O.C., California- Staffeln » A surprising first half and a surge

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — in early August had the Philadelphia Phillies in prime position to reach the postseason.Then they fell apart.Since completing a four-game sweep over the Miami Marlins on Aug. 5 Jack Morris Jersey , the Phillies (74-71) are 11-23 and 0-10-1 in those series. They went from 1 1/2 games ahead of Atlanta in the NL East to 7 1/2 games behind with only 17 games to play.Philadelphia was only one game behind the Cubs for best record in the National League before the tailspin began. Now, finishing with a winning mark will be a challenge.Manager Gabe Kapler’s positive approach hasn’t wavered, but even he can’t find a way to sugarcoat this collapse.“There’s no question that we can play better baseball,” Kapler said. “We are more talented and more prepared than the outcomes that we’re getting, the losses we’ve racked up recently.”So, what happened?“It’s not one thing,” Kapler said. “It’s a collection of many, many things. And to try to boil it down to one thing doesn’t appreciate all the variables.”Here’s a start. The Phillies can’t hit, can’t protect leads and play poor defense.The team has the second-worst batting average (.237) in the majors, is 21st in runs and has third-highest strikeouts.The bullpen has blown four ninth-inning leads against the Washington Nationals alone, including a three-run lead in the second game of a doubleheader Tuesday night. The defense has committed 105 errors, tied for second most.Kapler, hitting coach John Mallee and assistant hitting coach Pedro Guerrero have preached patience at the plate.Based on their reliance on analytics, they’ve also placed more importance on hitting balls in the air. But most of the hitters are trending downward this season.Odubel Herrera has a career-high 21 homers, but career-worst average (.257) and on-base percentage (.313). Cesar Hernandez also has a career-high 11 homers, but a career-worst .256 average and his OBP is down to .361 from .371 last season. Nick Williams also has more homers (17) than he did as a rookie but in more at-bats. His average is down from .288 to .256.Rhys Hoskins (.252, 30 homers and 89 RBIs) has been streaky but overall is the team’s best hitter. Maikel Franco (.268 http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-aledmys-diaz-jersey , 22 homers, 67 RBIs) is the only player who has better overall numbers under the new coaching staff and he’s a player Kapler has tried to bench several times.Despite the hitting woes, Kapler stands by his coaches.“Those two are an incredible tandem,” he said. “They have done a tremendous job. I understand why a correlation with recent struggles would bring up questions about all sorts of things, but in this particular case, I think you’re talking about one of the better hitting coaches in John Mallee and a guy who has supported him in Pedro Guerrero that is off-the-charts good.”General manager Matt Klentak made several moves to try to bolster the offense before the trade deadline and afterward, acquiring All-Star catcher Wilson Ramos, infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, first baseman Justin Bour and veteran slugger Jose Bautista. When healthy, Ramos has been the best hitter. Cabrera was an upgrade over Scott Kingery. Bour and Bautista are bench players.The Phillies pursued Manny Machado, but the Orioles traded him to the Los Angeles Dodgers because Philadelphia wasn’t willing to part with top prospects. Expect the Phillies to go hard after Machado and Bryce Harper in free agency after the season.Machado wouldn’t have made that much of a difference this season. Cabrera has five homers and 17 RBIs in 41 games for the Phillies. Machado has nine homers and 25 RBIs in 49 games for the Dodgers.Klentak added a couple of relievers who haven’t made an impact and passed on acquiring starting pitchers such as Cole Hamels or J.A. Happ to complement NL Cy Young contender Aaron Nola. Hamels has been excellent for the Cubs, going 4-0 with a 1.42 ERA in eight starts.Chicago is 6-2 in those games. Hamels could’ve replaced Nick Pivetta or Vince Velasquez in the rotation. The Phillies are 3-5 in each of their starts in that span. So, it wouldn’t have made enough of a difference.Coming off five straight losing seasons, the Phillies weren’t expected to contend this season. The goal was to have Kapler instill a positive attitude, change the losing culture, develop young talent and find out which players will be part of the nucleus going forward.With plenty of money to spend, Klentak gave Carlos Santana a $60-million http://www.bluejaysfanproshop.com/authentic-aaron-loup-jersey , three-year contract and former NL Cy Young Award winner Jake Arrieta a $75-million, three-year deal in mid-March when he was still available.Santana is only batting .229, but he has a .350 on-base percentage with 23 homers and 82 RBIs. Arrieta is 10-9 with a 3.66 ERA and has failed to step up when needed most. His ERA and WHIP have risen each season since 2015 and his strikeout totals are down each year.The Phillies aren’t ready to start looking ahead to the offseason. They were seven games behind the Mets with 17 to play in 2007 and came back to win the first of five straight division titles.But this team doesn’t have Jimmy Rollins, Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Shane Victorino, Aaron Rowand and Pat Burrell.“It’s not over until we’re eliminated,” Arrieta said. BALTIMORE (AP) — The young players on the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles have endured a whole lot of losses in front of quite a few small crowds this season.Some days, however, are worth savoring.Rookie Cedric Mullins had a career-high four hits, Jonathan Villar and Adam Jones homered and the Orioles beat the Chicago White Sox 8-4 Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.Baltimore jumped to a 5-0 lead in the first inning and made the advantage stand up in front of 19,104 spirited fans on a sunny afternoon.“It’s a great kind of reminder of what has been, what can be and hopefully will be again,” manager Buck Showalter said. “You can tell the younger players feed off that a little bit. These days are hard to find.”Not recently, anyway.After taking control against Lucas Giolito (10-11), Baltimore secured its 43rd victory. That means the Orioles can’t match the major league record of 120 losses in a season, set by the 1962 New York Mets.It’s a small consolation for a team that traded away veteran talent for prospects in July.Sometimes Matt Adams Jersey , the young kids come through. Mullins added a fine catch in center field to go with his four hits; Ryan Meisinger (1-0) got the final two outs in the fifth inning for his first major league victory and Paul Fry finished for his initial big league save.Unfortunately, rookie starter David Hess yielded three home runs and couldn’t get out of the fifth.“When the guys go out there and put up runs for you as a pitcher you want to go and shut it down and show that you have their back,” Hess said. “I wasn’t able to do that.”Daniel Palka hit two solo home runs and Yolmer Sanchez had a two-run shot for the White Sox.Palka, who leads Chicago with 24 home runs, left in the eighth inning after diving in a futile effort to catch a sinking liner.“Jammed his knee and tweaked the other side. Body contorted a bit,” manager Rick Renteria said.Palka said, “It’s fine. It just kind of jammed into the ground.”The Orioles sent nine players to the plate in their biggest first inning of the year. Villar and Jones both hit RBI singles before DJ Stewart collected his first major league RBI with a grounder. Jones scored on an error, and Breyvic Valera capped the uprising with a sacrifice fly.“We just didn’t come out in that first inning ready to play defense, myself included,” Giolito said. “There were quite a few pitches that inning that I left up over the plate. The next thing you know there’s five runs on the board.” Villar homered to make it 6-1 before long balls by Sanchez and Palka chased Hess.Jones hit his 15th homer in the seventh. It’s been a strange month for the 33-year-old veteran, who’s seen a lot of bench time while the rebuilding Orioles look at a few of their younger outfielders.TRAINER’S ROOMWhite Sox: INF Tim Anderson got the day off after playing 27 consecutive games. “I think he’s been pushing and playing great for us,” Renteria said. “My eyes are telling me that he’s a little gassed. Being able to give him a day today and a natural day off tomorrow will be helpful.” … OF Avisail Garcia also is dealing with some soreness and was out of the lineup.Orioles: C Chance Sisco left in the fourth inning after having his chin cut by a foul tip. … RHP Luis Ortiz (hamstring) will receive an MRI on Monday or Tuesday and might be shut down for the season. The rookie hurt himself during his first major league start Friday, the second time this season he’s dealt with a hamstring issue. “It’s something we need to solve as we go forward,” Showalter said.UP NEXTWhite Sox: After a day off Monday, Chicago will call upon lefty Carlos Rodon (6-5, 3.10 ERA) to start in Cleveland. He’s 4-2 with 2.44 ERA lifetime against the Indians.Orioles: Toronto comes to town for a three-game series that begins Monday. Baltimore’s lone three-game sweep of the season was against the Blue Jays last month.