It was a mixed weekend for the Phillies, with plenty of good as well as some bad.

Let’s start with the on-field product in Miami, which featured Brad Lidge as a guest instructor. Friday was the best game of the Marlins series, which saw Jake Arrieta rebound in a big way with seven shutout innings in a 2-0 win. He gave up three hits and struck out three in the win, though the Phils only scored two runs on eight hits.

The Phillies got eight hits on Saturday, but Aaron Nola gave up the only two runs in the game in the first inning for a 2-0 loss. But the offense got hot yesterday afternoon… for one inning. The Phils had a great fourth inning, scoring all five of their runs off four hits to take a 5-0 lead. But Miami had an eight-run bottom of the fifth en route to a 10-5 loss. I guess Tommy Hunter is also bad.

Now for the off-field stuff, and it mainly involves Manny Machado. Which is good, because the Phillies need hitting. Over the weekend, the team increased their offer to the Orioles and became a clear-cut leader to land the shortstop. One reason for that is owner John Middleton becoming a “driving force” for landing a star. And a trade is pretty damn close:

Speaking of Middleton, Andy MacPhail had similar thoughts on the team owner:

“John wants to win,” MacPhail said. “John wants to sustain winning. But John is not an ‘excite the town at any cost’ guy. My view is that he’s smart and he’s realistic. I think I’ve done a good job of explaining the importance of an organization and progress and he’s seen that. He’s not willing to give up too much of that just to make a splash. Someone wrote the other day that ownership wants to make a splash. Let me tell you something about John Middleton. He’s not a ‘splash’ guy for something that doesn’t make sense. I can promise you that.”

The Phils are also interested in Mets reliever Jeurys Familia, if they can’t get Zach Britton from the O’s. They did trade reliever Hoby Milner to Tampa Bay for cash considerations.

Cole Hamels is a former Phillie that was linked to a return to the city earlier in the season. That’s died down, but he’d love to return home:

“If something like that does happen, I think it would be a blessing,” Hamels said. “You do look back. And Philly has a great group of guys that they’re bringing up and the future of a world championship team. You just have to give it to them and give them their space. If it happens, it happens. But I can’t wish or long for something like that because I’m still trying to figure out how to pitch well in five days, six days.”

Overall, it’s not a bad first half at all. The Phillies are 53-42 and lead the NL East by a half-game. Who would’ve thought Gabe Kapler would be a Manager of the Year candidate?

Rhys Hoskins participates in the Home Run Derby tonight. That starts at 8 PM on ESPN.

Also over the weekend, former Phillie and current Dodger Chase Utley announced he would retire at the end of the season.

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The Roundup:

The 30th seed Summer Sixers had a great run in Vegas. After beating the Suns Thursday night, they came from behind once again to beat the Bucks thanks to a Furkan Korkmaz three-point play to move on to the quarterfinals.

But that run sadly ended last night with an 82-73 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. Korkmaz led the way with 18 points. He had the best six-game stretch out of any of the Summer Sixers, despite bad games against the Lakers and Wizards after scoring 40 points against the Celtics.

With Summer League over, it’s time to shift back to the senior Sixers. There are a few players that could possibly be traded before September. And a friendly reminder that the team still does not have a GM.

The Flyers re-signed forwards Taylor Leier and Tyrell Goulbourne to one-year deals and forward Danick Martel accepted his one-year qualifying offer.

Some sad news: Former Flyers goaltender Ray Emery drowned in the Hamilton Harbour Sunday afternoon. He was 35. The team remembered his short stints in Philly.

As expected, Darren Sproles is retiring after this season:

I’m excited to come back and I am even more excited to come back to the defending Super Bowl champion, Eagles. We have something special here with the team, the fans, and the city. We made history bringing the first Lombardi trophy to Philly and now we want to go back-to-back.

I also noticed I am currently 8th on the career all-purpose yards list. Now, I doubt I’ll be able to catch #1 on the list, Jerry Rice, but with a couple good runs or a nice return, I should be able to climb past Steve Smith (7th) and Marshall Faulk (6th). It will probably take until about mid-season (maybe a little longer) but I got my eyes set on Tim Brown at #5. The only other players on the list after that are #4 Emmitt Smith, #3 Walter Payton and #2 Brian Mitchell.

But I don’t do it for the records. Yeah, it would be an honor to be mentioned in the same conversation as those guys—but that’s not what’s important. I love this game. I love what I do. When my daughter Devyn looked me in the eye and told me I have to play one more year—well, that was it.

One more year.

With Training Camp in a couple of weeks, there’s plenty of running backs and wide receivers gunning for roster spots.

Noted dumbass Ben McAdoo thinks the Giants will win the NFC East.

A future episode of “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” will revolve around the Eagles’ Super Bowl win.

Former Eagle DeMarco Murray retired from the NFL.

After watching the FIFA World Cup Final on South Street, the Super Bowl was replayed.

The Union defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 thanks to a Derrick Jones goal in the second half. They’ll host Orlando City SC Wednesday night in the US Open Cup quarterfinals.

In the FIFA World Cup, France defeated Croatia 4-2 to win their second World Cup. Belgium took home third with a 2-0 win over England.

A Russian feminist punk rock band also stormed the field like idiots during the second half.

In other sports news, Novak Djokovic and Angelique Kerber won Wimbledon.

Tony Romo wins the Lake Tahoe celebrity golf tournament.

Should public schools split from the PIAA?

Why are some athletes obsessed with LinkedIn?

In the news, President Trump is meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Finland.

Dunkin’ Donuts is working on a coffee beer.