High Hopes: A Phillies Podcast - Final Out: Phillies Sweep Cubs At Wrigley Field

Episode Date: June 30, 2023

Jack Fritz reacts to the Phillies ninth-straight road win. To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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started more than two years ago and is now the most prolific national daily baseball pod there is another fact so jump aboard the bib express follow and listen to baseball isn't boring presented by wasabi hot cloud storage on the free odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts and his one two on the way swing and a. He struck him out, and the Phillies sweep the Cubs here at Wrigley. For the first time since 2015, the Phillies pull off a sweep at the friendly confines as pitching dominates again. The Phillies with a 3-1 win, and they'll head home having enjoyed a nine game road winning streak that's right welcome on in it is the final out brought to you by regency furniture affordable never looked so good jack

fritz hanging out with you reacting phil's nine straight road wins which seems impossible like the phillies went to the World Series last year, and frankly, that seemed more probable than the Phillies winning nine straight road games. I've never seen them play this well on the road. So they are an impressive streak on the road. It's good to see. We'll get into more of that coming up here in a little bit. But the Phillies go out.

They sweep the Cubs, a place that they've just struggled at. Wrigley Field's been a place that they have 100% not played their best baseball in the last couple years. And I think the biggest thing for me this series is the kind of right of the ship after the Mets series, Braves series, and even most

of that A's series from last weekend. They got things moving back in the right direction. Like, you know, crisp baseball, mostly. I mean, the short brain left tonight and Brandon Marsh. Some of that, I think, can be attributed to the Hayes, but whatever. Great pitching, timely hitting for the most part. But this felt more like a good team that I was watching this weekend,

rather than over the weekend weekend where I was like, I feel like the Mets gave this series away. I thought the Phillies went out and they took the series from the Cubs. And I think that's an important thing to take away from this series. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 is how you get in. Join the final out. Big Phil's win. Three straight.

A sweep on the road. Four straight wins overall. Nine on the road. It's been a really, really good run. Big Phil's win. Three straight. A sweep on the road. Four straight wins overall. Nine on the road. It's been a really, really good run. Get in and react. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94. It's time for the biggest takeaway of the game. Brought to you by Morgan & Morgan. And the biggest takeaway of the game

for me is really Tywon Walker and his pitching staff. Tywon Walker, let's start with him. He's just good. I said pregame, beginning of the season, and I get off to a slow start. First two months were very up and down.

There's a lot of calls to say he was a bust, and what is Dave Dombrowski doing? Why did he pay for this guy, Zach Eflin, who I love dearly? Why don't we just keep him instead of paying $72 million for Tywon Walker? Well, the guy that we've seen in June and really the guy that we've seen since the Met start up in New York where he just wasn't great and couldn't get comfortable and couldn't get into a rhythm, ever since then he's been just downright great. Ever since then, he's been just downright great. In 36 innings in June, 36 innings pitched, he threw to a 1.5 ERA.

It's great. I mean, between him and Ranger, Ranger, I believe, pitched to a 1.6 in June. And everyone talks about how great Ranger has been. And he has been great. But Tylan Walker has been just as good. So this starting staff is just on a roll right now. I mean, they had a streak during June that was their best since 1964. And again, nothing bad happened to the Phillies in 1964.

And they've kept that train rolling. Is Nola frustrating? Yeah, he's 100% frustrating, and I get it. And I thought that – I actually texted some buddies this tonight. Like, if Aaron Nola started that game tonight, how many runs does he allow? Four? Five? But I thought the most impressive thing that Tylan Walker did tonight to me was whenever the bad stuff happened in the field, the Schwarber play in the fifth, I guess, or fourth,

and then the Brandon Marsh play that happened an inning later, he just got out of it. He just battled. He didn't let that affect him. He didn't let that kind of ruin his inning. He was able to put that past him, understand that that's out of his control, and he picked up his teammates all night long. That's winning baseball.

Picking up your teammates, listen, baseball is a hard game. These guys aren't perfect. It's an imperfect sport. They're going to make mistakes. It's going to happen. You hope that they're not mental mistakes and more physical errors. Mental mistakes are avoidable. And I just thought that the mental fortitude to be able to bounce back after you had to make multiple, either get, what, four outs in back-to-back innings, essentially,

that's big stuff. That's winner stuff. That is picking teammates up and not letting it fester and not letting it snowball, which I feel like happens in a lot of Aaron Noah starts, is that when things aren't going right, bang, all of a sudden, it goes from one run to four, just like that. So, you know, Wheeler has not been great his last two starts,

but even Zach Wheeler and the run that he's on, I feel like I'm watching closer to last year's Zach Wheeler when even he would go into these little downturns, he was still really good. And Christopher Sanchez has come up and kind of done his job. The starting staff is on a roll right now, and Tywin Walker is a massive, massive part of that. But my main takeaway is obviously Tywin Walker is definitely good,

worth the money so far, and he's completely turned around the narrative on his season. And my second big takeaway from the game tonight, and I'm actually going to make him my player of the game, brought to you by South Jersey Gas, committed to providing safe, reliable, affordable natural gas. Make the switch at southjerseygas.com slash lovemyhome. And it's not a player, but it's a coach.

And I just want to heap praise onto Caleb Cotham because I feel like he never gets talked about. And what I think the Phillies have onto Caleb Cotham because I feel like he never gets talked about. And what I think the Phillies have in Caleb Cotham is a legitimate advantage on most nights. And what he provides for this pitching staff is something that they haven't had in the last couple years. Caleb Cotham's there. Brian Kaplan's there. Dave Lundquist out in the bullpen. It's a staff, but obviously Caleb Cotham spearheads that staff.

And, you know, we talk about when is a coaching staff getting the best out of guys, and it feels like we lament when they don't. But look at what Caleb Cotham has done with these guys. Frankly, every time I see the bullpen ERA, I'm a little bit surprised because I watch him every night and I don't feel like their ERAs are still around the fours. But just for example, tonight's game. And think about the transformation that Caleb Cotham has done for a lot of these guys. Obviously, we just talked about Tywon Walker. I mean, Tywon Walker was a guy who was kind of middling at the beginning of the season,

seemed lost. They made an adjustment in the bullpen, and he's pitched to, again, a 1-5 ERA since. He's throwing four miles an hour harder. He's having that splitter fall off the table. He's competing. I mean, this has been a really, really good stretch for Tywon Walker. I think Caleb Cotham deserves a ton of credit for that.

Junior Marte, who came in in a big spot, it's a two-run game in the seventh inning in Wrigley Field for a pretty inexperienced guy. I was 100% nervous about it, like no doubt about it. But the work they've done and they've put in with Junior Marte got a result like that tonight. And I thought the one thing that stuck out to me was I felt like they told him, hey, you got to throw that slider as hard as possible.

And it was up 1.6 miles per hour. He had a 90-mile-an-hour one that was just disgusting. So Junior Marte, that's a big spot for him. Gregory Soto, I mean, that was the fastest eighth inning of my life, I feel like. And they've gone completely sidestep with him or slide step with him. And it's paid dividends. He's not walking, guys. He's still hitting 99 to 100.

That's coaching. And finally, Craig Kimbrell. Craig Kimbrell is the best he's looked in years. Fastball has that zip back. Even when it's down 94, 95, like it's been the last little bit, still that little late life. He's getting his slider over for strikes more than I feel like we've seen in years past. I mean, all four of those guys, that's coaching.

And we're not even talking about Ranger. The Nola thing, yeah, it's frustrating. But when I look at the improvements I've seen from pretty much everyone else on that staff, I have to give the pitching coach credit. He deserves it. And it just doesn't get talked about enough about the really good job that Caleb Cotham is doing with his pitching staff. And my final takeaway here is that nine straight road games,

I think, tells you a lot about a ball club. You know, this is road games. You get away from home. The Phillies are a good home team. You're away from, obviously, your family. I'm sure the players, obviously, their wives and families travel with them sometimes. But you're on the road. You're not sleeping in your own bed.

And I think to win nine straight, especially what we've seen the last couple years where it feels like they crumbled on the road, that's toughness. And that's important stuff. As you go down the stretch run here, and you have to go and catch the Marlins or Dodgers or Giants, winning road games is going to be really, really important. To win nine straight again, I feel like I've never seen it from the Phillies, frankly. Tonight, Marlins win again. Dodgers are in the game early here.

The Giants thankfully lost, so at worst, the Phillies will be a game early here. The Giants, thankfully, lost. So, at worst, the Phillies will be a game and a half out of the third wild card tonight. So, you know, you have to keep stacking these road wins. But nine straight road wins. I think that tells you a lot about the toughness of this team and, frankly, their closeness and how well they get along. Because I think road environments bring a team closer together, and to win nine straight is impressive.

All that is obviously my biggest takeaways of the game, which is brought to you by Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury firm. 215-592-9494. Let's go to the phones here and talk to Tom in North Wales. What's happening, Tom? Jack, you made all great points, dude. Thank you. All great points.

I think the reason for the high ERA is because I think there's times that our offense does not produce. And obviously the runs that are on the bases when they take over aren't charged to them but they're grinding they're putting the positions that they can't you know that they're they use the word again grinding yep um so what do you think, like, with Nola? I think he's four right now. What happens with him with his, you know, free agency? Yep.

And how far do you think without a fifth? I mean, because we don't have a fifth. How far? How far can you go? I don't have a fifth. How far? How far can you go? I don't – I'm not really worried about – Are you talking about the playoffs? Are you talking about the playoffs? Or are you talking about making the playoffs for the rest of the season?

Well, I think they're going to make the playoffs. I don't think the Marlins are real. I would like to believe you, but, I mean, they're now 14 games over 500. I mean, they keep – their pitching staff is really, really good. Always will come down to hitting with them, but their pitching staff is legit. Ultimately, our hitters, the ones we pay, are going to help the guys that we don't pay.

So ultimately, it's going to happen. That's my thought. Yeah. I'm just worried about the one guy, Nola. And, you know, you look at and hear Rick Epitalico. I do. I watch. And what's the other guy's name?

It's Ketcher. Ben Davis. Ben Davis. Ben Davis. And he's analyzing where he's trying to put a slider or a cutter in, and he's missing by, you know, by whatever, a foot. And they're yanking him out of the yard. So right now I don't have a problem with Wheeler because you know he's going to come around, right?

And the other two, I think they're solid. Walker tonight is, he's as much of a stud as, what's his name? Yeah. So where do you place him? Well, and I appreciate the call, Tom. You know, I just think that, and it's tough because you use your eyes. They tell you who the best three guys are right now. But for me, it's like Aaron Knowles has been one of the best pitchers

on this team for a while. He wasn't, again, last night it was vintage in the one inning. I still got to kind of trust the guys that have been with me. So, Nola's still going to, at this point, will be taking down a playoff start. And the thing about the fifth starter spot is you're not going to really use him in the postseason. You know know that's why i think it's a bit overblown like the need to go get a fifth starter because in a perfect world he's not pitching in a in a playoff series like sure i would like a guy to help us get to the postseason but maybe chris sanchez can just go give me four or five solid innings. Or Andrew Painter can come back and do a job.

This whole fifth starter thing, I think it's a tad overblown, especially with the amount of off days they have. And, you know, again, if they do get in, you're probably not using them. So do I really need to trade a ton of assets for a fifth starter? No. I mean, I'll take one. But I feel like another bat is more important at this point than the fifth starter. 2-1-5, 5-9-2, 94-94 on the other side.

We will get to the play of the game. But, you know, there is one negative from tonight that I want to get into. We'll get to all of your reaction. Get in now. It's the final out here on Sports Radio 94 WIP. There's a tapper off the end of the bat up the first base line. Tough play. JT underhand flip to

first. He got him. Do or die play and JT does it for the second out. Great play for the Phil's catcher. Now I know this is like the Mike's amazing play of the game, but frankly, that's a ridiculous play. I mean, that is a ridiculous play. is like the Mike's Amazing play of the game, but frankly, that's a ridiculous play.

I mean, that is a ridiculous play. It's the Mike's Amazing slash play, Amazing slash ridiculous play of the game. Presented by Mike's Amazing, the official mayo, mustard, and vegetable oil of the Phillies. 215-592-9494 is how you get in on the final out, which is, of course, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable never looks so good, Jack Fritz.

Hanging out with you, reacting to the fills. Nine straight road wins, four straight wins, a sweep in Chicago, playing good baseball. Over the weekend, did not think it was good baseball. This week in Chicago, mostly good baseball. And that play by JT, it's just like, I don't think there's a catcher in the history of baseball that can make that play, frankly.

I mean, that is an insanely athletic play. To go from full squat to, well, he might not even have been squatting because he does the one-leg thing. So, to get out there, you've got to make the flip. That is superhuman stuff. So, an insane play. Ninth inning made it way easier. No stress. Stress-free ninth.

Stress-free eighth and a stress-free ninth. And a stress-free seventh. I mean, that just doesn't happen. Doesn't happen with the Pills. So they are in a role right now. Pitching staff is just out of this world. And, you know, it was a good series out of Chicago. A good series, much needed after the weekend.

The one negative for me, and it's really been the negative of the entire year at this point, it feels like, is the runners in scoring position thing. I mean, one for nine tonight. One for nine with runners in scoring position. And it just, it's going to plague them because they're not a team right now now Schwarber let off the game with a home run and they did do a better job this series with hitting the ball in the ballpark but especially if they're not gonna hit for home runs and they're not gonna earn they're not gonna hit for power um they need to do better with runners in scoring position

because that's how they're going to score runs. I mean, it's as simple as that. They're not going to score if they don't drive guys in and do their jobs. I mean, the first inning tonight was incredibly annoying. Again, runner on third, less than – I mean, there's no outs. Less than two outs. And they didn't get them home. I mean, it's just there has to be doing jobs. Actually, it was runner on third, two outs. And they didn't get him home. I mean, it's just, there has to be doing jobs.

It was actually, it was runner on third, no outs. Like, that's the kind of stuff that will cost you games. Now, it didn't tonight. Bryce was able to get the big hit, you know, later on to make the 3-1 game, and it just stayed there since. But runners in scoring position is just, it's going to bite him. It's 100% going to bite him. That needs to be fixed. Hopefully the

power is starting to come. With Bryce, everything is just being driven into the ground right now. There's no launch with Bryce Harper at all. I don't think this power stroke, which by the way, if he doesn't get a hit in

tomorrow's game, he will be 0 for the month when it comes to hitting a home run, which is shocking that we're here with Bryce. He's on 3 for the year. Now, it was good. He was able to get a hit there, give him the lead, do his job, but still, the power is just not there from Bryce.

215-592-9494. Brian is in Jersey. What's happening, Brian? What's up, Jack? What do you got, man? Appreciate all you do for the Phillies. I feel like you speak the truth and shoot it straight and cover the Phillies the best of everybody in the business. But I want to talk on three points.

So, one, the Phillies have been doing good lately, and I think the series with beating the Cubs on the road was huge. But first point is Swarbrick. I mean, how is this guy still leading off? I mean, I know we've been winning, and I feel like we're kind of spotty in terms of winning some of these games. We're not really dominating these games, which is fine. We're winning games. We're not really dominating these games, which is fine. We're winning games.

We've been great in June. But when is the coach, when is this guy going to make the change? I guess what's your problem with Schwarber hitting leadoff? He's been way to the sticks. I mean, you've got a guy that hits home runs. That's really what he's in a lineup for. That's what we're paying him for. And, again, we're winning games.

But when it comes to October, if he's doing the same thing, it's what we're paying him for. Again, we're winning games, but when it comes to October, if he's doing the same thing, it's going to bite us in the ass. They did go to Game 6 of the World Series last year. No, I understand that, but again, he's batting 86. We're paying Trey Turner all this money.

At some point, I feel like it's going to come back on us. We need a guy that Schwarber should be in the 4- five hole where he's, you know, he hits home runs. You know, we need him to, you know, guys get on base. You know, you get Harper on base, you get Trey on base, and then you get, you know, you got a guy like Schwarber that comes up and he hits home runs.

That's, you know, he's going to have more RBIs. I feel like at some point, you know, again, we're winning games right now, which is great. But, you know, I don't know. What are your, which is great. But, yeah, I don't know. What are your thoughts? Do you feel like you're getting a good spot there? Do you feel like you would like him to be, you know, in the four, the five, or the six hole?

What I was actually – and I appreciate the call, Brian. What I've been proposing the last couple days is put Bryce there. I mean, if you put Bryce there, until the power comes, and you flip those two, you're getting a similar bat to Schwarber. Maybe he sees more first-pitch fast fastballs and he could do something with them. And, you know, like he works a similar bat. He has a better chance to get a base hit. Hopefully the power can come.

But, you know, that's been talked about. The thing with Schwarber, it's just, it's such a problem for people, the batting average. And I get it. It's annoying to look at. The guy has 21 home runs this year.

Like, he has more total bases than the guy who leads the American League in batting average. Like, batting average. Like, batting average would be, could he bat 250 and hit 21 home runs and that'd be great? Of course. But, he gets

on base a ton. And, like, I believe in June his on-base percentage is around 380. And, Kevin Stocker said this after the home run in the first inning, which again, he has six leadoff home runs in June.

They are 34-10 when they score first. So when I have Kyle Schwab batting leadoff, and he can give me a 1-0 lead in the blink of an eye, 34-10. They're 34-10 when they score first.

So he gives them a great chance to go up 1-0 and when they go up 1-0 they traditionally win. Now the problem with Schwarber is the defense. 100%. The defense with Schwarber is a massive problem.

And that's why I talked about pregame, like figuring out if Bryce can play first base or even bringing up Derek Hall and if he can stabilize that position. Because I think Cody Clemens is a nice story, but I'm not riding into a playoff series or a stretch run with Cody Clemens playing first base. I can't do it.

So if Bryce can play first or Derek Hall can play first, then you can go get a left fielder so that you can put Kyle Schwarber at a DH spot and at least make that portion of your team better. Now, what I still contend is that if you go get Paul Goldschmidt, I think the value he brings both at first base and in the lineup will outweigh whatever left fielder you go and trade for. Because there's not a Paul Goldschmidt-level left fielder out there unless they want to get real crazy and trade for Juan Soto with the Padres if they don't want to pay him.

That's just my suggestion. I mean, that's obviously insane, but I don't know. I don't know if it is insane. 2-1-5-5-9-2. 94-94 is how you get in. Ryan's in Morristown. What's up, Ryan? Hey, Jack.

How you doing? Auto-downloader for High Hopes. Oh, my guy. My guy. What's up, man? I appreciate it. Yeah, no, I'm glad you brought up Real Muto's play. You know, that was just unbelievable.

The broadcast was great. They hopped on its greatness right out of the gate, and then I saw ESPN cut it up on their app front and center, so just a great play. Yeah, and again, you just don't see catchers in the history of baseball that are able to make that play.

It was like, obviously not the same magnitude, but it was probably the most impressive play by a catcher I've seen really since, I guess, I mean, Chooch's on Doc's no-hitter in the playoffs was also an insanely athletic play. Now, that was just right in front of the plate. JT had to go damn near halfway down the first baseline. That's an insane, insane play. And that's after crouching for seven innings plus.

You know, it's crazy. Yeah, totally. But, yeah, the guy's great. I mean, you know, glad his defense is still doing awesome. But the other reason I want to call, I just want to mention, I got my dad Father's Day tickets, like, you know, weeks ago. So, I took a gamble. The weather was going to be nice.

And the team is going to be riding hot. So, I'm super psyched. We're going to be in the front row in right field tomorrow night, so we're totally psyched. Oh, man. I mean, that sounds like you're going to get Bryce's first home run ball. Oh, my God. We hope so.

I can't wait. All right, buddy. Enjoy the game. And I'm glad the weather is finally opening up. But, of course, you know, just when the rain gets out of here, bang, all of a sudden the Canadian wildfire smoke is back. So we can't catch a break. We can't catch a break.

Either way, yeah, Phil's Nats tomorrow at 6.05. We'll preview that game. Coming up on the other side, run through the rest of your phone calls before handing things off to Tom Kelly. All that is coming up next here on The Final Out. Hey, fantasy football owners. The road to winning your fantasy football championship starts now. I'm Matt Harmon from Reception Perception.

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33-year-old right-hander out of Dartmouth delivers his first pitch, and it's swung on and blasted. Right field corner, and this ball is going to be gone. It clears, and it's a leadoff homer for Schwarber on the first pitch of the night. His 21st of the year, a bullet. And it's 1-0 Phillies. Welcome back.

It is the final out, sponsored by Regency Furniture. Affordable, never looks so good. Yes, that is how tonight's game started. First pitch of the game, Kyle Schwarber just 111 miles per hour off the bat. And again, 34-10 when they score first. And like that's – Kyle Schwarber gives you the best chance to go up 1-0, and that's what they care about. They care about getting on base, and they care about getting the lead first.

And he doesn't hit for a high average. He doesn't move runners along. He is there to do one thing and that's hit the ball far. I understand the batting average drives people crazy. I totally get it. It drives me nuts too. The power is the power. The eye is the eye and that's what he's done so far.

That was obviously a good thing to see. Also, I can't possibly do the final out and react to a baseball game without addressing what in the world the Cubs were doing.

Back-to-back innings, two of the dumbest bunts I've ever seen. First off, Nick Madrigal bunting with two outs to the first baseman. I hope he forgot the outs. Because if that was an idea to steal a run, he should have been benched, frankly. That was atrocious.

I mean, Christopher Murrell, next inning, runners on first and third. What are you doing there? It was... As someone that saw Kyle Schwarber bunt in Game 6 of the World Series for no reason, those were two of the dumbest bunting situations I've seen in my entire life.

And I simply could not continue here on the final out without addressing it because it was just just atrocious we will look ahead to the game here in one second tomorrow but it's time to check on jerry the truck horn driver what's happening jerry jerry why are you on twitter now you're're on Twitter now? You're joining everyone else? Well, I've been on it for a while. I was on it years ago, but I just never got active. But now I'm going to be active as Jerry the Chuck Horn guy. So, you know, I've got to back up all my boys, follow everybody on WIP,

and follow you, and I hope everybody follows me. Atta guy, Jerry. Atta guy. What do you got on the game tonight, man? Well, I'll tell you what, Jack. Them winning nine in a row is big on the road because I know in the last few years watching them, they were bad on the road.

They seemed like they would win at home, and then they'd go out on the road and come back with one or two wins. And the way Walker's pitching, man, if Henry Suarez had been carrying us, in my opinion, had been carrying us for the last month, for the most part, the way they've been pitching. I mean, everybody was talking about how bad the signing was. That guy's a good pitcher.

They didn't sign giving that kind of money just to not think he wasn't going to do anything. Well, and credit to the coaching staff. He was sitting like 92 in the Mets start before they made the adjustment. They made an adjustment in the bullpen. All of a sudden, he's back to 95. Splitter is just falling off the

table. Really, the most impressive thing to me is that cutter. That cutter is something that, first of all, it looks more like a slider than a cutter. It's a pitch that he was able to get some swings and misses on, which just makes his repertoire that much better. One of my

last points is with Schwarber. Everybody, if he hits a home run, his first is bad. and one of my last points is with Schwarber everybody if he hits a home run as first as bat like he has been it gives us the lead and that's exactly what you said they want to have the lead up front

you know and I really I'm starting to really like him as I mean we got to the World Series last year with him being leadoff, and going 34-10, you can't argue with the stats. It doesn't matter if he's hitting under 200, but he's putting up numbers that are helping us win ballgames.

I agree, Jerry, and I appreciate the call. It's just, you know, it's... I think we were spoiled with J-Roll for a while, even though J-Roll wasn't, like, the biggest OBP guy. But he was a good mix of, you know, pretty good batting average, could hit a home run, could get on first base, steal a bag. You know, would I like for that to be Trey Turner? Of course.

But he just hasn't really done it enough this year. And I just can't take the first pitch swing and stuff with Trey Turner. I understand being aggressive, but the way he does it drives me nuts, if that makes sense to anyone. You know, so he was just – there's a lot of – like Trey Turner's game right now, it's just – it's very one-dimensional. You know, I feel like he's been stealing some more bases, which is good to see. He needs to do that. That's why they signed him. But still, I mean, Schwarber, again, I think it gives him the best chance right now. So,

tomorrow, it will be Josiah Gray versus Chris Sanchez. Josiah Gray got off to a really good start to begin the year. He's been cooling off ever since. 4.88 ERA in June. Although his last outing, he did pitch 5.3 of shutout baseball against the Padres. So definitely still has some good... I think he's probably

the Nationals' best pitcher at this point. ERA is still around 3.6. So, you know, as long as Christopher Sanchez can go out, just give them a good solid four or five innings, we take that at this point. But either way, it's an early start tomorrow, 6-0-5. So we will have you for leading off at 5,

and I'll have you for postgame, which I assume is going to be a little bit earlier. So that'll be fun. Either way, Phil's Nats tomorrow. It's going to be good to be home. It's a Nationals team that obviously the Phillies should beat up on, but they do have the Christopher Sanchez start, so they don't have one of their studs in the mound,

although they do get Ranger and Wheeler on the mound this weekend. So that should be good for the Phillies. Either way, looking forward to it. Time to keep this train rolling. The Shaq concert's on Saturday. The Shaq concert is on Saturday. The Shaq concert is on Saturday. I'm sure Tom Kelly will be there in the crowd for that. He's

got you coming up next year on WIP. Thanks for hanging out with me tonight. Nick Earnshaw produced the final out tonight. I'll be back tomorrow with Marks and Reese, and then after the game, reacting to what should be another Phil's win. Nine straight on the road, four straight overall,

and a sweep of the Cubs. Who let the Phil's get hot? Tom Kelly's got you next here on Sports Radio 94 WIP.