Phillies (49-83) at Marlins (66-66)
7:10 p.m. on CSN; streaming live on CSNPhilly.com and the NBC Sports App
After losing to the Braves just twice in the first 14 meetings this season, the Phillies lost to them twice on Wednesday to conclude a 10-game homestand.
Now the Phils hit the road for an 11-game road trip through Miami, New York and Washington.
Here are some thoughts on tonight's game and the series in general:
• Giancarlo Stanton hasn't slowed down. He enters this series hitting .292/.384/.665 with 51 home runs and 110 RBIs. He's on pace for 63 homers.
This appears to be more than just a hot streak for Stanton. It goes all the way back to July 4, which was 50 games ago. Over that span, Stanton has hit .342 with 30 homers and 60 RBIs. He's changed to a closed batting stance with his front foot much closer to the plate than his back foot. It's the kind of stance you don't see much of in the modern game, but it's allowing Stanton to cover the outside portion of the plate, which had given him trouble in recent years.
• As brutal as Wednesday was for the Phillies, Rhys Hoskins did single in both games to extend his hitting streak to 12 games. Hoskins is batting .303/.398/.763 with 11 homers and 25 RBIs in 21 games.
MLB
• Ben Lively makes his 10th career start tonight. He enters 1-5 with a 4.36 ERA, though that's a bit deceiving. Lively has allowed three earned runs or less in seven of nine starts. This is his first start against the Marlins.
Lively, like Mark Leiter Jr., has a big opportunity ahead of him in September. The Phillies' starting rotation has only one lock for next year in Aaron Nola. Beyond that, it's all question marks. If Lively and Leiter have decent showings in the final month, it could put them on track to battle for the fifth starter's job next spring.
• The Phillies face Marlins right-hander Odrisamer Despaigne, a name I'd love to hear Dan Baker say. Despaigne spent most of the season as a reliever but had a quality start last week against his former team, allowing one run over six innings to the Padres.
Despaigne pitched 2⅔ scoreless innings of relief against the Phillies on Aug. 23. He has four pitches: a fastball and sinker that average 93 mph, a cutter in the high-80s and a changeup in the low-80s.
Current Phillies are 7 for 16 off of him with a double, two triples and a homer. The longball belongs to Cameron Rupp. Cesar Hernandez is 2 for 2 with a pair of extra-base hits.
• Could Freddy Galvis play center field again tonight? It would be interesting to watch given the extreme size of the outfield at Marlins Park. Galvis is so smooth and instinctive that he looked like an experienced centerfielder on Wednesday even though it was his first-ever start at the position.
This could be more of a short-term thing than a big picture issue for the Phillies. They just need someone to catch balls in center field right now with Odubel Herrera sidelined another day or two. Pedro Florimon lost a ball in the sun in the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, and last week Nick Williams took some questionable routes in center.
• With Hoskins and Williams going 3 for 15 with three singles in yesterday's doubleheader, the Phillies' offense looked pretty weak. Reminiscent of early June, when the Aaron Altherr-reliant offense went into the tank as soon as his hot streak ended. Reinforcements appear to be on the way, though, as it looks like Herrera and Altherr will be activated from the DL when rosters expand Friday.
Herrera and Altherr both begin rehab assignments Thursday night with Double A Reading.
• Jerad Eickhoff was placed on the 10-day DL with a nerve irritation in his right hand. He'll have testing today to figure out the cause of the issue. Reliever Ricardo Pinto takes Eickhoff's place on the active roster.