Dinner with Andre spoils Phillies chance at sweep

FINE, Dodgers, you can win ONE GAME.

It’s time for a daily news report.

They dodged that one

The Dodgers got one back from the Phillies in the Thursday getaway game, but the good guys didn’t make it easy. Los Angeles jumped out to a 2-0 lead but Nick Williams (it’s a new hero every day!) slammed a game-tying homer. Then – who else – Rhys Hoskins drilled a two-run double to give the Phils the lead in the sixth.

That didn’t last. While the Phils bullpen has been much better in recent weeks, they struggled at times against the Dodgers. With a 4-3 lead, Ricardo Pinto immediately surrendered a game-tying home run to Andre Ethier and a triple to Pain In The Butt Chris Taylor. He scored two batters later, the Dodgers had the lead, and they wouldn’t give it up.

Mark Leiter Jr. chugged through six innings, giving up three runs and striking out three. Freddy Galvis added two hits but also hit the most obvious double play ball in history in the ninth inning.

Oh well. Phils take on the Braves starting tonight in Atlanta.

Ready for more

In the wake of Thursday’s game, Gordie Jones with CSNPhilly.com wrote a piece about how the Phillies are excited about playing well against really good teams.

The money quote:

“I think it’s a good lesson. It showed us, or showed me, we can compete with the best teams in the league. Just can’t wait to see what next year has in store for us.”

Good quote, right? Must be from one of the veterans like Andres Blanco or Cameron Rupp …

Nope. That’s J.P. Crawford.

Crawford – who’s now hitting .255/.379/.383 with 10 walks and 14 strikeouts in 58 plate appearances since being promoted from Lehigh Valley – has long been advertised as a potential leader, quick to transition to a major role in a clubhouse despite being one of the younger players in every clubhouse he’s been part of since being drafted.

We talked about how well Crawford is playing before Thursday’s game; in that game he walked three times and made some nice plays at third base.

Now he’s talking about the team getting a good lesson. A team he’s been on for a couple weeks.

I love this stuff. Bring on 2018.

Yellin’ bout Yelich

Jon Heyman is – as they say these days – back on his bulls**t.

The FanRag writer, in his National League notes, says a few things:

• General Manager Matt Klentak likes what Pete Mackanin is doing.
• The Phillies have Baltimore connections (Andy MacPhail especially), so don’t be surprised if Zach Britton and Manny Machado are high on the Phils’ wish list.
• CHRISTIAN YELICH.
• Cesar Hernandez is underrated. He also wrote “star,” but that’s maybe a touch too far. I like Cesar, don’t get me wrong, and the guy has provided surprising on-base skills, becoming a relatively rounded offensive player. BUT he can only play one position well (a position not needed on the bench), he doesn’t steal bags nearly enough as he should (evidenced Thursday) and he still makes plenty of mistakes on said basepaths. Plus he’s 27 and coming up on arbitration. And the guy behind him is arguably pretty close to Hernandez’s level already. So he’s underrated, yes, but a star? Hmmm ….