For the second straight night, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Los Angeles Dodgers had a rain delay. After a one hour and 44 minute delay on Tuesday night, last night’s game experienced a 57 minute rain delay. I guess it’s also worth noting that the Phillies lost their second straight game to the Los Angeles, this time, by a score of 8-2. They are now tied with the Atlanta Braves atop of the National League East standings and hold a one game lead on the New York Mets in second place.

With rain on the forecast yet again, Joe Girardi opted to start Connor Brogdon for the Phillies rather than Kyle Gibson. It was a smart move after losing Aaron Nola to a long rain delay the night before. Both Brogdon and Hector Neris pitched scoreless frames to kick things off, combining to allow two hits, no runs, a walk, and three strike outs.

As if the night couldn’t get any worse, JT Realmuto left the game in the bottom of the first inning after taking two foul balls off his face mask. When a player in Major League Baseball leaves a game with two blows to the head, they are immediately ushered into the MLB-mandated concussion protocol. Right now, he’s day-to-day and questionable for the series finale against the Los Angeles Dodgers. We’ll have more information on that later today I’m sure.

The Phillies are already without Rhys Hoskins and losing JT Realmuto for any amount of time would not be good, to say the very least. We saw the impact of not having Rhys Hoskins in the lineup with Alec Bohm errors at first base. Andrew Knapp allowed a ball to get past him as well to allow two more runs to score for the Dodgers.

After the rain delay, Kyle Gibson took the mound for the Phillies. On the night, Gibson threw 4.1 innings, allowing six hits, six runs (three earned), and three walks while striking out three.

As for the offense, they have only 13 hits in two games against the Dodgers, 12 of which, are singles. Bryce Harper, who entered the series red hot and in MVP contention is 0-for-6 in the series with four strikeouts and two walks. Last night, Ronald Torreyes provided the only Phillies offense with a two-out, two-run single.

Thankfully this Dodgers series ends today. Ranger Suarez should make his third official start for the team. Although he hasn’t thrown many pitches due to a strict pitch count, Suarez has been lockdown in his few innings as a starter. Ranger has thrown 5.2 innings in two starts, striking out five batters, letting up zero earned runs, and has not allowed a hit. If Suarez is the chosen pitcher to throw on Thursday, he’ll look to continue dealing from the starting role, with hopefully a higher pitch count. He will face Dodgers’ pitcher Julio Urias (13-3, 3.41 ERA)

I know losing two straight to the Dodgers on top of dealing with two straight rain delays is far from ideal for the Phillies but the Fightins are still tied for first place in the National League East. The Hunt for Red October is still alive and well. Let’s avoid a sweep today and regroup for the Cincinnati Reds this weekend.

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Mandatory Credit: The Philadelphia Phillies