Philadelphia Phillies Stay Hot in Series Win Over Guardians
The Philadelphia Phillies stay hot and win their fifth-straight series against the Cleveland Guardians this season. The team dropped the first game of the series, 6-0, but then proceeded to win the next two games, 7-1 and 3-0, to take the series. The Phillies continue their hot streak that extends back to a road series against the Chicago Cubs, which now looks to be the turning point of the season for the team. Looking back, the Phillies dropped the first game of the series against the Cubs to push their record to 13-13, but then went on to win 11 out of their next 14 games. This series in particular against the Guardians was a full team effort, with the offense coming out hot and the pitching holding strong deep into the starts. With so many expectations on this season, it was huge to see that the Phillies went on the road and picked up a massive series win. Looking deeper into each of the games, there were certain points that needed to be highlighted.
Pitching Rotations Continue to Shine Outside of One Starter
Starting with the pitching rotation, more specifically, the performances of Ranger Suarez and Zack Wheeler. For Suarez he started the second game of the series and pitched an absolute stellar performance. Suarez went seven innings while striking out five batters and only allowing three hits. This start against the Guardians is Suarez’s second appearance this season since returning from the IL, and with his performance, it gave the Phillies a lot of confidence that he can return to his form from last year. As for the game three starter, Zack Wheeler, he had himself a performance just like Suarez did. Wheeler had seven shutdown innings, only giving up three hits to go along with eight strikeouts. The full starting rotation for the Phillies continues to perform at a high level, as Jesus Luzardo is having a career year, and with Cristopher Sanchez performing at a high level as well. The only weak part in the rotation up to this point has been Aaron Nola. Nola had a rough start to the season with a 0-5 record, but got back on track against the Diamondbacks. In the first game of this series against the Guardians, however, Nola struggled yet again. He only went five innings in his start and gave up four runs in the process. Nola will need to pick it up heading towards the end of the season and go back to the standard that Philadelphia fans expect from him.
Bullpen Continues to Become More Steady During Winning Streak
The team as a whole has been hot and performed extremely well during this winning streak, but the development of the bullpen needs to be talked about. Throughout the beginning of the season, the unit was one of the worst in the MLB; since then, the unit has been reliable. In games two and three of the series, the unit had four total innings of work across the two games and only gave up one run. Jose Alvarado and Matt Strahm have been reliable all season, but outside of those two, the unit has grown stronger. One person in particular is Jordan Romano, who has made a huge move in the right direction. In the middle of April, Romano had an ERA of 15.26 at one point and had two blown saves. Since the final game against the Mets, Romano has had four straight appearances where he has not given up any runs and dropped his ERA to 9.45. Outside of Romano, Carlos Hernandez also had a rough start to the season as he had a 9.00 ERA, but just like Romano, he has also stabilized out to an ERA of 5.87. The Phillies will need the bullpen to continue to trend in the right direction and become an area where they can trust.
Offense Stays Hot and Grows in Power Hitting
Outside of the first game of this series, the Phillies’ offense performed well once again, and players continued to get hot. No one is more on fire right now than Kyle Schwarber, who single-handedly won the Phillies’ game three of the series. In the game, Schwarber had two home runs, which were all the Phillies needed to get the 3-0 win. Schwarber, entering the last year of his contract, has proved that he deserves one as he is hitting 0.269 on the year and is making a case for himself to be an MVP candidate. Outside of Schwarber, the two players who have been making the most impact have been Trea Turner and Bryson Stott. Turner is having one of his best seasons in Philadelphia up to this point as he is hitting .310 this season and provides speed on the bases. As for Stott, he has been thrown into the leadoff spot in the lineup, and it has worked wonders for the Phillies. He has raised his batting average to .262 and has unlocked the rest of the Phillies’ lineup. The last person to touch on is the leader of the Phillies offensively in Bryce Harper. Harper has struggled this year but had a home run in game two, and based on his emotion, he needed that. Harper, along with the rest of the Phillies’ offense, will need to stay hot heading towards the middle of the season and hope to stay hot as well.
