The Philadelphia Phillies and their powerful lineup travel to hitter-friendly Cincinnati for the start of a three-game series on Monday night. The Phillies just dropped two of three games to the Mets over the weekend in New York City while the Reds ended a five-game losing streak with a win on Sunday. The pitching matchup for Monday night will feature Noah Syndergaard (6-8, 3.96) of the Phillies taking on lefty Mike Minor (1-9, 6.24) of the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 6:40pm EST.
After a red-hot stretch that saw the Phillies win 13 out of 15 games, the Phillies were slowed by the equally warm New York Mets in Queens over the weekend. The Phils won the opener but then dropped the final two games of the series, shut out in each game. The Phillies are now 63-51, 11.5 games behind the Mets and six games behind the second-place Braves. Philadelphia is still in the third position in the NL Wildcard race as the season turns to mid-August.
“We had some trouble scoring runs in this series, obviously,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Part of it is due to good pitching and part of it was due to the fact that when runs are at a premium, sometimes you try to do too much and I saw a lot of that today.”
Aaron's performance last night deserves another look. pic.twitter.com/SRbpha6I6X
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 14, 2022
Despite the tough weekend, the Phillies have climbed right back into the playoff picture thanks to that seven game win streak and wins in 13 out of 15 games. They are hopeful that they will get back all-star Kyle Schwarber some time early this week and 2021 MVP Bryce Harper may be very close to making some rehab starts as he recovers from a left thumb fracture. On the mound for the Phillies in the series opener will be newly acquired right-hander Noah Syndergaard. This will be his third start for the Phillies since being acquired at the trade deadline. He is 1-0 with a 4.91 ERA in his two starts for Philadelphia and has given up 17 hits in just 11 innings of work. However, Syndergaard is an impressive 5-0 with a 2.11 ERA in six career starts against the Reds.