Philadelphia sports has had a conflicting week or so with the results of the major five sports teams. The Sixers finished their season with a win over first-round playoff-opponent Brooklyn Nets, The Phillies (4-9) are still dealing with their struggles, the Flyers (31-38-13, 75 points) finally finished yet another hard-to-watch season, the Union look to advance in the CONCACAF League tournament as well as snap a winless streak in MLS play, and the Eagles draft news turnstile churns with frequency as Howie Roseman can decide to make a variety of moves and the draft approaches quickly. Don’t worry the first round of the NFL Draft, taking place on April 27th, will be here before we all know. 

The Phillies have taken up much of my thoughts when regarding the Philly sports scene this week. And that is because those pesky Miami Marlins came to ‘The Bank’ and took two out of three from the Phillies. That has more to do with the general state of the team in the early goings of the season. I really was still amazed about Luis Arraez hitting for the cycle in the first game of the series. The Philly Sports Stat of the Week will feature an accomplishment that hasn’t happened very much at all Citizens Bank Park and even less so for guys to don the red pinstripes of a Phillies uniform. 

Philly Sports Stat of the Week: Miami Marlins’ 2B Luis Arraez is the 5th player to hit for the cycle in Citizens Bank Park history. Only the 5th player to have done so and 4th non-Phillie. 

First, let me ask, can you guess the lone Phillie? In short, Luis Arraez proved pretty easily why he was the American League batting champion last year with the Minnesota Twins. The left-handed hitting second baseman showed his lightning-quick hand-eye coordination to get hits and the speed to leg out those extra-base hits. It was certainly frustrating to see Arraez hit with such visible confidence against Aaron Nola. Hoping the Phillies’ cycle luck turns around as the club has some good hitters that can run in Trea Turner, Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, and Edmundo Sosa. 

Honorable Mentions: Conversational Stats

The honorable mentions will be dedicated to giving anyone who reads this site a stat to store in the back of their mind. I don’t like to assume but I tend to assume that anyone who reads this site is most likely the ‘sports person’ for someone in their life. I’m doing my small part to help you look smarter for anyone that thinks you are in fact a walking sports almanac and know everything about the sports world. 

Honorable Mention #1: Jalen McDaniels had his best game yet as a Sixer in Game 81. 

Honorable Mention #2: Joel Embiid and James Harden as a duo has officially made history.

Honorable Mention #3: Shake Milton continues to show his playmaking prowess in Friday, April 7th’s win over the Atlanta Hawks.

Honorable Mention #4: More Joel Embiid and James Harden-related history. What a year from both players, man.

Honorable Mention #5: I found this to be an interesting Flyers stat. 

Honorable Mention #6: The Union are winless in MLS play since April 11th. More here on that if you’re interested.