Sanchez, Schwarber power Phillies to shutout<\/p>\n
The Phillies<\/a> and Tigers<\/a> faced off in a three-game series over the weekend, one which mattered quite a bit to both. Detroit is fighting for the top seed in the American League with the Blue Jays<\/a>, with the Astros<\/a> and Red Sox not all that far behind either of them. Philadelphia, meanwhile, is stuck in a battle for NL East supremacy with the New York Mets<\/a>, and entered the weekend trailing them by half-a-game.\u00a0<\/p>\n After taking two out of three from the Tigers \u2014 while the Mets lost two of three to the Giants<\/a> following a mid-week sweep by the Padres<\/a> \u2014 the Phillies find themselves back atop the East, by just half-a-game. And it took a true team effort to get that last W on Sunday.<\/p>\n Defense was often the highlight in this low-scoring affair, and not just for the eventual winners. Watch as something terrible nearly happened to Riley Greene and Matt Vierling<\/a> on this fly ball by Bryson Stott<\/a> in the bottom of the second.<\/p>\n And in the top of the seventh, thanks to Edmunso Sosa and JT Realmuto, the Phillies were able to keep the Tigers off the board and continue starting pitcher Cristopher S\u00e1nchez<\/a>\u2019s dominant outing.<\/p>\n S\u00e1nchez would go eight innings with six strikeouts and one walk while scattering five hits, lowering his ERA to 2.40 for the year. Since the start of June \u2014 an 11-start stretch \u2014 S\u00e1nchez has an ERA of 1.71, third-best in the majors minimum eight starts.<\/p>\n While the Phillies already had a 1-0 lead at this point, Kyle Schwarber decided it was time for some insurance. His solo shot in the bottom of the eighth not only put Philly up 2-0 and traveled 435 feet, but it also tied Schwarber with Shohei Ohtani for the NL home run lead with 38, and put him one ahead of Aaron Judge in the rankings, as well.<\/p>\n The Phillies picked up a new closer before the weekend series in the form of Jhoan Duran<\/a>, whom the Tigers were already plenty familiar with, given he was previously pitching for the Twins in the AL Central. That familiarity did not help: Duran faced three batters, and set them all down for a save with a 103-mph exclamation point on it:<\/p>\n Philadelphia, like New York, has scuffled a bit of late, and are 5-5 in their last 10. They ended up winning a series against one of MLB\u2019s best, however, at the same time the Mets lost their own weekend set, and it has Philly back in first. Temporarily? Maybe! There\u2019s a lot of 2025 yet, we\u2019re in the first full week of August and all. But this constant battling back is going to be necessary for one of these teams to finally secure a lead they won\u2019t give away.<\/p>\n Marlins achieve a first with sweep of Yankees<\/p>\n The Marlins<\/a> swept the Yankees<\/a> over the weekend, which they\u2019ve never done before. That alone would be something worth nothing, but wait, there\u2019s more! The Marlins are also the only team in MLB with a winning record against the Yankees, as they’re at 25-24 when you include the postseason per MLB \u2014 Miami, back when they were the Florida Marlins, famously defeated New York in the 2003 World Series<\/a> despite being a serious underdog.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rule of threes: The win also pushed the Marlins to 55-55 on the season, which would not seem that significant if not for the fact that the Marlins were on pace for 100 losses not all that long ago, and were 16 games under .500 on June 11, less than two months ago. They\u2019re the first team to get back to .500 after being at least 16 games under since the 2014 Rays, and just one of five teams to ever manage the feat in the wild card era. A rarity, but even stranger is that they\u2019re the second Marlins team to do it, since the 2006 edition also had a comeback like this.<\/p>\n The Marlins are 30-14 since that June 11 defeat that put them at their low point, and have jumped their run differential for the season from -93 to -40 in that stretch, scoring 211 runs against 158 allowed, or 4.8 scored per game vs. 3.6 given up. The Marlins are\u2026 good? Huh. Huh!<\/p>\n Remember that bit above about there still being plenty of season left? Miami is six games back of a wild card. Even more incredible since, after June 11, they were 12.5 games back of one, less than halfway through the season.<\/p>\n Angels comeback, walk-off<\/p>\n Speaking of comebacks, the Angels<\/a> had one contained to a single game on Sunday. They were down 5-0 to the White Sox<\/a> through five innings, after a four-run first put Chicago well ahead early. Then, the Halos responded with three runs in the sixth \u2014 a Zach Neto<\/a> home run, Taylor Ward<\/a> RBI single and a wild pitch \u2014 and another two in the seventh, courtesy a Neto double, tying things up 5-5.\u00a0<\/p>\n While Neto would fly out to open the bottom of the ninth, someone besides him would be around to get the next big hit. The White Sox put Tyler Anderson<\/a> on the mound at this point, and he\u2019d never get that second out. Nolan Schanuel doubled, then Mike Trout was intentionally walked to set up a force and also, you know, avoid pitching to Mike Trout. The Angels didn\u2019t need him to get the game-winning hit, either, however. Taylor Ward would walk things off for Los Angeles with a three-run home run.<\/p>\n A comeback is good and all, but this one was boosted by the fact that the Angels avoided being swept with it \u2014 the White Sox, like the Marlins albeit not nearly as well, have been playing a lot better of late, and the Angels know that firsthand.\u00a0<\/p>\n White goes deep twice<\/p>\n The first-ever Speedway Classic was played at Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee on Saturday\u2026 and Sunday. The rain had other plans, so the one game between the Braves<\/a> and Reds<\/a> was temporarily postponed on Saturday and concluded on Sunday when the weather was more agreeable.<\/p>\n Eli White<\/a> supplied the offense the Braves needed, with a pair of home runs that drove in all four of Atlanta\u2019s runs in a 4-2 victory.<\/p>\n There were other highlights, of course. Elly De La Cruz\u2019s arm is absolutely ridiculous, for instance \u2014 he had to pause before throwing this one to be sure that he would actually have someone to throw it to, but look how impossibly quick the ball gets there once he does fire it.<\/p>\n He\u2019s a professional, folks. Throwing a baseball for distance with some muscle behind it is no easy task, you know.<\/p>\n A bases-clearing triple<\/p>\n A home run that clears loaded bases? Exciting, has its own name. A clear winner. It\u2019s not the only way to do it, though, and a bases-loaded triple is a far rarer feat, too. Padres\u2019 outfielder Jackson Merrill had one on Sunday in the bottom of the seventh against the Cardinals<\/a>, and it turned a late 2-0 lead into a commanding 5-0 lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n Good thing for San Diego, too, as St. Louis would score three runs in the top of the ninth off of Adrian Morejon, who started the frame up 7-0 and exited before recording an out. Robert Suarez<\/a> was able to put things away, though, allowing just one inherited runner to score in the process.<\/p>\n Brewers collect record 56 hits against Nationals<\/p>\n Not all in one game, mind you \u2014 that would certainly be a record. Over the course of their three-game set with the Nationals<\/a>, though, the Brewers<\/a> recorded 56 hits, a\u00a0new franchise record<\/a> for a single three-game series. Milwaukee also scored 38 runs against Washington in those three games, the third-most they\u2019ve ever put up in a qualifying series. You don\u2019t always get a series wrapup that looks like it could have been a football game, but these two managed it at 38-14.<\/p>\n The Brewers are now two games up on the Cubs<\/a> in the NL Central, and thanks to this series of blowouts, have also overtaken them in run differential, +119 to +115. Those stand as the two best run differentials in the majors right now, as well as the only two north of 100.<\/p>\n
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