Reasons to believe. Or not. | Sports Daily Newsletter

The Phillies rode with Philly Rob last season and that joyride ended up in the World Series.

Are they getting revved up for another deep postseason trip? Here’s what the numbers tell us as the second half begins:

The Phillies are 48-41, almost exactly where they were at this point last year, and just a half-game out of a wild-card spot. Of their 73 remaining games, 51 are against teams that are out of the playoff picture at the moment. (A word of caution there. How many times have Philly teams had an easy late-season road against losing teams and missed the playoff boat anyway? The answer: too many.)

And yeah, they are 12 games behind the Braves. So here we go.

The goal now is for the Phillies to give themselves a chance, David Murphy writes. Bryce Harper is bound to get hot again and start launching home runs, right? That’s one big plus in Murphy’s book. But José Alvarado has not looked as good since his injured-list stint, and that’s one big minus.

In all, Murphy gives three reasons for Phillies fans to hope and three reasons to worry.

Cristopher Sanchez (0-2, 2.84 ERA) seems to have found his mojo, and he’ll take the mound at Citizens Bank Park tonight at 6:05 against San Diego’s Yu Darvish (5-6, 4.87). The game will be tele on NBCSP.

The Phillies will have 43 home games and 30 road contests in this second-half run. Ed Barkowitz takes a closer look at their remaining schedule.

— Jim Swan, Inquirer Sports Staff, @phillysport, sports.daily@inquirer.com.

Jalen Carter is among those being sued by a former University of Georgia recruiting staffer for negligence in being involved in a January car crash that killed two people before he was drafted by the Eagles. Victoria Bowles was injured in the crash, and she joins the father of another passenger in the same vehicle in filing a lawsuit. Carter, who was driving the other vehicle involved, had already pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing.

The Flyers seemed to be nearing the finish line on a trade that would send Tony DeAngelo to the Carolina Hurricanes almost three weeks ago, so what’s going on?

Well, that’s a long story. The deal seems to have been initially held up by a little-known bit of red tape in the NHL’s collective bargaining agreement that prevents players from being traded back to the team they were traded from within a calendar year. But that deadline came and went last weekend and DeAngelo remains a Flyer.

Here’s the latest on DeAngelo’s status and why the trade might be in a holding pattern a bit longer.

The Union entered Wednesday’s game at Nashville having won just one of their last five games. It wasn’t always pretty, but they found a way to grab three massive road points with a 2-0 victory.

How did they do it? Well, outside of two Dániel Gazdag made penalties, they rode their luck at times. Nashville was extremely wasteful with its chances, and whether it was goal-line clearances, posts or wide shots, the Union were continually let off the hook.

Jonathan Tannenwald has his biggest takeaways from the team’s feisty victory in the Music City.

The Women’s World Cup gets underway on July 20 and we offer our top 10 most memorable moments in the tournament’s history.

Next: The Union return home Saturday night to play rival NYCFC at Subaru Park (7:30 p.m., Apple TV).

We asked: When’s the last time you attended a minor league game? Among your responses:

The last time I was at a minor league baseball game was approx 1 month ago but I live in Jacksonville, Fla. We saw the Jumbo Shrimp. Minor league affiliate of Florida Marlins. A couple weeks earlier we saw the Phillies play the Yankees in Clearwater during spring training. — Walt R.

Even though I have a 17-game Phillies plan, I always go to several Delaware Blue Rocks games every year. There is nothing like watching the kids on the way up fight to win games and to see Rocky the Moose. I grew up in Reading and went to many games at Reading Municipal Stadium, going back to when they were the Reading Indians in the ‘50s and ‘60s, then the Reading Red Sox and then the Phillies. There is nothing like minor league, great entertainment for a few bucks. — Ken C.

I‘ve been to a couple Reading Phillies games ( they call themselves the Fightins but it seems contrived and forced). Absolutely love the atmosphere and not a bad seat in house. I spend way more in food and beer than tickets. It’s only about 20 miles from my house. Ez drive usually. And in the opposite direction I’ve been to a Lehigh Valley IronPigs game as well. Also not terribly far. Again great grub and one can sit on a hill and watch the game or eat some Aw-Shucks Corn seasoned . Of course we can watch prospects like Mick Abel , Noah Song, Simon Muzziotti. But it’s also fun to cheer on the average dudes like Jim Haley who’s from Lansdowne. It’s still Americana. — Chris O.

I was a season-ticket holder for the Trenton Thunder while they were affiliated with the Yankees . I loved the atmosphere and competitiveness of the games. I was fortunate enough to see many present-day Yankees and Phillies players (Aaron Judge, Aaron Nola, Alec Bohm) play in Trenton while earning their way to the Big Show . — Joseph R.

I think the only minor league game I ever went to was in 1956 in San Diego to see the Pacific Coast League Padres play the Los Angeles Angels. I was stationed there for a short time while in the U.S. Navy. Former Whiz Kid Dick Sisler played first base for the Padres then and I remember especially cheering for him. I think at the time the Padres were in last place and the Angels were in first. Gene Mauch who later of course would manage the Phillies, played for the Angels. Interesting too was while walking to the game, a friend pointed out a woman working for the Salvation Army who was Ted Williams’ mother. — Everett S.

We compiled today’s newsletter using reporting from David Murphy, Ed Barkowitz, Kerith Gabriel, Devin Jackson, Josh Tolentino, Gustav Elvin, and Jonathan Tannenwald.