As the calendar gets ready to flip from June to July, the Phillies find themselves in a very important stretch of games, six straight against the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals, two of the teams they are chasing in the National League wild-card race.
It’s an opportunity for the postseason-starved Phillies to gain some ground before the All-Star break arrives, but so far, they are not taking advantage of it.
A nine-game homestand has begun with a pair of losses to the sizzling Braves, who are 21-5 in June and now trail the first-place New York Mets by just three games in the NL East.