Maybe Carlos Santana was right?

After hitting only two home runs in April, the first baseman has hit three in his last five games, including dingers in two straight as he helped lead the Phillies to a 4-2 win over the Giants.

Santana is only one Phillie who was hot last night. Odubel Herrera delivered an RBI single to center field in the third inning to score Cesar Hernandez and extend his on-base streak to 37 games. When Herrera plays smart, he’s really good.

On the mound, Aaron Nola continued his dominance with a career-high 12 strikeouts. His change-up has been deadly to deal with, especially last night against a lineup that Gabe Kapler described as “All Stars and borderline Hall of Famers.” Nola and Jake Arrieta as a one-two punch would be fantastic for late Summer runs.

The second half of the series with San Francisco begins tonight, as Nick Pivetta will take on Chris Stratton at 7:05 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia. The Phils are a half-game behind Atlanta for first in the NL East.

For more Phillies talk, as well as some other baseball topics, listen to the latest edition of Crossed Up.

The Roundup:


Also playing tonight are the Sixers. Some of us, myself included, didn’t think there would be a Game 5 in primetime on TNT. But here we are, thanks to Timothy John McConnell’s performance in Game 4.

He’s going to be starting again tonight in place of Robert Covington, and McConnell’s presence has changed how the offense operates.

Meanwhile, both head coaches have praised players on opposing teams. For Brett Brown, he praised Jayson Tatum and his performance thus far in the postseason:

“He is really good. Like, he is really good,” the 76ers coach said during Tuesday’s media availability. “He’s got a package that he shouldn’t at such a young age.

“You know, like they post him. He’ll come off and … hit spot-up threes. He’s got stuff off a live ball that has caught me off-guard where he really can dance in an isolation situation.”

Boston’s Brad Stevens is a huge fan of Dario Saric, who sometimes gets overshadowed by Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid:

“He’s a heck of a player, he’s had a heck of a year, and he’s been tough for everybody,” Stevens said Tuesday. “Coming into the series, we thought he was probably their most unheralded guy.”

Brown also explained why he went with Ersan Ilyasova over Amir Johnson as the backup center.

Despite being down 3-1, the Sixers still have a pretty good chance of winning the series. Somehow.

In non-playoff news, LeBron James reportedly wants to play off the ball on his next stop in his career. Which means the Sixers.

Finally, T.J. doesn’t like Ben Roethlisberger, despite being a Steelers fan:


The Eagles hosted a couple of former Ravens players. Could one or both of them sign?

Upshaw might have the better chance with the injury to Jernigan. They do have Haloti Ngata, but the Eagles have made it a priority to build around their defensive line.

Carson Wentz is confident he’ll be back in time for Week 1 against Atlanta.

The Eagles are projected to get a compensatory 4th and 6th round pick, but may be getting an extra 6th round pick as well.

Josh Sweat could end up being a player like Danielle Hunter of the Vikings.

Howie Roseman is mad people think the Eagles’ Super Bowl run was a fluke. I love it.

Single game tickets go on sale tomorrow morning at 10 AM. Get them quick.


The Phantoms beat the Charlotte Checkers in Game 3 of their Calder Cup playoff series to take a 2-1 series lead.


In other sports news, James Paxton of the Mariners threw a no-hitter against the Blue Jays in his home country of Canada.

In the NBA playoffs, Golden State and Houston beat their respective opponents in Game 5 to set up a highly anticipated Western Conference Finals showdown.

Saints running back Mark Ingram has been suspended four games for PED use.

Former Flyer Rod Brind’Amour is the new head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes.

The Mets traded Matt Harvey to the Cincinnati Reds.

Whenever the Penguins lose in the Stanley Cup playoffs, hockey becomes great again.

This was fun.


In the news, a fight at Council Rock North was caught on video.

Hanover Park High School passed a rule that everyone will make the cheerleading squad, or nobody does. I hate this. I blame the parents.

President Trump announced the U.S. is withdrawing from the Iran nuclear deal.