There are a number of teams that have been very big surprises in the 2018 Major League Baseball season. The Philadelphia Phillies would have to be at the top of that list. The Phillies were one of the worst teams in baseball in 2017. They played poorly in every aspect of the game. Needless to say, they finished in last place with a terrible record. This is why nobody thought the team would be able to do anything great this year. However, it appears all of the experts were wrong. The Phillies are now 13 games over .500 and have a division title squarely in their sites. They are only two games behind Atlanta for the National League East lead.
The Phillies got a big win on Wednesday night by knocking off the Boston Red Sox, the team with the best record in baseball. They were able to do this thanks to the great performance of Wilson Ramos. The catcher was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays a couple of weeks ago. He paid immediate dividends by having three hits and three runs batted in against the Red Sox in helping the Phillies win by a score of 7-4.
The Phillies are now in a position that nobody expected them to be in before the season began. The division title is right there for the taking. They are in second place and the Braves have not been able to get a huge lead. It will all come down to which team plays better down the stretch. Injuries to key players will have a lot to do with it as well. The aforementioned Ramos spent a month on the disabled list thanks to a sore hamstring. This is the type of injury that the Phillies cannot afford to have if they are going to make the playoffs.
The Phillies could still make the playoffs as a wild card even if they do not win the division. However, no team wants to have their entire season come down to a sudden death wild card game. Therefore, it would be in the Phillies best interests to overcome the Braves and win the division. Beating Boston was very big for the Phillies because the Red Sox have been on such a roll lately. However, the Red Sox do not have as much pressure after their recent sweep of the Yankees basically guaranteed them the division title.
