• The Phillies solidified their hold on first place in the NL East by winning 22 of 28 games in July, by far their best month of the SP78 season. During the month, they never lost two consecutive games, and had winning streaks of 7, 5, and 4 games.
• With five of Philadelphia’s six starters sporting near-4.00 ERAs last month, it was up to their four-man relief squad to save the day: Ron Reed, Larry Brusstar, Tug McGraw, and Rawly Eastwick combined for a 6-0 record in July, with 13 saves and an 0.81 ERA.
• No player on the Phillies has been placed on the disabled list this season.
• With their current major league roster overpowering the National League, and no solid prospects waiting in the wings at their AAA affiliate in Oklahoma City, the Phillies will make no call-ups to begin the new month. Their pitching staff is set as well; with only one pitcher, Horacio Pina, available in their system, manager Danny Ozark has decided to make no changes there except on the off chance one of his parent club pitchers goes on the DL.
• Outfielder Jay Johnstone remains the only AAA call-up for the Phillies this season. Currently, Johnstone is batting .333 in fifteen games; the player he replaced, Orlando Gonzalez, was sent to the 89ers on July 5th after hitting just .095 on the year.
• Philadelphia will go with Steve Carlton, Larry Christenson, Dick Ruthven, and Randy Lerch as their main starters, with Jim Lonborg filling in as a fifth when necessary. Jim Kaat, who had been a spot starter in July, will move to the bullpen for August.
• The Phillies will field the same lineup against both left-handed and right-handed pitchers except in right field, where Bake McBride and Jerry Martin will platoon.
Statis Pro 1978 Replay 
Quite the July record for the Phils. But alas, the season is won or lost in the dog days of September, and without anyone on the DL so far, a traditional Philadelphia Phlop is in store, I’m sure. Look for that Benefiel kid to be a difference maker for the cellar dwelling Redbirds, who will close the gap to 18 games by the end of August on their way to a most improbable finish!
I think that’s going to be the only way to stop the Phillies…put some of their players on the DL. And it looks like they have eight more games against the Cards, so we’ll see if the revitalized Redbirds can sweep all eight, and make it interesting in the NL East!