Standings
1st- Atlanta Braves- 70-50
2nd- Washington Nationals- 62-55, 6.5 games backĀ
3rd- New York Mets- 61-57, 8 games back
4th- Philadelphia Phillies- 60-58, 9 games back
5th- Miami Marlins- 44-73, 24.5 games back
Recap
PHILLIES
The Phillies continue to play listless baseball. They started the week dropping two of three to the D-Backs in Arizona. Wednesday’s loss saw them shutout until the 9th inning, when Bryce Harper hit his 20th home run of the season to break up the scoreless effort.
Nonetheless, the Phils were shutout the next day in San Francisco. Madison Bumgarner went 7 innings while allowing one hit. That hit, a pinch hit single from Cesar Hernandez, would be the only hit the Phillies would collect.
The offense showed signs of life on Friday, courtesy of Harper’s first two homer game with the Phillies, including a three run blast that broke a 6-6 tie. But on Saturday, the offense was yet again shut down by Jeff Samardzija who went 8 innings and allowed 2 hits. One of the Phillies three hits on the day was a leadoff home run from Corey Dickerson, the only run they would score.Ā
The Phillies dropped the final game of the series after an all around poor pitching performance mixed with the offense stranding the bases loaded multiple times. The pitching gave up 9 runs on 12 hits, 5 of which were charged to Jake Arrieta who went three innings, and the offense stranded 15 runners on base and went 4-14 with runners in scoring position.
Rhys Hoskins had a particularly rough night on Sunday. Hoskins went 0-4 with a pair of walks while leaving 6 runners on base. Over his last 15 games, Hoskins is hitting just .135/.234/.346 with 3 home runs and 12 strikeouts.Ā
Upcoming games-Ā Six game homestand with three against the Cubs, followed by three against the Padres
BRAVES
Atlanta started their week taking two of three from the Twins in Minnesota. The Braves belted six home runs in the two wins, scoring a combined 23 runs on 32 hits.Ā
The team then traveled to Miami for four games where they split the series with the Marlins. Ronald Acuna homered twice on Friday and four times in the series, bringing his season total to 33. Acuna is hitting .419/.471/1.000 over his last seven games with 6 home runs and 10 RBIs.Ā
Upcoming games-Ā Six at home with three against the Mets, followed by a big series against the Dodgers
NATIONALS
The Nats started their week by sweeping the Giants in three games on the road. Monday featured a 4-0 shutout powered by Erick Fedde’s six innings while allowing 6 hits and no walks.Ā
Washington then traveled to New York for three against the Mets where they dropped two of three. The lone win came on Sunday, a 7-4 victory. Former Met and current National Asdrubal Cabrera went 2-4 with a double and 2 RBIs in the win. Anthony Rendon also had a good day, going 4-5 and bringing his season average to .320.Ā
Upcoming games-Ā Six at home with three against the Reds and three against the Brewers
METS
The Mets are on fire. They started the week sweeping four games from the Marlins, including both games of a doubleheader. Zach Wheeler went 8 shutout innings on Tuesday, giving up 8 hits and striking out five while walking one.Ā
New York started a weekend series against the Nats with a 4 run ninth inning rally to win the game on Friday night, erasing a 6-3 deficit and giving them their 14th win in 15 games. Noah Syndergaard pitched the Mets to their eighth straight win on Saturday, going 7 innings while allowing 2 runs. However, the win streak was snapped on Sunday after New York dropped a 7-4 contest to Washington.
Upcoming games-Ā Three in Atlanta, followed by three in Kansas City
MARLINS
Miami started the week getting swept by the Mets. But, they came home to rebound a bit against the Braves, winning two of four against the division-leading Braves.
Saturday featured yet another walk-off win for the Marlins, a 7-6 win in ten innings after scoring 4 in the ninth to tie it. Martin Prado’s sacrifice fly in the tenth scored Harold Ramirez, giving Miami the win. The Marlins had trailed 3-0 in the eighth and 6-2 in the ninth.
Upcoming games-Ā Three at home against the Dodgers, followed by three in Colorado
