Phillies in Serious Trouble After Losing Seventh Straight Game and Getting Swept by Marlins

The month of June has not been kind to the Philadelphia Phillies. Of the 19 games they've played this month, they've lost 13. They are also riding a seven-game losing streak that was just punctuated by a three-game series sweep against the lowly Miami Marlins.

This type of slump is the last thing Phillies fans expected before the halfway point of the 2018-2019 MLB season. With so much talent on the offensive and defensive sides, it's quite puzzling what the cause of the Phillies recent losing streak is. However, with a tough upcoming schedule before the All-Star break, Philadelphia is in some serious trouble.

The Phils have two series with the New York Mets, along with one against both the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves before the All-Star break. The Braves series is key because they currently have a 6 1/2 game lead on the Phillies in the NL East. The other two are division games too, making this upcoming stretch critical to their playoff hopes.

Their slump can get be credited to a number of different reasons. In certain games, they lack offensive help and just get flat out outscored. In others their pitching seems to be the problem, especially when it comes to closing out games.

If the Phillies hope to make a serious push in the NL East and for the postseason, something has to change. Getting swept by the last-place team in their division won't get the job done, and they seem to know that.

Until they break this horrendous losing streak and turn things around against division opponents, the Phillies are going to remain in trouble. With plenty of baseball left to play this season, they have more than enough oppurtunities to compete for the division title and utilize their absolutely stacked roster.