Philadelphia Phillies: Head-to-head vs. NL West playoff rivals

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Cabrera’s bat is finally catching fire. Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images. /

With guns blazing, the Phillies will bring a sense of urgency to the final month of this 162, and the faithful will see how far the second-half trades of general manager Matt Klentak will elevate them toward their first postseason.

September ahead:

While some Philadelphia Phillies fans blame the offense, others see tired youngsters at the bottom of the rotation, who are approaching their career highs for innings pitched. But this squad will challenge our loyalty and patience with another wrinkle or two before season’s end.

IN OTHER WORDS: “Panic is not an effective long-term organizing strategy.” – Starhawk

With the final weeks upon us, the Phils appear on a downward trajectory with a 7-14 mark beginning in Phoenix on Aug. 6. However, they are 5-9 since Wilson Ramos joined the team on Aug. 15 and 3-4 with him in the lineup instead of 2-5 with Jorge Alfaro.

A bright spot from another acquisition is present as well: Asdrubal Cabrera has seven hits in his last 14 at-bats. Meanwhile, Rhys Hoskins is four for 10 with three walks, two homers and two RBIs, while Roman Quinn is averaging .350 over 26 games. Three starters?

As for the competition, the Arizona Diamondbacks picked up third baseman Eduardo Escobar to add some power. And they acquired lefty reliever Jake Diekman for the back end of the bullpen. But while Escobar has been productive, Diekman has had four poor outings out of 10.

On the other hand, the Colorado Rockies only promoted Matt Holliday as a bench bat after a brief MiLB stint. Originally, Colorado’s pitching strategy was young starters and a pen stocked with some free agents. Results: growing pains rotation-wise and questionable signings.

The Los Angeles Dodgers won the Manny Machado sweepstakes, while they still lacked setup men for Kenley Jansen. Unfortunately, they had only picked up John Axford, and he had three outings before a comebacker disabled him. And Jansen returned from a DL stint himself to then toss four straight clunkers.

In the standings, the spread between the Diamondbacks, Rockies, Phillies, and Dodgers is two games. So, their records against each other and other contenders at home or on the road might be critical. And this article examines those details.

Escobar has been a solid pickup for the Diamondbacks. Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images. /

Competitive series:

When a franchise faces head-to-head competition with divisional and wild-card hopefuls, it is a preview of October. In fact, even a club on the edge of contention can be a thorny opponent. To illustrate, the Washington Nationals are not an also-ran competition-wise. Ergo, difficult to beat.

Arizona’s tough stretch continued from June 29 into the second half through Aug. 8. In the desert, they went 6-10 against the Giants twice (2-5), Cardinals (1-2), Rockies (1-2) and Phillies (2-1). However, they were 5-5 away from Chase Field: the Rocks (1-2), Braves (2-1) and Cubs (2-2).

As for Colorado, their record was 31-18 from June 26 through Aug 26. They were 17-7 in the friendly confines versus the Giants (3-0), D-backs (2-1), Mariners (3-0), Astros (1-1), A’s (3-0), Pirates (1-2), Dodgers (3-1) and Cards (1-2).

On the road, Colorado had a 14-11 mark: the Giants (1-2), Dodgers (2-1), M’s (2-1), Snakes (2-1), Redbirds (1-3), Brewers (1-2), Astros (1-1) and Braves (4-0). Their record in the first half was 8-1 at home and 5-4 away from Coors Field.

Lastly, Los Angeles (NL) went 23-12 from May 18 to July 4. At Chavez Ravine, they went 14-9 against the Rox twice (3-3), Phillies (2-2), Braves (2-1), Giants (2-1), Cubbies (2-2) and Bucs (3-0). Their away record was 9-3: the Nationals (3-0), Rockies (3-0), Buccos (2-1) and Cubs (1-2).

During their 39-game stint before the mid-July vacation, the red pinstripes at the Bank went 2-1 against Colorado before the break and 2-1 versus Los Angeles after July 20. Their road mark was 2-2 against the Dodgers before mid-July and 1-2 in Phoenix during the second half.

Machado may not be enough for the Dodgers with their bullpen issues. Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images. /

Critical results:

After the All-Star Game, the head-to-head battles against playoff aspirants can foretell October possibilities. But those outcomes take on additional importance if you face those squads with the campaign on the line.

After the four-day vacation, Arizona went 5-5 in the desert and 2-2 on the road through Aug. 8, but they are 1-4 since then in their recent contests. They are 1-2 at home against Seattle and 0-2 in San Francisco.

Second half results:

Arizona at home: the Rox (1-2), Giants (2-2), Phillies (2-1) and M’s (1-2).
Arizona on the road: the Cubbies (2-2) and the Giants (0-2).
Colorado at home: the ‘Stros (1-1), A’s (3-0), Pirates (1-2), Dodgers (3-1) and Cards (1-2).
Colorado on the road: the D-backs (2-1), Cardinals (1-3), Brew Crew (1-2), Astros (1-1) and Braves (4-0).

While the Diamondbacks’ tough stretch flowed into the second half, the same thing happened to the Rockies. They went 9-6 at Coors Field and 9-7 on the road after the break.

Unlike their division foes, Los Angeles (NL) began facing stronger competition at home on day one after the mid-July downtime. They went 4-9 versus the Brewers (2-2), ‘Stros (1-2), Giants (1-2) and Cards (0-3).

However, the Dodgers were 10-9 away from Chavez Ravine. They faced the Brewers (2-1), Phillies (1-2), Braves (3-1), Athletics (1-1), Rocks (1-3) and Mariners (2-1).

With Ramos starting most September games, the Phillies will begin putting up crooked numbers on the scoreboard. Photo by H. Martin/Getty Images. /

Last chance:

With September dead ahead, Arizona is 6-7 in Phoenix during the second half, and they are 1-2 each in both venues against Colorado. The Diamondbacks are also 2-4 in away contests with only five of 30 games against also-rans.