For the Philadelphia Phillies, the race for the NL East has suddenly become tight.
Once holding a commanding lead, the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets are now within striking distance after the Phillies continued to struggle since the All-Star break.
The Braves were able to make up some ground by winning two of three games against Philadelphia before the weekend, but after that streak, there were real concerns that the Phillies’ offense might be broken.
Unlike earlier this year, when this lineup dominated, they struggled unusually for an extended period of time, unable to string together shots or throw the ball over the fence as they normally could.
One of Atlanta’s starting pitchers revealed a secret about his approach when he knocked off Philadelphia. According to Matt Gelb of The athlete Spencer Schwellenbach wasn’t the only one with this scouting report when he found out how many slow throws they’ve been dealing with lately.
On the way to the game against the Kansas City Royals, it was now up to them to react.
Although players are aware of the opposing pitchers’ approach, manager Rob Thomson decided to take a different approach by having batters use the curveball machine on the field rather than just in the cage.
It’s probably too simplistic to say that was all they needed, but despite losing Game 1 to the Royals on Friday, they were able to get 11 hits, even if they only scored a disappointing four runs.
Nevertheless, there were signs that an explosion might be imminent, and that is exactly what happened.
The Phillies scored 11 runs in the two back-to-back games, 17 runs more than Kansas City, and secured a much-needed win in the series.
Now that Philadelphia is returning home for seven key home games against the red-hot Houston Astros and their arch-rival Braves, the team must be full of confidence at the plate after their offense scored for the first time in nearly two decades.
According to NBC Sports’ Philadelphia broadcast, a Phillies team has not had 45 hits in a three-game series since their game against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 13-15, 2007.
Philadelphia finished that brief stretch with a batting average of .372 and .385 when runners were in scoring position. Of their 45 hits, 17 were for extra bases, giving them a team OPS of .973.
But can this be transferred?
That’s what everyone inside and outside the clubhouse is hoping for after it felt like every member of this team had their nerves shot at them simultaneously.
Maybe they just needed to adjust their pregame rituals by seeing a few slow throws on the field that would better prepare them for this lineup in the heat of battle.
“I don’t think we’re necessarily doing anything wrong. We’re preparing. We’re doing all the things we normally do. We’re having fun. We’re in a good mood. There was just no chemistry between us,” Trea Turner told Gelb before this series.
Well, the offense worked in these three games.
It is up to each individual team member to ensure that this momentum is maintained.
