Ground Gained

The Phillies somehow managed to score 9 runs last night. That's like a week's worth of runs, all in the same game. The Phils has almost as many runs as there were fans in the stands.

But before we get all excited that the offense is clicking, let's keep things in perspective. They had 4 hits over the last 6 innings. Rhys Hoskins is 2-19 in the last 6 games. Maikel Franco has some kind of wrist issue and hasn't played since Sunday, which means Asdrubel Carbrera is at third and the offensively challenged Scott Kingery at short. And JP Crawford has been recalled from the minors. I wouldn't expect to see Franco in the lineup anytime soon.

But it looks like Carlos Santana might actually be getting hot. Over the last 10 games, the pricey first baseman has 2 homers and 6 RBI and an OPS of .822. And Hector Neris was named reliever of the month for August.

So the Phils won and picked up a game in the standings on the Braves, who lost to Boston. Let's hope the trend continues so I can write about a winning streak for a change.

UPDATE: The Red Sox were down 7-1 after 7 to the Braves this afternoon and then scored 6 times in the 8th and 2 more times in the ninth to steal a win. If the Phils beat the Fish tonight, they're 2 games back of the suddenly slumping Braves.