Phillies beaten by lowly White Sox in 15 inning series opener

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Roman Quinn starred - even though he took the loss on the mound

The Philadelphia Phillies (57-52) got a strong first start from newcomer Jason Vargas, but blew a two-out, two-strike lead, ultimately losing a 4-3 game to the Chicago White Sox (47-60) in 15 innings at Citizens Bank Park.

With the loss, the Phillies will drop one game back of the Cubs and Nationals, who each won, in the National League Wildcard race heading into Saturday action.

The visitors jumped on top first when Cuban-born first baseman Jose Abreu blasted his team-leading 23rd home run of the season deep into the seats in center field. The two-run shot off Vargas in the top of the 3rd inning put Chicago up by 2-0 early on.

The Phillies got one of those right back in the bottom of the frame when Roman Quinn rocketed his third home run of the year, his second in as many days, deep into the right field seats.

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Roman Quinn’s solo shot got the Phillies on the board.

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How Phillies GM Matt Klentak channeled "Hoosiers" at the trade deadline

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Matt Klentak's team is on the floor

In the classic 1986 film “Hoosiers”, Gene Hackman stars as basketball coach Norman Dale, who takes the reigns of a rural Indiana high school team in the early-1950’s.

Hackman/Dale is an old-school coach, even for those long-ago days. He uses a number of tough-love methods, trying to mold his team into a winner despite a highly skeptical and passionate fan base in the local community.

In one such incident, Dale’s Hickory High School team begins a game with just six players. He benches one for disobeying his rules, and when another player fouls out, Dale refuses to allow the benched player to take the floor.

The referee approaches and says “Coach, ya need one more,‘ to which Dale replies “My team’s on the floor.”

In this analogy, Phillies fans are the referee. Matt Klentak is Norman Dale.

Sure, leading up to Wednesday’s MLB trade deadline, Klentak had added lefties Drew Smyly and Jason Vargas, bumping both Nick Pivetta and Zach Eflin to the bullpen.

But Phillies fans wanted more. They wanted a co-ace to pair with Aaron Nola at the top of the rotation. Or at the very least, someone who would slot in as a legitimately talented, proven #2-type starting pitcher behind the right-hander.

Those Phillies fans wanted someone such as Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Robbie Ray or Alex Wood.

And so, on trade deadline day, the fan base sat staring at their laptops, pads and phone screens thinking “Ya need one more.”

But there would be no new ace added to the Phillies starting rotation on this day. And since are no longer waiver trades allowed during the month of August, there will be no new aces at all during the 2019 season.

Matt Gelb of The Athletic tweeted out that, in summary, Klentak’s position was that “We can’t trade our best prospects all the time. We weren’t willing to meet prices on better players.”

As 2019 MLB trade deadline arrives the Phillies remain linked to arms

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Folks at the MLB Network will be busy on trade deadline day

The 2019 trade deadline has finally arrived in Major League Baseball, and the Philadelphia Phillies continue to be linked to a number of players.

Two pitchers with the same first name are among the more frequently mentioned when it comes to deadline deals for the Phillies: Alex Wood and Alex Colome.

Wood is a 28-year-old left-hander currently with the Cincinnati Reds. The North Carolina native was a second round choice of the Atlanta Braves in the 2012 MLB Draft out of the University of Georgia. He can become a free agent after this season, so would be a pure rental unless he can be signed to an extension.

Wood was dealt to the Los Angeles Dodgers as part of a huge 12-player, three-team deal between the Braves, Dodgers and Miami Marlins at the 2015 trade deadline. He was then sent to the Reds along with Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig back in December.

The southpaw has a 52-40 career record over 173 games (130 starts) across parts of seven big-league seasons. Due to back issues, Wood did not make his 2019 season debut with Cincinnati until this past weekend. On Sunday, Wood allowed two earned runs on seven hits over 4.2 innings against the Colorado Rockies.

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The Phillies have taken a very close look at Alex Wood and have discussed Tanner Roark, too. With Cincinnati's acquisition of Trevor Bauer, figure one of those SP is on the move.

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Wood also would bring 16 games of postseason experience, including a pair of starts with the Dodgers, one each in the NLCS and World Series while with the Dodgers in 2017.

Wood is scheduled to make his next start on Friday. The Phillies have already announced that Jason Vargas will make his debut with the team that night, and Saturday is Aaron Nola‘s regular turn. Should Wood be acquired, he would most likely make his Phillies debut on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park against the Chicago White Sox.

Colome is a 30-year-old reliever out of the Dominican Republic. He is under club control via arbitration for one more season, and can become a free agent following the 2020 campaign.

Jay Bruce comes through again, Phillies walkoff Mets in 10 innings

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Jay Bruce about to get doused after his Wednesday walkoff

The Philadelphia Phillies (42-38) completed their first walkoff victory of the season, downing the New York Mets (37-44) by a 5-4 final score on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia. With the win, the Phillies remain tied for an NL Wildcard playoff spot.

For a third consecutive night the Phillies fell behind early. And for a third straight game the offense rallied to bring home a victory. For a club that had languished in a disheartening three-week slump, you can almost feel the energy turning around them, building with each bamboo-inspired victory.

After Phillies starter Nick Pivetta and Mets starting pitcher Jason Vargas battled through the first three innings scoreless, the visitors jumped on the board first courtesy of the longball. Dominic Smith drove his 7th homer of the season out on a line to left to put New York on top 1-0 with one out in the top of the 4th inning.

In the top of the 5th it was new Phillies-killer Jeff McNeil blasting his 6th home run of the year over the center field wall to make it 2-0.

The Mets scored twice more in the very next inning to double their lead. Smith led off by drawing a walk. He then stole second base, and when J.T. Realmuto threw the ball away, Smith went to third. Amed Rosario then walked, and then Tomas Nido singled to bring Smith home, making it 3-0. With two outs, McNeil did it again, ripping a double to right field that scored Rosario to make it 4-0 for the visitors.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, Jean Segura finally got the Phillies on the board with his 9th homer to left-center field. Then the Phillies got even by putting up a crooked number, scoring three times in the home 7th to tie it up.

Phillies down Mets as Rhys Hoskins books Jacob Rhame

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Rhys Hoskins homer highlights Phillies win over rival Mets

The Philadelphia Phillies (13-11) avoided a sweep at the hands of the New York Mets (13-11) with a 6-0 victory on Wednesday night at Citi Field in the series finale. The two National League East Division rivals will not see one another again until late June.

Veteran left-hander Jason Vargas started on the mound for New York and had not pitched well here in the early going of the 2019 season. The Phillies hoped to jump him early and did just that, scoring a run in the top of the 1st inning. However, it was also a missed opportunity as it could have been more.

With one out, J.T. Realmuto and Bryce Harper laced back-to-back doubles. Realmuto’s split the gap in right-center field and went to the wall. Harper’s went to the right field corner, scoring Realmuto with the game’s first run. When Rhys Hoskins worked a full-count walk the Phillies appeared to be in business against Vargas.

However, both Maikel Franco and Cesar Hernandez helped out the struggling Mets hurler, swinging at first pitch offerings. Franco nearly dropped one into short right field, but Michael Conforto saved Vargas a ton of trouble with a fine running, sliding grab. Hernandez then grounded into a force to end the threat.

The early innings moved along slowly after that, with both Vargas and Phillies starter Vince Velasquez wriggling their way out of repeated trouble. The Phillies left runners in scoring position with less than two outs in both the 1st and 2nd innings, then put the leadoff man on in the top of the 3rd but could not get him home. The Mets left the bases loaded in both the 1st and 3rd innings.

Velasquez hit veteran Todd Frazier to lead off the home 4th inning, prompting a warning to both dugouts after Tuesday night’s excitement. Frazier would eventually reach second base, but was stranded in scoring position. With one out in the top of the 5th, Vargas hit Realmuto and was not tossed. It was fairly obvious that it wasn’t intentional, but then so was the Velasquez pitch to Frazier.

Mets manager Mickey Callaway lifted Vargas after he struck out Harper in the top of the 5th inning, bringing on right-hander Seth Lugo, who coaxed Hoskins to sky out to center field as the Phillies again left a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. Lugo would keep it a 1-0 game until two out in the 7th inning, and lefty Daniel Zamora ensured it would remain that way.

Velasquez lasted through 5 innings before Kapler lifted him for a pinch-hitter in the top of the 6th. He would be followed to the mound by Pat Neshek, Seranthony Dominguez, and Adam Morgan each tossing a shutout frame apiece.

Phillies looking for a win in suddenly heated series with division-rival Mets

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The Big Apple hasn't been a friendly place for the Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies (12-11) haven’t found themselves this close to the .500 mark since sweeping their opening series at home against the division-rival Atlanta Braves.

But now after dropping the first two games of their current series in the Big Apple against the New York Mets (13-10) the injury-depleted Phillies are just a game above that break-even mark and the club is reeling.

Having dropped five of their last six games the Phillies will try to avoid a sweep at the hands of the host Mets in the Wednesday night series finale at Citi Field.

The chief culprit of late has been a suddenly anemic offensive attack. The Phillies have scored three runs or fewer in eight of their last 11 games. Over the last two nights in New York the club has scored just one run and recorded only eight hits, just three for extra-bases.

Now a little extra drama seems to be injecting itself into the proceedings. As the game was winding to a close, a heretofore anonymous relief pitcher with the Mets apparently was used to deliver some sort of message.

With two outs in the 9th inning and his team leading by an overwhelming 9-0 score, 26-year-old right-hander Jacob Rhame making just his second big-league appearance of the season fired a pair of offerings over the head of Phillies slugger Rhys Hoskins.

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Surprising Jason Vargas leads starting rotation of resurgent Royals

Vargas has been a surprise rotation leader for KC

The Kansas City Royals were contenders in the AL Central Division each season from 2013-15. In 2015, the Royals not only captured that division crown, they also won the World Series.

Last year, Kansas City slipped to a third place .500 finish. The club struggled through the first couple months of this season, and as late as June 9 the Royals were still buried at 26-34.

Since that time, the Royals have gotten hot, winning nine of their last 11 games. The winning stretch has pulled the team back within a game of the .500 mark. They are now 3.5 games behind the first place Cleveland Indians, and just two games out in the AL Wildcard race.

One of the key factors in the Royals ability to stay in the race this season has been the strong performance of pitcher Jason Vargas. The 34-year old lefty is 10-3 with a 2.27 ERA and 1.134 WHIP, and has allowed just 79 hits over 87.1 innings.

Vargas 10 victories has him leading the American League in that category, tied with Clayton Kershaw for the MLB lead. The ERA mark is second-best in the AL, his WHIP mark ranks 8th in the league. His .243 Batting Average Against is 12th in the American League.

In short, Vargas has been one of the best pitchers in the AL this season. During this recent hot stretch the Royals have won both of his starts. In fact, Vargas has registered a victory in each of his last five outings. Vargas has allowed just six total runs over his last four starting assignments.

MLB 2017 All-Surprise Team

We are now more than two full months into the 2017 MLB regular season. At this point, sustained success can usually be considered more than a simple hot streak.

A look across the statistical leader boards of Major League Baseball reveals some surprising names. 

As fans vote for their favorites to appear in the starting lineups at the 2017 MLB All-Star Game, few of these players have a shot to win.

However, if they can keep up their strong performances of these first two months, some will undoubtedly find their way on to the rosters of the NL and AL squads at the mid-summer classic.

Surprises don’t stop with individual player performances. A look at the current standings reveals a number of surprise teams across the Major League Baseball landscape.

For instance, who would have predicted back in March that the Minnesota Twins would be leading the AL Central Division at this point? Or that the Angels and Rays would still be squarely in the AL Wildcard race this late?