Your Friday Morning Roundup
Hope everyone had a good Fourth of July. Because the Phillies didn’t.
After getting blown out by seven runs on Wednesday against the Braves, the Phils came out quick with four runs in the first inning thanks to RBI singles from Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto, and Cesar Hernandez.
But the Braves also came out swinging, and longer than the Phillies did. They scored at least two runs in each of the first four innings to take a 9-4 lead en route to a 12-6 victory, claiming two of three against the Phils. And for the first time this season, the Phillies are in third place in the NL East. Yikes.
It was not a great start for Zach Eflin. He was pulled after three innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) off seven hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Edgar Garcia went two innings but gave up two runs off two homers in his outing.
As much as the bamboo helped the team sweep the Mets in four games last week, they’ve lost four of their last six games against Miami and Atlanta. Luckily for the team, they end the unofficial first half of the season this weekend in New York against the Mets. Vince Velasquez takes the mound against Jacob deGrom tonight at 7:10 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Jake Arrieta and Aaron Nola will start the other two games.
We may also find out the status of Odubel Herrera this weekend. I highly doubt he plays against the Mets, but we might find out if or when he’s eligible to return to the team, if the Phils want him back.
The Roundup:
Not a ton of Sixers news, but some important stuff. First, T.J. McConnell signed with the Pacers and Boban Marjanovic signed with the Mavericks. The Sixers filled the backup point guard spot with former Jazz player Raul Neto on a one-year deal worth the veteran minimum. Matisse Thybulle also signed his first contract.
Stephen A. Smith also says Ben Simmons was afraid to shoot last year.
The Sixers begin Summer League action out in Las Vegas today against the Bucks at 3:30 PM on ESPN2. They’ll also play Boston Saturday afternoon at 5:30 PM on ESPN. Here’s your Summer League roster”
The #Sixers official summer league roster pic.twitter.com/nPCSbHVSUK
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) July 3, 2019
In other sports news, former Kentucky quarterback Jared Lorenzen died. He was 38.
Ezekiel Elliott won’t be suspended.
Joey Chestnut ate a lot of hot dogs (71) and won another hot dog eating contest. He’s the Fourth of July version of Dick Clark.
In the news, 6.4 and 5.4 magnitude earthquakes hit Los Angeles in the past two days.
The U.S. economy added 224,000 jobs in June.