It only took three batters lat night for the Atlanta Braves to jump out to a 2-0 lead against the Philadelphia Phillies. By the time Vincent Velasquez was pulled from the game in the third inning, the Phillies were down 6-0. By the eighth inning of the game, the Phillies had Ronald Torreyes on the mound. At it’s conclusion, the Phillies lost to their division rivals 15-3 and fell a game below the .500 mark yet again.

The Phillies are four games back of the National League East leading New York Mets and tied with the Atlanta Braves in second place. They are in desperate need of pitching help, from the bullpen to the starting rotation, with less than a week to go before the MLB Trade Deadline.

Aside from pitching great against the Miami Marlins, Velasquez has been terrible. He has allowed 49 earned runs in just under 62 innings of work this season, which is good for a 7.15 ERA. He has not made it out of the third inning in two of his last three starts.

Zach Eflin is hurt. Aaron Nola has been anything but consistent. Matt Moore and Vincent Velasquez are unreliable, and Spencer Howard, for whatever reason can’t pitch more than three innings. It’s getting hard to think that the Phillies will be able to go on any type of run unless some big moves are made to bolster their rotation and bullpen.

The Phillies weren’t that much better at the plate. With zero outs and ducks on the pond, Didi Gregorius grounded out to the pitcher for a double play and Travis Jankowski popped up to shallow left. Rhys Hoskins finally got the Phillies on the board in the sixth inning with another RBI double to score Andrew McCutchen. Outside of that, the other two runs came on a fielders choice from Didi Gregorius and a sac fly from Ronald Torreyes.

The Phillies are eyeing Craig Krimbel for the bullpen. It’s a move they should make. Cole Hamels is also available. It’s hard to imagine that he’s not an upgrade to the back of the starting rotation. If Dave Dombrowski and the Phillies organization believe that pitching will solve the majority of issues with the Phillies, then they will certainly remain “aggressive” before the trade deadline in ensuring that it is addressed.

Now, the Phillies will go for a split against the Braves before the Washington Nationals come to town. Aaron Nola is on the mound at 1:05pm opposing Touki Toussaint for the Braves.

Mandatory Credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer