August 10, 2026 Edition
The Phillies will go on a Midwest road trip with a pair of three game series in St. Louis and Minnesota. The Phils go in off a home stand where they won 4 of 7 games against Washington and Toronto. The team needed to be better against opposition who are near or at the bottom of their division.
Expectations should be high at St. Louis where Andrew Painter, Christopher Sanchez, and Zack Wheeler take the hill. Sanchez and Wheeler give the Fightin’s a good chance to win when they pitch. Let’s see what Painter can deliver?
A good sign is Kyle Schwarber’s two home run game last Sunday.
The way it is with the Phils is when they start fast, hitting the ball, get an early lead, they win. If the team is not hitting, not a good outcome. Close games, depends on resilience and the bullpen, get the game to Duran, where good things happen.
That was the way it worked against the Nats, who the Phillies have won 9 of 12 games this season. Toronto? Each team won an extra inning game, and the relievers lost it late.
Major League Baseball
In major league baseball; the Phillies hold the third and last wild card spot behind the Chicago Cubs and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In the American League the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox are in a solid position to get postseason wild card berths. Houston and Texas battle for the division and a spot.
Philadelphia Union
The Union will take a trip northbound on the New Jersey turnpike for a Sunday game against the New York City Football Club, who are 10th in the MLS Power rankings. Philadelphia is ranked 24th. The Union come into the game winning dropping a 1 – nil decision to Cruz Asul in a Leagues Cup contest.
Milan Iloski leads the team with 10 goals.
WNBA
The Minnesota Lynx continue to lead the league and will play away games at Portland and a nationally televised game at Las Vegas. A rematch from the Saturday game where Minnesota won 98 – 87.
The Lynx sit atop the standings while the Las Vegas Aces and Golden State Valkyries are close behind. Keep an eye on the Washington Mystics who have run seven consecutive games.
The Indiana Fever are in first place in the East but dropped a close decision to the Aces last week.
Caitlin Clark got her 8th technical in the contest with the Chicago Sky. The WNBA will not suspend her for a game.
Penn State
College football is not far away. The first of the preseason Top 25 poll was released with the Nittany Lions ranked 17th in the Coaches poll. Penn State was in front of Tennessee and Washington, and behind Michigan.
Ohio State ranked number one and Oregon number two. Also receiving a ranking from the Big Ten were; Indiana, USC, and Iowa. The Penn State opener is on Saturday, September 5th in Happy Valley against Marshall.
Villanova
The earliest local beginning the football season is the Villanova Wildcats.
Nova takes to the field on Friday, August 28 at home against William & Mary. It will be the initial Patriot league game for each team as they both were in the Coastal Athletic Association.
The Honor Roll
Kayla McBride of the Minnesota Lynx scored a career-high 43 points in the team’s win over the Dallas Wings. She broke the WNBA mark for made three-pointers in a single game draining 10 of 14 three-point field goals. The record came with 2:23 to play, then she left the game to a standing ovation from the home crowd.
Derek Hill had quite a week for the Phillies. To open he hit a grand slam and made a great defensive play to help preserve the win. In the next game he tried to make a defensive gem but would up hitting his head on the fence. He gave up his body to make the play, and did not want to come out of the game. At the end of the week, he delivered an RBI single to give the Phils a walk-off win over the Blue Jays.
Luis Arraez acquired at the trade deadline gave the Phillies a needed jolt delivering an RBI in four of his first six games as a Phillie. He is a three-time national league batting champion.
With Arraez in town he is the Phillies second baseman. It required switching positions for Bryson Stott who moved to third base. Alec Bohm who moved to first base. And Bryce Harper agreed to play right field. So, a shoutout to the Phillies infield who made changes for the betterment of the ball club.
Commentary
I must comment on the NCAA.
The Division I cabinet approved eligibility rules permitting athletes to five years of eligibility if they enroll in college no later than the academic year of their 19th birthday. Age based eligibility, not seasons of competition eligibility. Divisions II and III have followed along.
Uniformity is good, The good intention is there. But what happened is roster upheaval.
Coming into this season coaches are not sure who exhausted their eligibility, who can come back, and some players are going to court to come back onto the field. And it is August.
Coaches do not like chaos.
Who did they recruit? Who is coming back? Who is leaving because of this?
Could it have waited a year?
Not good. And I ask: Is academics a part of the equation? Probably not which cheapens education.
Money?
Colleges and universities, you also can get sizeable donations and endowments because of communications, medical, business, and education curriculum. Remember?
Written By: Glenn Papazian
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