Bad Bosox Sweep Worse Phillies

The Boston Red Sox are bad, but this weekend they welcomed the Philadelphia Phillies to town. The Phillies are worse, and that played out at Fenway Park as the host Bosox swept the 3-game series, wrapping it up with a 6-2 win on Sunday afternoon.

Despite the sweep, the Red Sox remain in last place in the AL East, a full 8 games below the .500 mark. However, the Phils loss dropped them 31 games below .500 with the worst record in Major League Baseball.

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Jerad Eickhoff was starting for the Phillies on the mound, and the 25-year old had pitched well in his first three big league starts since being called up in the aftermath of the Cole Hamels deal. He did not pitch well in this one.

Eickhoff (1-3) was driven from the mound after 4 innings in which he allowed 6 earned runs on 8 hits with 2 walks. The Phillies bullpen shut Boston out over the final four innings, but the offense was never really able to put anything together.

The Bosox did their damage early on, scoring twice in the 1st and then four times in the 2nd for all the runs they would need. In the 1st, it was a 2-run homer from Big Papi, as David Ortiz drove his 31st of the year and 497th of his career out to right center.

In the 2nd inning, the red hot Jackie Bradley ripped a 2-run triple to right field, Mookie Betts singled home Bradley, and then an Ortiz sac fly later in the inning scored Betts. The rally left Boston up by 6-0 at that point.

The Red Sox, on the other hand, received an outstanding start from Eduardo Rodriguez, who went 7 innings, allowing 1 earned run on 8 hits. Rodriguez (9-5) struck out 7 and walked one Phils’ batter on the afternoon.

The Phillies did break through in the top of the 3rd, as the first three batters reached base to bring home a run. Freddy Galvis led off with a single, moved to 2nd as Odubel Herrera drew a walk, and then scored on an RBI single from Cesar Hernandez.

The resulting 6-1 deficit held into the 9th for the Phillies when two of the same players teamed for another run. Galvis singled with two outs, moved to 2nd on defensive indifference, and then scored on an RBI single by Herrera.

The 6-2 defeat marked a 12th time this season that the Phillies were swept in a series. The 3-week hot streak following the MLB All-Star Game is looking more and more like a complete anomoly. This was their 5th loss in 6 games, the 9th defeat in their last 12, and left them 8-16 over almost a month.

The team comes back home now for a 10-game home stand at Citizens Bank Park. The first three over the next three nights will be with the Atlanta Braves, who have lost a dozen straight games. Just one game separates the two teams in the standings, so this will begin a battle for the top pick in the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft.