Phillies' 2024 GDT #47: 5/18/24 Nationals(20-23) @ Phillies(32-14) - 6:05pm

[Christopher]

This team does....not...quit!!!

LOL. I was resigned to bummer loss and win the series tomorrow.

[Helios1989]

It would have been more unexpected if Castellanos would have gotten a hit. Great job by Clemens though

[Christopher]

Fantastic job by Soto
Harper wins it.

[Christopher]

Every time I get down on Soto, he delivers like that in high-leverage.
You just don't give up on southpaws with stuff like that.

[Christopher]

Chance tomorrow to go 20 games over .500

[Christopher]

4 game lead on Braves

[Christopher]

I will say that MLB is really, really top-heavy this year, which is to say that most teams are below average or outright terrible.

The World Series winner will come from this group: Dodgers, Braves, Phillies, Rangers (if their pitching gets healthy), Orioles, Yankees (if Cole returns).

(Apologies to Brewers and Indians; I'm not quite a believer yet. The Indians, especially, could emerge from a weak AL.)

The division leaders and a couple others have done a better than usual job of feasting on the mediocre teams in the first half of the season. Mostly it just shows you how many noncompetitive teams there are -- shameful owners disinterested in contention. I mean, all Kansas City did was add a handful of veteran starting pitchers and its propelled them into the playoff hunt. Most teams chose not to spend this winter.

If everyone stays healthy, it's going to come down to some epic playoff series in October. And it's already pretty clear which teams will be involved in those.

*Please pin this post for when it proves laughably wrong.