Hittin’ Season’s Greetings from the Phillies
By Tal Venada
By the third inning, the Phillies were usually down seven runs or so it seemed. But reality was not appealing either: Four clubs blew out the locals in seven of 11 games. On June 3, however, Ben Lively set the tone for the five-man staff with seven frames of solid pitching during his MLB debut. Granted, the rotation leader continued to struggle, and the second promoted arm from Triple-A managed but five innings. Thankfully, it was enough.
After Aaron Nola and Jerad Eickhoff got the “you’re better than this” speech from Mackanin, Nola fired his best performance of 2017. Then, Eickhoff looked like the hurler everybody expected in May despite the outcome. Basically, if Nola, Eickhoff and Lively keep producing, these Phils will give their squad more chances to win.
According to the schedule, the Phillies will travel to the city of the Gateway Arch, aka baseball heaven, for three games with the St. Louis Cardinals. Yes, the Cards have lost six straight, but what team will the hometown nine find this weekend? And how do you feel on June 8 with a winning record for the month? Alive!