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The Phillies Have Lost 8 of 12 and Jesus Luzardo is on the Injured List
Published:
The Phillies lost 6-3 to the Nats with Cristopher Sanchez giving up five runs on eight hits in 6.1 innings of work.
They’ve lost 8 of 12 and Jesus Luzardo is injured:
Luzardo pitched a complete game shutout in his last outing, which was September 7th. Maybe that wasn’t ideal in hindsight, but they didn’t have Jhoan Duran available and he only threw 109 pitches that night. It’s not like he hit some ridiculous number that set off alarm bells.
It’s a nebulous concept anyway, the complete game thing. What if Luzardo came out after 7 innings and ended up with shoulder inflammation anyway? Nobody can say for sure.
The good thing is that it sounds like they’ll have him back for the postseason, assuming they get there:
Catching the Braves is no longer a thing at 5.5 games back, so we turn our attention the Wild Card race, where the Phillies trail the Cubs by a half game for the top spot.
The Phillies still have to play:
- in Washington tonight
- three in New York (Mutts)
- three vs. Milwaukee
- three vs. Tampa
The Cubbies still have to play:
- vs. Atlanta tonight
- three in Cincy
- three vs. Miami
- three in Boston
And then you have the Padres a game behind the Phils, with remaining series against the Rockies, Marlins, Dodgers, and Diamondbacks. That Arizona series might determine the final Wild Card spot.
But it’s just about getting in at this point and trying for a Wild Card home series. The five seed gets you a trip to Wrigley, and if you win that, the NLDS begins in Milwaukee. The six seed gets you a trip to Atlanta. Those are not ideal scenarios.
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com