Battle at the Bank: Phillies Prepare for Battle Against the Milwaukee Brewers
The Philadelphia Phillies continue their homestand with a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers this weekend. The team enters the series hot with four straight series wins, including two sweeps over the Pirates and the Rockies. During this current home stand, the Phillies have already secured a series win over the Atlanta Braves; however, look for the sweep with the final game being played Thursday night. The Phillies as a whole have been hot recently, with the rotation going deep into starts, but also the offense starting to come alive as of late. No one has been hotter for the Phillies than Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber has led the way offensively with 19 home runs to go along with 41 RBIs and a .253 batting average. The Phillies' offense has also relied on Trea Turner with his .303 batting average and Nick Castellanos, who is having himself a sneaky good season. On the mound, it has been Zack Wheeler leading the charge, but also newcomer Jesus Luzardo, who has shown himself to be one of the top pitchers this season. The Phillies as a whole are filled with star talent and have a lot of expectations for their season, with the goal being to win a World Series.
As for the Brewers, they have had an up-and-down season up to this point with a 29-28 record, which puts them third in the NL Central. The team got off to a slow 0-4 start and has struggled to find consistency throughout most of the season up until this point. The team comes into the matchup riding a four-game win streak, including a sweep over the Boston Red Sox. The team offense has been led by right fielder Sal Frelick, with a .294 batting average. Former Phillies player Rhys Hoskins has been having a great season with a .282 batting average and 29 RBIs up to this point. The Brewers look to come into Philadelphia and continue their hot streak and potentially end the Phillies' hot streak.
5/30 - 6:45 p.m. EST
In the first game of the series, it will be Taijuan Walker for the Phillies against Quinn Priester for the Brewers. Walker, this year, has had a huge bounce-back season from his previous two years in Philadelphia. In the two previous years, Walker had struggled mightily with a 4.38 ERA in 2023 and then a 7.10 ERA in 2024. This year, Walker has dropped his ERA down to 2.97 and has served as a key piece for the Phillies. Due to the injuries of some of his teammates, Walker has spent time in the bullpen but also in the rotation and has been reliable in both roles. On the other hand, Priester has struggled to start the season. He comes into the matchup with a 1-2 record to go along with a 4.23 ERA in nine appearances. In those appearances, the Brewers have won two out of the nine games, while Priester individually has only reached the sixth inning once this season. The Phillies will need to jump on Priester early and try to get him out of the game and clinch a Game One win.
5/31 - 4:05 p.m. EST
In the pivotal second game of the series, it will be Jesus Luzardo starting for the Phillies against Chad Patrick for the Brewers. Luzardo, this season for the Phillies, has been nothing short of spectacular in each of his appearances for the Phillies in the season. Luzardo has a perfect 5-0 record to go along with a 2.15 ERA, eighth in the MLB, and has tallied 77 strikeouts, which is also top-10 in the MLB. His performance this season has helped the Phillies tremendously as the team has won eight out of his 11 starts. Additionally, his performance this season so far has thrown him into the conversation for early-season Cy Young candidates. Unfortunately for the Brewers, Patrick has not had the same amount of success as Luzardo this season. Patrick enters the matchup with a 2-4 record to go along with a 2.97 ERA, which is solid. The problem with Patrick is that he rarely goes deep into his starts, which causes more of the bullpen to be used. Out of his 12 starts this season, he has only hit the fifth inning five times and only reached the sixth inning three times. Additionally, the Brewers have struggled in his starts as the team has only won six out of the 12 games he has appeared in. Luzardo will look to keep things rolling on his fantastic season and pick up the Game Two victory for the Phillies.
6/1 - 1:35 p.m. EST
In the final game of the series, it will be Ranger Suarez for the Phillies, and as of right now, the Brewers have not announced a starter for the series finale. Suarez, since coming back from an injury that kept him out the first month and a half of the season, has been great for the Phillies. In his initial start, he struggled against the Diamondbacks, where he gave up seven runs in only 3.2 innings of work. Since that performance, Suarez has returned to his normal form that Phillies fans have been used to. In his next four starts, Suarez has gone to at least the sixth inning in each and has only a combined three runs in 26.2 innings of work. Suarez has bounced back majorly and has resulted in a perfect 4-0 record to go with a 2.97 ERA. The Phillies will look for Suarez to have another solid game to hopefully pull ahead of the Brewers in the series finale.
