Philadelphia Phillies: No runs in previous 14 innings is terrible timing

The Philadelphia Phillies begin a new series on Monday against the Boston Red Sox on a three-game losing streak.

When the Philadelphia Phillies smashed seven home runs against the Cincinnati Reds last Thursday, it seemed like this past weekend was going to be the perfect opportunity to build their lead in the NL East over the Atlanta Braves.

Instead, the Phillies took a complete turn from that impressive performance on Thursday against the Reds by going on to lost each of their next three games, all while watching their slim lead in the division get trimmed to 1.5 games over the Braves.

Normally, it’s tough to make a big deal over a disappointing outing like this since it’s only one series, and baseball is a very, very long season. However, when looking at how this race in the NL East could end up going down to the final week of the 2018 season, Philadelphia needs every win they can get at this point.

What was even more frustrating to see is the Phillies failed to take advantage of the Braves losing four games in a row of their own before ending the weekend on a high note be defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers, meaning they could have easily increased their NL East lead.

Without question, one of the most frustrating factors from the last couple of days has been the lack of consistent offense, as Philadelphia has officially gone 14 innings without scoring a single run following Sunday’s 4-0 loss in the series finale to Cincinnati.

Nothing against Luis Castillo since he put on quite the performance in seven innings during Sunday’s contest while striking out nine batters, but when looking at some of the fire power the Phillies has to work with, it was embarrassing to see them fail to even score a single run.

With Atlanta beginning a favorable series on Monday against the Miami Marlins along with Philadelphia preparing for a tough battle on the road against the Boston Red Sox, the Phillies struggling on offense couldn’t have come at a worse time.

The only chance Philadelphia is going to have at making this series against Boston competitive is if the bats come out since the Red Sox have the best record in baseball for a reason.

To be the best, a team has to challenge the best, and if the Phillies want to make a true statement about being a legitimate playoff contender, this is the perfect series against the Red Sox to do so, especially after a disappointing finish to their previous series against the Reds.