11-2. That’s not the record the Dodgers have against the Phillies. That’s the record the Phillies have against us. They’re 31-67 against everyone else, but they’ve beat us like a drum all season. They’ve walked off on us three times, and they’ve beaten us by one run six times. But interestingly, one of our two wins was a 14-1 drubbing. Baseball’s a weird game.

For those that weren’t able to see the game, this guy’s opinion was that Sean Newcomb looked much better. After riding the struggle bus to a 7 walk performance in 4 2/3 innings last time out, he had one walk over 6 innings. His strike-to-ball ratio was one of his best since his first start. He was also hurt by two bad plays that led to 2 of his 3 runs allowed. Nick Markakis lost a ball in the lights that led to an extra base hit, and Ozzie Albies made a poor throw on a relay that led to a run. All in all, this was a step forward for him, and a great bounce-back start after what was probably a defeating start last time out.

But this team is mired in several slumps. Albies, Swanson, Adams, Inciarte, and Markakis are all in slumps, and on top of that, Adams can’t play left field at all (enjoy the video of him dropping a very catchable fly ball if you can find it). Kemp’s absence throws off the feng shui of this lineup as well. Instead of being able to go L-R-L-R all the way through the lineup, Markakis is inexplicably lodged between Freddie Freeman and Tyler Flowers, thus creating a L-L 3-hole and clean-up that the Phillies were able to exploit late in the game here. Matt Kemp, when healthy, is the only thing close to a clean-up hitter we have, and his right-handedness also allows Markakis to hit 5th, Flowers to hit 6th, and Adams to be one of the best 7-hole hitters in the game.

The bullpen once again pitched really well in relief, and Jim Johnson and Arodys Vizcaino have both taken very well to their new roles. At this point, it’s now the offense that hasn’t given the Braves a chance to win. Round and round we go.