Phillies and White Sox set to battle in Sunday Interleague series finale

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Citizens Bank Park will be the scene of Interleague action on Sunday

The Philadelphia Phillies (58-52) held on for a 3-2 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox (47-61) on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.

With that win, the Phillies moved back into a tie with their NL East Division rivals, the Washington Nationals, for the second National League Wildcard spot.

The Phillies and Nationals are each six games behind the Atlanta Braves in the loss column in the race for the NL East Division crown.

Beating teams like the White Sox is imperative to any hope that the Phillies might have of ending their eight-year stretch of missing the playoffs.

The Chisox are one of the half-dozen worst teams in the game, both by record and by any statistical evaluation. Picking up a victory on Sunday would give the Phillies two of three here, winning the series. That is the minimum they must accomplish against losing teams. So, that makes this afternoon’s contest of great importance to the home squad.

SUNDAY STARTING LINEUPS

PHILLIES

1. Corey Dickerson LF
2. Jean Segura SS
3. Bryce Harper RF
4. Rhys Hoskins 1B
5. J.T. Realmuto C
6. Cesar Hernandez 2B
7. Scott Kingery 3B
8. Drew Smyly P
9. Roman Quinn CF

Nationals Deal Top Prospects to White Sox for Adam Eaton

Numerous reliable sources were reporting late this afternoon that the Washington Nationals had finally struck at baseball’s Winter Meetings. The deal has since been confirmed by the two teams.

All the previous rumors here had the Nats going after a starting pitcher. It turns out that they instead have apparently dealt away the future of their rotation for a hitter.

The Nationals have obtained outfielder Adam Eaton from the Chicago White Sox. In exchange, Washington is sending three of their top prospects to the Chisox.

Heading to the South Side of Chicago are Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez, and Dane Dunning. Giolito is listed by most prospect evaluation resources as the Nationals top prospect.

“An important part of the process we are pursuing is acquiring quality pitching talent. We feel like we’ve done that today—and yesterday—en masse,” White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said in a statement per Baseball America’s Kyle Glaser. “Giolito and Lopez rank among the top prospects in baseball, while Dunning is another young prospect who possesses front-of-the-rotation potential.”