Zach Eflin tosses first Phillies complete game victory in nearly three years

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The Phillies rode a Zach Eflin gem to victory

After losing the opener on Thursday night in heartbreaking fashion, the Philadelphia Phillies needed to sweep the next three in a row in order to win this four-game weekend series. Sweep they did, finishing things off with a big 5-1 victory on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.

The Phillies got a complete game gem from starting pitcher Zach Eflin, who scattered seven hits and walked no one while striking out three Marlins batters.

It was the first official complete game by a Phillies starting pitcher since Ben Lively was credited with one in an eight-inning performance during a 3-2 loss at Washington on September 10, 2017.

This was the first complete game victory by a Phillies pitcher since Jeremy Hellickson shut the Marlins out on three hits back on September 17, 2016. Coming at the end of a long, wild 17-game stretch without a day off, the outing by Eflin came at a great time for a tired, battered bullpen.

The Phillies (16-12) continue to lead the National League East Division standings while the visiting Miami Marlins (8-20) sit at the bottom of the division, where they are likely to remain for the rest of the year.

In the bottom of the 1st inning the Phillies drew first blood when Bryce Harper drew a two-out walk and came all the way around on a double by Rhys Hoskins.

National League East Report: 4/15 - 4/21

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Reliever Tayron Guerrero has been a bright spot for Marlins

The Philadelphia Phillies went just 3-4 over this past week. And yet following a tough week of results for each of the five teams in the National League East Division, the Fightin’ Phils find themselves still on top of the division standings by a full game.

The Phillies opened the week by capturing two of three from the division-rival New York Mets. Then over the weekend the club dropped three of four at Coors Field in Denver against the host Colorado Rockies.

That lost weekend included perhaps the most disheartening defeat this season when the Rockies walked-off Saturday night’s game after the Phillies held a two-out, two-strike lead in the 12th inning.

The early season schedule has included mostly intra-divisional battles to this point, with 14 of the Phillies first 21 games coming against those NL East rivals. That will continue this coming week as the club visits Citi Field in New York for a three-game set with the host Mets. Then they will return home to Citizens Bank Park for a four-game long weekend series with the Miami Marlins beginning on Thursday night.

As always, my NL East Beat report reveals how each of those Phillies divisional rivals fared over the course of the past week: games scores, pivotal performers, key injuries, and other important updates on each team are included.

NATIONAL LEAGUE EAST DIVISION STANDINGS

EAST DIVISION

East Division

Team	W	L	W-L%	GB
New York Mets	13	11	.542	--
Philadelphia Phillies	13	12	.520	0.5
Atlanta Braves	12	12	.500	1.0
Washington Nationals	11	12	.478	1.5
Miami Marlins	8	17	.320	5.5

Data courtesy Baseball-Reference.com.