Philadelphia Phillies Might Be Playing Their Best Baseball Right Now


Ryne Sandberg Philadelphia Phillies

Derick Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Suddenly, the Philadelphia Phillies defensive outfield doesn’t seem all that bad. Well, if you take out the twilight situation going on, the Phils “D” has been solid.

At the head of that is Rodger Bernadina. Yes, I said that correctly. Domonic Brown has been solid at there until he got hurt. Even Darin Ruf has been better. John Mayberry becomes a solid defender once he is out of center field. I am not going lie — it does feel a little weird that I don’t hear people complaining that much about the outfield anymore.

Bernadina is looking like he will be able to snag a fourth or fifth outfield spot on this team. I did see someone call Bernadina a left-handed version of Casper Wells. Bernadina is no world-beater, but he is better then Wells. It’s all about building the roster for next year and right now, it’s a showcase for many.

Cliff Lee was vintage Cliff Lee. He went eight innings, allowing five hits and just one run. He also only gave out one free pass and struck out seven. That was his first win since July 5. Someone is starting to settle in nicely. That someone would be Cody Asche.

Asche, who has hit in eight straight games, accounted for both runs with a two-run triple. Man, he’s got a pretty swing.

Mr. “Non-Tender” himself, Kyle Kendrick (10-10, 4.54 ERA) takes the hill for the Phils for game two. There is some good news about Kyle. He is 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA against the New York Mets this season. He will be opposed by Jonathon Niese (5-6, 4.03). Niese is 2-0 with 2.84 ERA in the month of August. The Phils are now 7-4 under Ryne Sandberg.

By the way, I am not even close to being a Mets fan, but the news about Matt Harvey sucks. The dude is a flat-out stud.

Joseph Hickman is a Philadelphia Eagles writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @phillytugger, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google+


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