At the end of the unofficial first half of the regular season, the Phillies’ best player is a guy that wasn’t on the roster to start the year.

Since being traded to the Phils, Jay Bruce leads the team with 29 RBI in 28 games. In 49 with the Mariners, Bruce had 28. He added to those totals this weekend.

It all began with the first pitch Friday night as Scott Kingery took Jacob deGrom deep for a very early 1-0 lead. But the game was tied at two entering the top of the ninth when the Phils scored five runs in that half of the inning, beginning with a Bruce RBI single, en route to a 7-2 win.

Saturday night was not a good start for Jake Arrieta. He hit three batters and went 4 1/3 innings with four strikeouts, but also gave up 11 runs off six hits in a 6-5 loss. Arrieta reportedly has a bone spur in his right elbow.

But he also said this to Todd Frazier after Frazier wasn’t happy with getting hit by a pitch, even if it was just accidental:

But Sunday was a much better day all-around, especially pitching. Aaron Nola went 6 2/3 innings and gave up only two runs off three hits with six strikeouts and took a no-hitter into the 6th. Jay Bruce also had two home runs and four RBI en route to an 8-3 win over the Mets.

The Phils enter the All-Star break with a 47-43 record. They’re third in the NL East and 6.5 games back of the Braves. If the season ended today, they’d have the second wild card spot with a half game edge on the Brewers. One move won’t fix the entire season, and with the trade deadline approaching in a few weeks, we might see some moves made.

Especially now with Odubel Herrera officially suspended for the rest of the season. Look for Kingery to be the everyday center fielder. But pitching is the key here.

The Home Run Derby is tonight, All-Star game featuring J.T. Realmuto is Tuesday, and the Phils are back at it on Friday against the Nationals.

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The Roundup:

The Sixers began Summer League action over the weekend and they looked pretty good. They defeated Milwaukee on Friday before falling to Boston on Saturday. Zhaire Smith, Shake Milton, Norvel Pelle, and Matisse Thybulle all looked good. You can even throw in Marial Shayok as well. Up next is Oklahoma City this afternoon at 3 PM on ESPNU.

As for the current team, Raul Neto was part of a crazy week of free agency for the Sixers, but should be a solid backup point guard.

Kevin analyzes less than a second of Ben Simmons shooting a free throw. It’s top notch stuff.

After having their game posted a day due to storms around the area, the Union and Orlando City SC played to a 2-2 draw thanks to a Kacper Przybylko goal in the 90th minute. The Union will be at Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

In other sports news, the US Women’s National Team shutout the Netherlands 2-0 to win their second straight Women’s World Cup. Conversely, the US Men’s National Team were shutout by Mexico 1-0 in the Gold Cup Final.

Kawhi Leonard is a Clipper. And so is Paul George. That’s all good for the Sixers.

It took only five seconds for this knockout:

https://twitter.com/AztecLufc/status/1147706861644206080

In the news, a 7.1 magnitude earthquake affected Los Angeles and Las Vegas on Friday.

Snow Days could potentially become school days under a new Pennsylvania law.