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Just when you thought you were out on the Phillies, they pull you back in.

The Phils completed a two-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox with a 5-2 win at Fenway Park, making it their first series win in Boston since 1999.

It wasn’t a good start early as Drew Smyly gave up two runs off five hits in 3 2/3 innings. He threw 84 pitches. That ain’t a good line. But a combined bullpen effort from Jared Hughes, Ranger Suarez, Mike Morin, Jose Alvarez, and Hector Neris pitched 5 1/3 shutout innings and allowed only three hits with six strikeouts.

As for the bats, it took them some time but things looked better in the fifth. Bryce Harper hit a go-ahead two-run homer over the Green Monster. Corey Dickerson brought home two more runs in two at-bats in the seventh and ninth innings to add some insurance runs for the Phils.

They didn’t gain a ton of ground in the wild card hunt as they’re now a game and a half back of that second spot. But it could have been much worse if the team dropped both games of the series.

An off-day for the Phillies as they travel down south to Miami to take on the Marlins for a weekend series that begins Friday. 56 games left in the regular season. It ain’t over yet.

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We’re getting close to the Eagles’ third game of the preseason against the Baltimore Ravens. That’s usually the dress rehearsal for most players and teams before they get ready for Week 1.

But the biggest question is whether or not we’ll see Carson Wentz play, especially with the quarterback situation now. Cody Kessler did return to practice, even though it might be too late for him, while Josh McCown, not Colin Kaepernick, is still learning the playbook and may or may not play on Thursday.

We really haven’t seen the starting offense play at all, save for Jordan Howard and Miles Sanders. As much as I want them to enter Week 1 healthy, and even though some of these reps against the Ravens feel like they’re in a game situation, I think the ones should get some playing time Thursday night, at most a quarter. And maybe that’s not for everyone. Maybe Wentz gets a drive or two before Josh McCown, if he can, comes in and gets some work.

That might also show how a guy like Andre Dillard really is. He might not get a lot of time in the regular season, but the team’s first round pick hasn’t allowed a single quarterback pressure thus far in the preseason (the Cody Kessler injury was not his fault). Jason Peters might not need to even play on Thursday, which would give Dillard a great opportunity to get reps with the starting o-line.

The two teams have another joint practice today before a walk through on Wednesday and the game on Thursday. In other news, tight end Richard Rodgers was carted off the field yesterday with what looked like a leg injury and left in tears. Does not sound good. Also, the Birds signed linebacker Chris Worley to fill the spot vacated by Paul Worrilow’s release.

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Hitting Season looks like it was only for a short bit.

The Phillies lost two of three to the San Diego Padres this weekend after sweeping the Chicago Cubs at home. But it did start well.

After Bryce Harper’s walk-off grand slam, he hit a three-run bomb while J.T. Realmuto recorded three hits as the Phils won 8-4 Friday night. The team as a whole recorded 12 hits in the game and they also moved into a tie for the second wild card spot. That was good.

The next two games weren’t. On Saturday, the Phils took a 3-0 lead after the third inning off five hits. A good start. But they scored zero runs off a single hit for the remainder of the game. A bad finish! Plus, Zach Eflin was unable to get out of the fourth inning after giving up three runs off seven hits and Nick Pivetta lost the lead by allowing two runs off three hits in an inning and a third as the Phillies lost 5-3.

Sunday also wasn’t good. The offense only scored two runs off four hits with both of the RBIs coming from Jean Segura. Bryce Harper left the game due to dehydration in the sixth, and the pitching couldn’t help as Jared Hughes gave up a Austin Hedges homer in the seventh as the Padres won 3-2 to take the series.

With the two losses, the Phils are once again two games back of the Cubs for the second wild card. They’re now tied with the Brewers and the Mets in that race, with the Giants a game and a half behind that group. That ain’t good.

And neither is the remainder of their schedule. 25 of the team’s 38 games are against opponents who are currently in the playoffs or are in playoff contention. September has a 20-game stretch that includes the Mets, Braves, Red Sox, Indians, and Nationals. Yikes.

Speaking of Boston, the Phils are off today but have a short two-game series up at Fenway beginning tomorrow night. Aaron Nola’s on the mound.

In injury news, Roman Quinn went on the 10-day injured list with a right groin strain suffered in Friday night’s win. And David Robertson (remember him?) had Tommy John surgery on Thursday and he’ll probably miss all of 2020.

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It truly is hittin’ season.

I don’t really know what the Eagles-Phillies viewer ratio was, especially with the Birds game being a big snoozer. But I was watching the Eagles the entire time before flipping over to the Phils.

And the Phils looked out of it. They gave up five runs earlier in the game and scored a lone run in the eighth. But after Jean Segura’s flyout, Cesar Hernandez reached first on a fielding error by David Bote. Scott Kingery singled, followed by a pair of RBI singles from Brad Miller and Roman Quinn. Then Rhys Hoskins loaded the bases as he got hit by a pitch.

Pedro Strop was pulled in favor of Derek Holland. The Cubs needed two more outs and had a double play set. Bryce Harper at the dish:

BRYCE-GRAND-FREAKIN'-SLAMMIN-HARPER. pic.twitter.com/qFFcqtoYV3

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 16, 2019

“OH my GOD!” Thank you Kruker.

That capped off a six-run ninth and gave the Phils the 7-5 win and the sweep over the Cubs. It was a much-needed sweep as well.

Prior to the eighth, the Phillies only had five hits, four of them coming off Yu Darvish who pitched seven shutout innings with 10 strikeouts. On the other end, Drew Smyly wasn’t great at all, giving up all five runs off seven hits with six strikeouts in five innings.

With that, the Cubs got leapfrogged by the Cardinals for first in the NL Central and now hold the 2nd wild card spot. The Phils are a game back, along with the Brewers. And Charlie Manuel is probably doing wonders.

Up next is a three-game home series with the San Diego Padres beginning tonight at 7:05 PM on NBC 10. Vince Velasquez takes the mound against Chris Paddack. Zach Eflin and Jason Vargas are expected to start on the weekend.

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Thought-provoking tweet here by Troy Machir, who is the Senior Digital Editor at NBC Sports Washington:

You get to ban one word from the entire lexicon of sports. What word are you banning?

— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) August 15, 2019

Good topic, much more interesting than the typical day on Twitter, which consists of liberals and conservatives yelling absolute nonsense at each other.

The worst word that immediately came to my mind, in response to that question, was “exposed.” I hate that term in sports.

“He got exposed.”

“She got exposed.”

“Gabe Kapler’s managing has been exposed.”

We say that as if people are completely incapable of adjusting or responding when things work against them, like it’s some finite judgment being passed. Once you’ve been “exposed,” there’s no recovering. You are forever a failure.

Here are some more good suggestions, after the jump:

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It’s Hittin’ Season once again. And people were happy Charlie Manuel is back.

He made his return to the dugout on the same night he managed his last game with the Phillies back in 2013. And it did not disappoint, as the Phils racked up 10 runs in the first three innings, including six in the third, en route to an 11-1 blowout win. The team recorded 13 hits, which is really good, and everyone in the starting lineup recorded at least one.

Cole Hamels made his first start at Citizens Bank Park as a visitor, but gave up eight runs in two innings of work. He could not record an out in the third. On the other end, Aaron Nola went seven innings and gave up a run off three hits with seven strikeouts and wore a duck hat along with Bryce Harper after the game.

There were plenty of “Charlie” chants during the game and there’s probably a good amount of fans that want him as manager. But he said managing is out of the question. So there’s that. Gabe Kapler’s job is safe.

The Phils will look to sweep the Cubs tonight at 7:05 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia. Drew Smyly takes the mound against Yu Darvish.

Elsewhere around the team, it looks like Jake Arrieta is done for the season with the bone spur in his elbow. Zach Eflin will take his spot in the rotation on Saturday. The team also called up Logan Morrison with Corey Dickerson hurt.

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This may be the job you’ve always dreamed of.

Entercom Communications, which owns 94 WIP and a handful of other local radio stations, is looking for somebody to wear the Buzzbee costume on a part-time basis.

But first, a bit of background –

WBEB, as the station is formally known, was acquired last year by Entercom after being independently owned for many years. In 2013, they changed the B101 branding to “More FM,” which held for five years until Entercom came in and decided to go back to using B101. Entercom paid $57 million dollars to acquire the station and broadcast the smooth sounds of Michael Bolton and Bryan Adams over the Philadelphia airwaves, plus the nonstop Christmas music that I think begins immediately after Halloween. Around April of this year, I guess the mascot “Buzzbee” was brought out of retirement and re-introduced to the Delaware Valley.

Here’s the job description, after the jump:

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I feel like we need to talk about Bam Margera, who is really struggling right now.

The West Chester native and Jackass star signed on to referee the upcoming Lenny Dykstra/Bagel Boss boxing match that will take place in Atlantic City next month, but TMZ reports that he was arrested last night, shortly after bailing on a Los Angeles rehab facility.

TMZ, after the jump:
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