The Phillies Summer 2020 Pain Tour continues tonight as Spencer Howard takes the mound against Jacob deGrom and the New York Mets.

The Phillies will be looking to snap a 3-game losing streak after getting swept by the Orioles. They have lost 5 of 6 games, thanks to inconsistent hitting and flat out terrible performances from their bullpen.

Tonight’s game will be Spencer Howard’s second career start. Last Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader, Howard allowed four runs, including two home runs, in 4 2/3 innings against the Braves.

Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto have been the best duo in the league this year and are both off to scorching hot starts. The Phillies offensive stats outside of JT and Bryce, however, is pretty terrible: .230 AVG/.314 OBP/.381 SLG/.695 OPS. Those two are carrying this team offensively. Alec Bohm made his major league debut yesterday in the loss to the Orioles and had a nice double down the left field line.

Alec Bohm’s first hit in the majors is a shot down the left field line.#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/iI4XNSSuWs

— The Liberty Line (@LibertyLinePHL) August 13, 2020

The Phillies desperately need some more help at the plate. Hopefully Bohm can be a part of the answer. Rhys Hoskins and Scott Kingery both got the night off yesterday. Girardi spoke with the media last night and was pretty clear when saying that Rhys Hoskins will return to the lineup.

“As long as he’s doing his work and doing everything that he needs to do to be prepared, I don’t worry about it,” Girardi said

Hoskins, who’s hitting .190 with no home runs and one RBI, has really struggled this year at the plate, which seems to be a continuation from the 2nd half of last year.

deGrom is a great pitcher. This season he has a 2-0 record and 2.45 ERA. Over deGrom’s career against the Phillies, he’s 7-1 with a 2.23 ERA in 15 starts. The Mets as a team (9-11) however, are nothing to write home about.

The Phillies bullpen is terrible but if they can come out tonight hitting and Spencer Howard can pitch like we all hoped he could, there’s no reason to say that the Phillies can’t walk away with a win tonight.