The bats came alive last night at Citizens Bank Park as the Phillies demolished the Yankees 13-8 to split the 4-game series. The game wasn’t as close as the score. Nola fanned 10 and was finally backed with some run support with home runs from Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, Didi Gregorious, and Jean Segura.

Next Up: The Baltimore Orioles

Zack Wheeler will open the series tonight at 7:05pm against RHP Alex Cobb. Wheeler is off to a great start for the Phillies after earning his second win in as many starts last Wednesday against the Yankees. Wheeler is 2-0 and has only allowed 3 earned runs and one HR in 13 innings this season.

Alex Cobb has been somewhat a surprise for the 7-7 O’s. The veteran righty is 1-1 with a 2.51 ERA and has 15 strikeouts which is good for more than a batter per inning this season.

The Phillies 2020 season has been a weird one. With an entire week missed and over a half-dozen double headers on the schedule, they currently are 5-6 on the year. Starting pitching has not been an issue. The bullpen however, certainly has. Touting a miserable 9.87 ERA you never really know what’s going to happen after a starting pitcher exits the game, but the Phillies remain confident that they’re moving in the right direction.

The Orioles have had more success this year than expected in the early going but with Wheeler on the mound at home, the Phillies should win this game. It’s time for the Phillies to get something going and beat bad teams handedly. Wheeler, CBP, and another game with solid hitting should work in their favor tonight.

Let’s ride: Phillies ML & Phillies -1.5

OTHER NOTES:

Didi Gregorious Twitter game is on another level.

🔔 🔔… RingOn: great start by 🕵🏻‍♂️ going 8 strong innings with 10k’s… 🔥🔥offense🔥🔥… 🏃🏾‍♂️ with a solo homerun, 🤵🏻 with 3 run homerun, 🦿 with 2 run homerun… 🧏🏾 with a solo oppo 🌮 homerun … WHAT A GAME!!…

— Sir Didi Gregorius (@DidiG18) August 11, 2020

The Phillies are 0-5 when scoring under 4 runs. Which means, they are 5-1 when they score over 5 runs.

Offensively, the Phillies aren’t as bad as they look. They’re simply inconsistent: OBP – 1st (.344) SLG – 4th (.445) OPS – 1st (.790) BB% – 1st (12.5%) K% – 1st (17.9%) wOBA – 1st (.344)

Yesterday marked the first time in almost a year the Phillies won a game where Aaron Nola started.

Ring that bell, baby.