Phillies lose first series under Don Mattingly after loss to Reds Wednesday | Guardians visit for weekend series starting tonight with Christopher Sánchez on the mound

about 14 hours ago

Well, the hot streak was bound to cool down at some point. Although it would have been epic if the Phillies could have won each and every series the rest of the regular season LOL. But the Reds came in and said not so fast!

The Reds won Wednesday's contest 9-4 and also out-hit the Phillies 15 to 6. Despite seemingly lopsided major numbers like that, the Phillies actually scored first and the game was actually somewhat winnable in certain moments later in the game. After the Reds took a 5-1 lead, the Phillies responded with a solid three run sixth inning thanks to Alec Bohm's solo shot (his 5th of the season) and Edmundo Sosa's two run shot (his 2nd of the season). So entering the seventh inning the Reds only held a 5-4 lead. But the Reds then went and scored two in that very inning and two in the ninth while the Phillies couldn't muster any more offense the rest of the way.

Aaron Nola was poor once again but, it wasn't a total disaster. It wasn't nearly good enough from what most expect from him but, I guess it could have been worse. He allowed four runs in five innings of work. He's still gonna make me nervous every time he pitches. I have no clue where I'd rank him when comparing him to Andrew Painter and Jesús Luzardo. All three of them are pretty inconsistent I'd say. I believe maybe Luzardo is the best of those three, but it's hard to say. Christopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler are doing massive heavy lifting in this rotation when it comes to consistency, reliability, and well, skill.

But yeah, despite this recent series loss, overall the Phillies seem to be on the right track. It's pretty much night and day from a few weeks ago of course.

Kyle Schwarber is due to return from his illness as well which is great news.

The weather in southern PA is looking rather rainy so the game could certainly be delayed at some point, but I believe they're trying to start on time. We shall see. The radar looks daunting but, reality isn't fully matching what it's displaying quite yet.

Hopefully the Phillies can bounce back!