Categories: Gameday

Phillies playing for a needed series victory on Sunday

Phillies and White Sox will wrap a three-game weekend series at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday afternoon. (Matt Veasey/Phillies Nation)

The Philadelphia Phillies (58-52) held on for a 3-2 victory over the visiting Chicago White Sox (47-61) on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.

With that win, the Phillies moved back into a tie with their NL East Division rivals, the Washington Nationals, for the second National League Wildcard spot.

The Phillies and Nationals are each six games behind the Atlanta Braves in the loss column in the race for the NL East Division crown.

Beating teams like the White Sox is imperative to any hope that the Phillies might have of ending their eight-year stretch of missing the playoffs.

The Chisox are one of the half-dozen worst teams in the game, both by record and by any statistical evaluation. Picking up a victory on Sunday would give the Phillies two of three here, winning the series. That is the minimum they must accomplish against losing teams. So, that makes this afternoon’s contest of great importance to the home squad.

SUNDAY STARTING LINEUPS

PHILLIES

WHITE SOX

SHIBE VINTAGE SPORTS STARTING PITCHING MATCHUP

Phillies – Drew Smyly: 1-0, 0.69 ERA, 1.91 FIP, 0.846 WHIP, 8 hits over 13 IP across two starts with a 13/3 K:BB

White Sox – Reynaldo Lopez: 5-9, 5.43 ERA, 5.10 FIP, 1.464 WHIP, 136 hits over 124.1 IP across 22 starts with a 117/46 K:BB

PHILLIES NUGGETS PREGAME NOTES

The Phillies will honor the 2009 National League Champions with a reunion this afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies enter play today with a 24-13 record during day baseball and their .649 winning percentage in the afternoon ranks 2nd among all National League clubs and 4th in the majors.
Since the start of the 2018 season, the Phillies are 20-12 in Interleague play and their .625 winning percentage is T-3rd-best in MLB.
Phillies are 50-13 this season when they score at least four runs in a game and their .794 winning % when doing so is 2nd-best in the National League and 5th in the majors. The club’s .794 winning % when scoring four or more would be their highest in a single season since 2011 when they went 72-13.

Realmuto currently ranks 11th among all National League position players with 3.3 WAR this season (Fangraphs). The Phillies have not had a position player finish in the top 10 in the NL in WAR since 2011 when Shane Victorino posted a 5.6 WAR in 132 games. In 27 games since June 29, Realmuto is slashing .308/.330/.529 with 17 R, 13 XBH (8 2B, 5 HR) and 19 RBI.
The Phillies demoted third baseman Maikel Franco to Triple-A Lehigh Valley prior to today’s game. The presumption is that Scott Kingery will play the position for most of the rest of the season. Adam Haseley will rotation in the outfield with Quinn and Dickerson, as well as Jay Bruce once he is healthy.