Yep, I did it again, got tired of watching K's and gave up ... WOW, definitely could be a series momentum changer !!!
I prefer the phrase "they do better when I'm not watching"..... yeah, that's the story I'm going with lol
Yeah LAD has it rough, but they are just surviving this year in order to make a run at Ohtani. I'd really like to face the D-backs, but we split the season series 3-3 with them while we could probably feast against LAD.Haha, all is forgiven. Never pull out before the fumble, gtj.
How has Elder's pitch-to-contact approach done vs PHI? It almost has to be him not the rookie. But I'm scared of his pitches vs that lineup.
And, as dicey as our situation seems, look at LAD. Sheeeeeesh......
Absolutely, I re-watched the game winning double-play multiple times and my favorite part was the look on Harpers face as the Braves players and Fans went wild !!
Chop on!
It’s really quite amazing how putrid our “historic” offense looks right now. A buddy of mine and I were talking last night and I brought up the fact that we are the only 100+ win team left standing. It just seems like we get hot at the wrong time and we can’t put it all together when we need it the most. If we can somehow claw out a win tonight, I’ll feel better about a game 5 back home, but I just don’t know where we will get the offense from. I mean, on paper we should be able to hit Suarez and we should have a decided edge sending Strider out there. I’d even say we should have a slight edge in game 5, but our offense is MIA. I didn’t watch a single playoff game in 2021 when we won it all, and I’m thinking maybe I need to keep myself busy tonight to try and recreate that mojo….
Baseball is a funny game, I'm not sure there is any strategy for being mediocre for 162 games just good enough to make the post season and then be able to flip the switch and turn on the juice in the playoffs ?? ... but the Phillies might accomplish this in back-to-back seasons,
One of the things I have noticed this series is the pitching difference. When Strider attacked the zone in game one, he found success. When Fried pitched, he admitted to not having his best stuff, but he tried to attack the zone best he could and had relative success. When Elder pitched the first two innings, he generally attacked the zone, but generated swings and misses with his slider low. When he got hit, it was because he got too cute imo and tried to be "perfect". He doesn't have the velo to blow guys away so he has to be able to hit his spot to be successful. On the other side, the Phils are just pounding the zone on us and daring us to beat them. What a strategy to employ against our lineup of all lineups! But it's working. I think that's the part that has me so befuddled. It's not like we are chasing a ton of bad pitches, we just aren't hitting the ones in the zone. Plus, they are really hamstringing our righties with inside pitches. It's apparent that they want to own the middle third against our righties and its paying dividends for them. Whatever we thought they were going to do going into the series, they obviously haven't done. It's time our hitters make the adjustment and just focus on getting the ball in play. We did a better job of that last night, generating 10 hits, but we couldn't cash them in. Oddly enough, the only game that we have hit a home run in, we won.
I agree, our pitching coming into the series was going to be a concern, Max coming off the IL, Charlie going on the IL, Strider has been inconsistent for a while, Elder hasn't been the same since the All-Star break and all the young arms lack post-season experience. But, as you said, what's up with the hitting ??? It's not like we haven't seen these pitchers before.
