Getting that win would have been a nice launching point as the Phillies get into a tough test the rest of the way--nine against the Braves and Blue Jays followed by a ten game road trip to close the regular season. After playing the Braves on August 2, the Phillies enterred a 39 game soft stretch notwithstanding seven games against the Mets and went 25-14 (.641) overall/23-9 (.718) against teams not named the Mets. Even with that hiccup in Arizon and San Francisco, I guess they took care of business against the weaker opponents.
And yes, this is the ninth failed sweep game of the season (and the fifth since the All-Star break)--4/10 vs. OAK, 5/15 @ LAD, 6/12 vs, ARI, 6/19 @ WAS, 8/11 @ MIA, 8/17 @ CIN, 8/28 vs. PIT, 9/8 vs. MIA and 9/15 @ MIA. A series win is a series win but it still feels slightly deflating, at least for fans. Not sure we can say they were deflating for the Phillies, though. They went into a mini-funk after failing to sweep Oakland, the bottom fell out from under the Joe Girardi Era after the failed Dodger sweep and the Pittsburgh failed sweep sent them off on the 1-5 West Coast trip but, otherwise, the team largely chugged along after the other failed sweeps.
It's remarkable how even we've played the Braves this season...6-6, 58 RS, 57 RA,
