Marlon Byrd (.295 BA) has been consistent at home and on the road
By Sam Bush
Sometimes home cooking and a familiar bed aren’t all they are cracked up to be.
Take the Phillies.
Please!
After Wednesday’s 3-0 loss to the Angels, the Phils fell to four games below .500 for the first time all season. Of their last nine games, they lost seven — three in which have been shutouts.
Luckily for the Phillies, 15 of their next 18 games will come at Citizens Bank Park.
Actually, they are not quite so lucky.
The Phillies are just 6-11 at home this season and have dropped eight of 11. Only Arizona (.200) and Houston (.333) entered Wednesday with a worse winning percentage at home than the Phillies.
“We need the timely hitting, especially here at home,” Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. “We need to tune up the bats here at home and score some runs and put the two together to create a chance to win.”
It’s especially perplexing since the Phillies are 11-10 on the road, where they’ve averaged 4.4 runs per game while batting .259.
At home, the club is putting up only 3.1 runs a night and batting .234.
“We need to do a little bit better driving the ball here in our home park,” Sandberg said. “This is considered a hitters’ park. Teams come in and swing the bats. We need to step it up and swing the bats as well.
“It comes with quality at-bats. It comes with some occasional power in there and the mixture. That’s something we need to improve on.”
