Phillies and Rangers Face Off in a Pitching Duel That Could Change the Season’s Fate

Phillies vs. Rangers, 8:05 ET

I forced it yesterday. It was a bad day on the diamond after we’ve had some pretty decent results the last week or two. I lost both plays and probably should’ve gone with my initial read on the second game I put out. It happens, and the best thing for me to do is to just put it behind me and move on. The best part of baseball is that we get games every day and can rebound from the tough results. Today we take on the matchup between the Phillies and the Rangers. 

The Phillies are once again having a great campaign and currently sit in first place. Philadelphia continues to do everything they can to bolster their team as well. At the deadline, they added arguably the best reliever available. That was probably the biggest hole on the team, and that has been addressed. Now the question is how deep they can get into the postseason. The Phillies are hitting .255 as a team, one of the best marks in baseball. They are also playing fairly well at the moment, having three wins in their past five games. In their wins they are allowing opponents three or fewer runs, and in the losses, they have allowed five or more. Today’s starter is Cristopher Sanchez, a guy who is making quite a name for himself. He is 10-3 for the season with a 2.40 ERA and a 1.07 WHIP. He also has racked up 145 strikeouts, which puts him at 15th or better in each of the key metrics for pitching. He has exactly two starts this season where he has allowed more than two earned runs. He hasn’t faced the Rangers much in the past and they are just 1-for-4 against him.

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