PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — When the week began, we wrote about how this week's Philadelphia Phillies series at the Arizona Diamondbacks was essential.
Did the Phils get the memo?
Manager Joe Girardi was adamant his ballclub took the D-Backs seriously.
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Arizona entered the week with the worst record in baseball. Of course, after sweeping the Phillies while holding them to a combined six runs over three games, the Diamondbacks no longer sport that distinction.
When asked if his team overlooked their lowly opponents, Girardi waved his hands and said, "No, no, no, no."
Video courtesy NBC Sports Philadelphia. Turn to 2:31 mark.
Girardi pointed out that Arizona had just won three out of four against the talented San Diego Padres, whom the Phils visit this weekend.
Like the Phillies, losers of seven out of nine, the Padres have dropped seven out of eight. That has jeopardized their once-comfortable position as the National League's second wild card holder.
The Phils need to find a way to take advantage of San Diego's slump to rid themselves of theirs.
That won't be easy though.
Petco Park, unlike Arizona's Chase Field, will have an energetic atmosphere. The latter was very empty over the three-game series.
Maybe that contributed to what was a trio of lackluster performances, especially offensively.
Who knows? Maybe playing in front of an enthused opposing team's crowd over the weekend will give the Phils' bats the jolt they need.
The Phillies' best players haven't been producing like they need to. Just about everyone on the team is struggling offensively.
How are J.T. Realmuto and the Phils supposed to fix that?
"It's just baseball, you know," Realmuto said after Thursday's 6-2 loss to Arizona.
"Tomorrow we could go out and score 12 runs, and we'll be out of the funk. I don't know if there's necessarily one way to do it, because if that was the case, we'd never go in slumps."
The bottom line is the Phils got swept by an Arizona team they should have had a field day against, with the sweep coming against Phils ace Zack Wheeler.
"This is a team that you don't want to get swept by," Wheeler said. "This is true, and we need to take that personal and go out there and just finish out strong."
There are 41 games to go. The Phillies enter the weekend four games behind the red-hot Atlanta Braves for first place in the National League East and five games behind the Padres for the second wild card, with three teams to jump including San Diego.
A sweep by the Phillies in southern California could go a long way as September approaches.
It would also do away with the stench that's been the Phils since their eight-game winning streak was snapped August 10.