Philadelphia Phillies vs. Baltimore Orioles Series Recap - July 24 - July 26

Series Six Pack of Notes/Highlights:

1.     Turner's rough season continued into the Orioles series as he went 0-7 with two strikeouts during games one and two and was thrown out of game one in the 5th inning after he struck out looking on a close pitch. He also has two errors in the first game bringing his total to 13 errors on the season. Turner has career lows in batting average (.245) and on-base percentage (.297) while striking out the most of his career at a 23.9% rate. Thomson decided to sit him for game three to give him two days off with the off-day Thursday. It’s been a rough first year so far and the fans are starting to voice their frustration. 

2.     Stott stays hot and continues to show that he is the real deal. In just his second year, Stott has gotten better in almost every facet of the game. After Stott’s clutch game tying double in game two, Bryce Harper said that Stott will be a super star in this league. By the way things are going, there’s no reason to not believe that. 

3.     Cristopher Sanchez had been called upon to bring some stability to the fifth pitcher spot and he’s done that and more. In his eight games since being called up he has a 2.98 era and a WHIP of .969. With the trade deadline looming, he has made it difficult for the front office to add a starter and take his spot in the rotation. It’s great to see.

4.     Bryce Harper has started to find his footing. In the month of July he is batting .329/.403/.910. It is taking him a bit of time to regain the power that we’ve come to know from him, but he has hit two homeruns in July, one of which was a bomb in game two of this series. It’s a welcome sight to see Harper swinging the bat like he’s accustomed to. 

5.     Seranthony Dominguez was reinstated from the IL on Tuesday and made him return during game three of the series. He came in to relive Ranger Suarez in the 7th inning with a man on second base. He proceeded to strike out the first batter, get a ground ball for the second out but then let up a single to allow the inherited runner to score before getting the third out on a strikeout. It is a big boost to have Dominguez back in the bullpen to provide even more high leverage fire power for Rob Thomson. 

6.     Even after the losing streak, the failing offense, and the “sky is falling” mentality, the Phillies took two of three from the best team in the AL. They now sit tied in the top spot of the Wild Card race with the Pittsburgh Pirates up next. Baseball is a marathon and there are still 60 games left to play.