Salisbury: Phillies put a dent in ‘can’t beat the Mets’ narrative, take over first place as summer arrives

Dan Baker, the Phillies’ longtime public address announcer, was in the mood early.
“A battle for first place in the National League East!” he told the huge crowd at Citizens Bank Park as he began to announce the starting lineups before Sunday night’s nationally televised clash between the Phillies and New York Mets.
The Phillies won the battle, 7-1, on the strength of excellent starting pitching from Jesus Luzardo and the longball power of Kyle Schwarber and Edmundo Sosa. They flew to Houston late Sunday night sitting in first place in the NL East. They won the battle that Baker spoke about before the game, but, hey, we all know there’s a long way to go in the war. Summer arrived only 20 min...