MAIKEL FRANCO used the word "energy" to describe what he saw out of his teammates Sunday afternoon. Even on a cool, gray day in a half-filled ballpark, the description was accurate.
There has been plenty said about the Phillies' shortcomings on the offensive side of the field, all of it accurate, but nobody can accuse them of underacheiving. You saw it throughout a 5-0 win over the Braves that improved them to 25-19 and helped to erase the aftertaste of a couple of especially lackluster performances at the plate.
Whether it was Tyler Goeddel stretching a double into a triple or Cesar Hernandez scoring from first on Franco's two-run single in the sixth, the Phillies showed an aggressive brand of baseball that the 25,000 or so fans who showed up for this series finale seemed to genuinely appreciate.