A new look lineup with Justin Bour at first and Wilson Ramos making his Phillies debut at catcher gave the Phils some life.

It started out like it would be yet another disaster, but Ramos and his three runs scored, plus a career-high three extra base hits with three RBIs helped guide the Phils to a 7-4 win.

The beginning wasn’t good whatsoever. Vince Velasquez gave up a bases-clearing double to Mitch Moreland in the third to put the Phillies behind 3-0. His night would be a short one, going 2 1/3 and giving up three runs off four hits and four walks with only two strikeouts. But the Phils responded an inning later with three runs of their own thanks in part to Ramos, Odubel Herrera, and Carlos Santana.

After Scott Kingery, who Kapler still defends having on the roster, hit a sac fly that gave the Phillies a one-run lead, it was Ramos again that brought home two runs in the seventh, along with one from Maikel Franco, that gave the squad a much-needed win.

Despite the win, Atlanta also defeated Miami, which means the Phils are still two games back of the Braves for first in the division. They can get that to a game and-a-half today with a doubleheader against the Mets at home. Ranger Suarez is scheduled to take the mound for game one at 4:05 PM on Facebook Watch, while Zach Eflin is scheduled to return and start game two. Let’s hope the fans behave better this time!

The Roundup:


We have more preseason football tonight as the Eagles travel up to Foxborough to take on the New England Patriots. Haven’t we heard this before? But unlike the Super Bowl, guys like Greg Ward, Donnel Pumphrey, and De’Vante Bausby will be fighting for playing time and a spot on the 53-man roster.

Outside of the preseason, the Birds reportedly kicked the tires on a potential Ronald Darby trade.

Here’s a great piece by Dave Zangaro on Malcolm Jenkins and his fight for social justice as an NFL player.

The Eagles’ 30-year-old Pro Bowl safety admits as much, but he’s not oblivious. He’s uncomfortable with the idea because there are so many others committed to the fight — his fight — against racial injustice and police brutality in the United States. He names them — Colin Kaepernick, Eric Reid, Kenny Stills, Mike Thomas, Russell Okung, Anquan Boldin, Devin McCourty — before allowing that there are even more of whom he’s probably unaware.

But still, here we are. Jenkins has just finished up a long session in the Eagles’ indoor practice bubble, but during the few hours the team was inside, the sun began to peek out from behind the clouds and it’s now shining. As Jenkins slides outside, stepping on to the asphalt parking lot with his cleats clacking, his manicured black beard dripping with sweat glistens in the sunlight.

He’s stoic in his resolve.

Reluctant as he is to claim it, Jenkins knows he’s a face of a movement. His face is second behind perhaps just Kaepernick’s in notoriety throughout this fight over the last two years. As such, Jenkins always speaks comprehensively, deliberately.

The team also tops ESPN’s initial power rankings.

Nelson Agholor is a top 10 deep threat wide receiver:

After Agholor’s first two NFL seasons, the idea that he’d find himself on a top-10 list like this would have been nearly unfathomable. Yet, here we are. A move to the slot revived the wideout’s career in his third pro campaign, and he enjoyed a breakout season for the eventual Super Bowl champions. Agholor looked at home running routes from the inside and began to demonstrate the big-play ability that made him a first-round selection back in 2015. While just 16.8 percent of Agholor’s catches in 2017 came on deep passes, he made them count, totaling 275 yards and three touchdowns. The USC product heads into his fourth NFL season as a well-established top piece in the Eagles’ well-oiled offensive machine. Agholor is now the poster boy of why you shouldn’t write off a young player when his career gets off to a slow start.

The Eagles now have a commemorative soup can to honor their Super Bowl championship.

The rookies also got bad haircuts.

One final reminder, this guy will play tonight.

That never gets old.


Ben Simmons still isn’t a fan of reports that say he might switch his shooting hand.

He also went on the Late Late Show Tuesday night.

Simmons, Joel Embiid, and the Flyers’ Claude Giroux also have decent odds to win their respective MVP awards.


In other sports news, Jalen Ramsey isn’t a fan of most of the QBs in the NFL. Except for Wentz, Foles, and DeShaun Watson.

Instead of hitting a home run in his first at-bat, Ronald Acuna Jr. got drilled on the very first pitch, resulting in a melee.

Aaron Cox, a former Angels minor league pitcher and Mike Trout’s brother-in-law, passed away at the age of 24.

Kobe Bryant’s $6 million investment in BodyArmor is now worth $200 million after Coca-Cola purchased a minority stake in the company.


In the news, Kristian Marche, a former Imhotep track and field star that was supposed to report to Penn State, was shot and killed.

New homes along the site where the MOVE bombing happened in 1985 are ready for residents.

New York governor Andrew Cuomo says America “was never that great.”