by the Nats to start the week, the Marlins continued their domination of the Phillies by taking two of three at home. Miami is 7-6 against Philadelphia this season and 7-20 against the rest of the division. 

The biggest win came Saturday when the Marlins erased a 6-1 deficit by scoring 8 unanswered runs from the 6th inning on to win 9-6. Neil Walker led the way by going 2-4 with a home run and 3 RBI. 

Upcoming games- Six game road trip with three in Washington followed by three in Atlanta. 

 

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