By: Matthew Mack

The Philadelphia Phillies continue their home stand to play the first place Los Angeles Dodgers for the weekend.

Friday night, the Dodgers stayed in front the whole night. Freddie Freeman and Justin Turner knocked in the first three runs of the game. From that, a pitching duel commenced from both pitching staffs. Though the Phillies had nine hits on one run, that was all they could muster as they dropped this game 4-1

Saturday night, the Phillies finally took control. In the second, Jean Segura knocked in a run with a double to left. Dodgers Mookie Betts answered back with a home run to tie the game at one in the 3rd. Alec Bohm had something to say when he hit a two-run homer to retake the lead in the bottom half. In the next inning, Kyle Schwarber smashed a solo bomb to extend the lead 4-1. Aaron Nola was okay pitching in 5⅓ innings with nine K’s, allowing four runs. Then Los Angeles went to work. They scored six unanswered runs which included Betts hitting two more RBIs and two home runs by Will Smith and Austin Barnes. Phillies blew this game 7-4

Sunday, Zach Eflin pitched very well in the game. Seven innings with 12 strikeouts. The only blemish was the two homers he gave up in the game. In the middle of it, Garrett Stubbs hit his first Major League home run to make it 2-1. In the ninth, Nick Castellanos scored on Jean Seguras’ hit to left to tie the game and send it to extra innings. In the top of the 10th, Trea Turner drove in the go ahead run. But in the bottom half, with runners at 2nd & 3rd, Alec Bohm grounded to second only to have Max Muncy bobble it. Roman Quinn, who was the runner at 2nd, rounded 3rd to beat Muncy’s throw home to win it 4-3, avoiding the sweep.

The homestead was just a blah experience going 2-4. Only scoring four runs in the first four games showed how the lineup with Bryce Harper can have a massive effect on the Phils. Now that he’s back in the lineup and with no days off, the Phillies will head south to play the World Series Champion Atlanta Braves. Both teams having the same record, the bullpen needs to step up. Remember, the Braves lineup is nothing to play with. A split would be nice. The offense need to get runs when needed but most importantly, the bullpen can make or break this team.