The Phillies love to tease us.

It appeared the Phils would make a run into September on Friday with a walk-off win thanks to Asdrubal Cabrera. At the time, they were two games back of the Braves in the NL East.

But then it all fell apart. Again. Even with call-ups from Lehigh Valley and Justin Bour returning, the Phillies scored one run on Saturday and Sunday in blowout losses to the Cubs. It also didn’t help that Zach Eflin and even Aaron Nola weren’t that good on the mound.

Meanwhile in Atlanta, the Braves won their final two games against the Pirates to extend their lead in the division to four.

But there’s still a chance that the Phils can still make it a race. The Braves play the Red Sox in a three-game series followed by the Diamondbacks in a four-game showdown. On the flip side, the Phils are on the road beginning today for a three-game series with the Marlins followed by another trio of games against the Mets. If the games favor the good guys, maybe the Phillies could be at least tied for the NL East lead by the end of the week?

Vince Velasquez will take the mound this afternoon in Miami. First pitch is at 1:10 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

Before we continue, a word from our sponsors:

Legal. Check out Krasno, Krasno and Onwudinjo when you need a workers’ compensation or social security attorney.

Football is back. Get ready for for Thursday’s season opener. Shop now.

Fresh. The best meal delivery service, without question. Sign up for Hello Fresh now and get $40 off your first two boxes.

Amazon. If you shop Amazon, support your favorite website and use our link.

AmeriGas. Enter to win a propane grill thanks to our partners at AmeriGas.

The Roundup:

With one team’s season close to possibly wrapping up, another is just about to start. We’ve finally made it to game week! Thursday night, the Eagles will host the Falcons to kick off the 2018 regular season.

Over the weekend, the Birds made their needed cuts to get to the magic 53 roster number. They also made a trade for safety Deiondre’ Hall from Chicago, who is suspended one game. He won’t count toward the 53 for the week. Yesterday, the team picked up former Pro Bowl linebacker D.J. Alexander off waivers and cut Joe Walker. They also made up their practice squad, which includes Josh Adams, De’Vante Bausby, Greg Ward, and Rashard Davis. The only former Eagle that landed somewhere else was… Christian Hackenberg on the Bengals practice squad. That’s it.

But right before the official 53-man roster was announced, Ian Rapoport reported Nick Foles would be the starting quarterback for Week 1. That got Doug Pederson really pissed the next day.

Off the field, Brent Celek officially retired. His former teammate, Zach Ertz, used his foundation to replace stolen equipment to Kensington’s football team. Ertz, along with Chris Maragos, helped Carson Wentz in his food truck “Thy Kingdom Crumb” on Friday.

Adam Caplan and Geoff Mosher are two of the newest additions to WIP’s Eagles podcast network.

Finally, to remind you that the Eagles won the Super Bowl again, the NFL Network will run two Eagles specials on Wednesday night.

The Sixers received permission to interview three potential general manager candidates and will meet with them sometime this week.

If you haven’t read Joel Embiid’s Players’ Tribune article, you should.

Flyers goalie prospect Carter Hart wears the number 79. It’s for a reason.

“My first development camp with the Flyers they gave me 79, just because the rookies get the higher numbers,” said Hart, who turned 20 on August 13 and wore No. 70 in Everett and will wear No. 31 for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. “Connor and Cavan were there since Day One when I was in Everett. I remember those two kids ever since I started playing there.

“When I came back to Everett, Connor was there waiting for me, like he usually did, and he was yelling at me trying to show me his new jersey. He had a Flyers’ jersey with Hart No. 79 on the back. When I saw that, I decided I had to stick with No. 79, because there is a No. 79 out there.

“I probably would have stuck with No. 70, because that was my number in juniors. But because Connor had the Hart No. 79 Flyers’ jersey on, I realized I couldn’t change the jersey number now. I didn’t think Connor would have been too happy if I had the wrong jersey with the wrong number on the back. Because it was Connor, he was one of our biggest fans and it was really cool how much love Connor and Cavan gave us. To them, they’re 6, 7 years old, they look up to us. I couldn’t let them down.”

The Union tied Orlando City SC 2-2 on Saturday night. They’re off this week but resume play on September 15 back at Talen Energy Stadium when they take on the Montreal Impact.

In college football, FCS Villanova upset FBS Temple at the Linc on Saturday in the Mayor’s Cup. Looks like Temple won’t make the College Football Playoff this year. Meanwhile, Penn State held off a near upset bid by Appalachian State in overtime.

Nova and Penn State will play each other in 2021 and 2025. The Nittany Lions will also renew their series with Temple and take on Delaware.

In other sports news, not looking forward to paying Khalil Mack, the Raiders traded the defensive end to the Bears for two first round picks. Chicago then signed him to a big-ass contract.

Another coach that was pissed off at quarterback questions, Nick Saban, apologized to ESPN’s Maria Taylor for his small tirade after Alabama destroyed Louisville.

Louis Riddick wants people to appreciate the players in the final preseason game.

Enjoy.

In the news, road closures are still in effect as cleanup after the Made in America music festival continues.

Brazil’s National Museum was engulfed in flames.

Walmart wants to replace Toys ‘R’ Us.