Philly Today: End-Times Flooding, Digging Into Crime Stats, and an Up-and-Down Weekend for the Phils

Cristian Pache of the Philadelphia Phillies looks on after hitting a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins on July 7. (Photo by Sam Navarro/Getty Images)

Check phillymag.com each morning Monday through Friday for the latest edition of Philly Today. And if you have a news tip for our hardworking Philly Mag reporters, please do so here. You can also use that form to send us reader mail. We love reader mail!

Happy Monday! Maybe we’ll see some sun today, but probably not. So let’s get to the news:

Fox 29’s License Fate

The Media and Democracy Project has asked the FCC to deny Fox 29’s request for renewal of its broadcasting license for putting out “knowingly false narratives” about the 2020 election.

Getting Deeper Into Crime Data

And on the subject of fake news, here’s the Brookings Institution’s fascinating study on where crime actually occurs in four major cities, including Philadelphia.

Call the Coast Guard

Cars were swimming on the Schuylkill Expressway yesterday after the wild rains and backed-up drains sent water reaching right over the concrete median.

The Schuylkill Expressway has a big problem already, and this is just the beginning. 🫨😳 #Pawx #FlashFloodWarning #PhillyWx #SevereWeather #flashflood pic.twitter.com/QPXxWevGgY

— AC  (@ACinPhilly) July 9, 2023

And cars were floating on the streets of Wayne. Is that drought over yet?

Phenomenal Phenom

Look what South Philly’s Mo’ne Davis, the Taney Dragons’ Little League World Series hero and and Springside Chestnut Hill Academy grad, is up to these days!

And from the Break Time! Sports Desk …

So the Phillies were in sunny Florida on Friday night to start their series with the Marlins. The stands were not exactly packed, but I don’t think that’s our fault. Trea Turner kicked it off with a single off Sandy Alcantara that was wasted when he got picked off. Zack Wheeler, who was 7-4 on the season to that point, gave up a single, a double and another single and a ground-out in the second to put FLA on the board, 2-0. A solo Garrett Cooper homer to start the fourth added another, while the Phils got nothing in the fifth despite singles by Darick Hall and Kyle Schwarber.

Finally, in the sixth, J.T. Realmuto hit a two-out … solo homer. Did it spark a rally? Um, no. With Tanner Scott in for Alcantara and Jeff Hoffman in for Wheeler, the eighth was uneventful. But in the ninth, with A.J. Puk in for Scott, J.T. singled, Stott struck out, Bohm doubled in one, and pinch-hitter Josh Harrison struck out, bringing another pincher, Cristian Pache, up to bat. And he hit a two-run homer that just barely got over the wall — his first pinch hit of his career, to make it 4-3 Phils!

Who ya gonna call? Craig Kimbrel! Jean Segura singled off our ace reliever, but Joey Wendle hit a grounder and fell on his way to first for an easy double play. Yuli Guriel popped up, and it was all over: 13 road wins in a row to tie a franchise record! And Pache got an epic bath.

A MINI DAYCARE TIDAL WAVE TO CELEBRATE THE PLAYER OF THE GAME AKA CRISTIAN PACHE pic.twitter.com/xhmIfAK3Wo

— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) July 8, 2023

On Saturday afternoon, Turner got things going with a solo (duh) homer off Braxton Garrett (not a bad baseball name) in the first, but the Marlins’ Jorge Soler took Ranger Suárez yard in their half, and they tacked on two more on a single, two walks and another single before J.T. put an end to that by throwing out a steal try at second. And damn if the Phils didn’t come right back to tie it off singles by Bohm and Sosa, a Pache double and a Schwarbs ground-out. In the third, Harper was whacked by a pitch right on the elbow he had surgery on, causing a collective Phillies nation inhale, but he stayed in the game … and got caught stealing. Double ouch.

Ranger allowed two singles in the fourth, loaded them with a walk, and let one more in with a sac fly. In the fifth, after two outs and a Big Nick single, Stott came in to hit for Harper and popped out. Hmm, what about that elbow? Ranger made it through the fifth and two-thirds of the sixth, when he came out for Yunior Marte. In the bottom of the seventh, he gave up a single and a walk and an RBI single, then got out of further trouble with a double play. Dylan Covey, whom the radioheads have been bitching about, had a 1-2-3 eighth, and we were on to the top of the ninth. Could the Phils pull off a miracle again against A.J. Puk? Nope: 5-3 loss, and end of the road-game streak.

On Sunday afternoon, we got word that Alvardo had gone onto the 15-day injured list again with elbow inflammation, and Andrew Bellatti, who’d been tearing up Triple A, had been called up. Also out of the game: Bryce Harper, whose elbow wasn’t broken, thank God, but was still sore. In the bottom of the first, Bryan De La Cruz whacked a double off Aaron Nola and Jesus Sanchez homered before anybody really caught their breath. Stott singled and stole second in the second and Pache did the same in the third to no avail, and Dane Myers homered to start the bottom of that inning. De La Cruz then homered, too, and a couple of singles and a Bohm bobble scored another. Make that 5-0 Marlins. Oy.

Stott led off the fifth with a single and Sosa homered him home, so maybe there was still hope! After Luzardo hit Stott with a pitch in the seventh, the Marlins brought in J.T. Chargois. The Phils subbed Strahm for Nola in the bottom half, and a couple of singles and some weird but savvy base-running by Myers scored another run. Marsh led off our eighth with a single, and that went pfft. In the bottom half, Gregory Soto, in to pitch, surrendered a single, a double and another single to score another. For the ninth, Bohm walked and Realmuto singled, and a Stott grounder brought another run home, but there would be no miracle this time, either. Final 7-3. Oh, goody:

Aaron Nola now leads the league in HRs allowed pic.twitter.com/orTikHRsVv

— John Foley (@2008Philz) July 9, 2023

And in Doop News …

The Union were in L.A. Saturday to play the Galaxy for the first time since 2019, and it was a fast-paced game from the start. We were missing left back Kai Wagner, still out with a hamstring pull. Guess who picked up a yellow card five minutes in? José Martinez. Backup goalie Joe Bendik let a pretty easy shot by Tyler Boyd go through 15 minutes in, and Alejandro Bedoya got slapped with a yellow, too, but a Glesnes pass to Mikail Uhre in the 35th minute evened the score. Alas, L.A. scored again in the overage off a corner on a lucky deflection by defender Chris Movinga. The Apple TV broadcast kept going in and out, and L.A. scored again during one of the outages. Great job with the partnership, MLS. So con-VEEE-nient. This sour mood brought to you by a losing effort, 3-1. They play Nashville away on Wednesday at 8:30.

In better news, for the second straight year, defender Jakob Glesnes has been named to the MLS All-Star team. And you want weird headlines? We got your weird headlines. 

In World Cup action yesterday, the U.S. Women’s National Team beat Wales, 2-0, on two late goals by Trinity Rodman. And in the CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinal, the U.S. Men’s National Team played Canada in Cincinnati. After a whole lotta no scoring, the U.S. finally notched one in the 88th minute on a long pass from DeJuan Jones to a glorious header to Cincinnati Brandon Vázquez. Alas, a Canadian penalty kick three minutes into stoppage on a handball by Miles Robinson tied it up. Overtime! Oh goddamn: Canada scored again at 108:31 on a long, hard strike to go up 2-1. Fuck you, Jacob Shaffelburg. Ten minutes left. But Amurrica matched it with six minutes left on a deflection off a defender: Soccer justice! Shootouts to come! And on their final chance, Canada bounced theirs off the crossbar. U.S. wins. Holy heaven. We play Panama next, in the quarterfinal. U.S.A.!