I absolutely hate the Philadelphia Phillies. After dropping two games against the New York Yankees, Matt Moore took the mound for the Phillies at home against the Atlanta Braves. Moore, who was basically forced to pitch six innings given the fact we used our entire bullpen last night against the Yankees, did not pitch well. He allowed six hits, six earned runs, and three walks while striking out four. He allowed two home runs, one of which was a grand slam to Dansby Swanson. The Phillies were down 6-0 heading into the seventh inning and only had two hits up until that point in the game.

As I sat hoping that the Phillies would actually show up to the ballpark tonight, I was also watching a blank screen waiting for Kanye West to show up to his DONDA listening party. Neither happened in a timely manner. Odubel Herrera doubled in the seventh inning to score Didi Gregorius. Jean Segura singled to center to score Ronald Torreyes. The game was now 6-2 heading into the final two innings of the game. In a stunning upset, Kanye West actually showed up before the Phillies tonight. The DONDA listening party started in the top of the ninth inning.

As I watched Kanye West put on a beautiful spectacle of art and music, I was also extremely upset with the fact that the Phillies starting lineup tonight was without both Andrew McCutchen and JT Realmuto. Maybe I’m selfish but I don’t think the Best Catcher in Baseball and our veteran outfielder need a night off in the midst of a division race against your division rival.

Cool.

The Phillies would cough up another run in the top of the ninth. They were down 7-2 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Ronald Torreyes led things off with a single to right field. Andrew Knapp grounded out. Luke Williams grounded out. Jean Segura grounded up.

Phillies 2. Braves 7. Final.

As you can probably tell right now, I’m losing my mind. The Phillies were 47-45 at the beginning of this week with two games against the Yankees leading into the Braves and Nationals at home. Now, they are 47-48 and a game below .500 on Thursday night. That simply cannot happen when you want to prove to the organization that you’re a contender. The Phillies are not contenders as constructed. They basically have two, maybe three starting pitchers and a lackluster bullpen to pair with an inconsistent offense. This is not how winning baseball teams play. This is how .500 baseball teams play.

The Phillies are now four games back of the NL East leading New York Mets.

Ring it. Or don’t. See you tomorrow.