Phillies Look to Bounce Back with Home Series Against the Cubs

The Philadelphia Phillies return home to Citizens Bank Park looking to bounce back in a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs. The Phillies returned home after a six-game road trip during which the team struggled. They came out of the road trip with a 1-5 record, which included being swept by the Pirates. During the road trip, it was the bats that struggled to get anything going, resulting in the team scoring only 16 runs across the six games, with eight of those runs coming in one game. This has not been the only rough patch this season, but this one has hit the hardest. The Phillies have only won one game out of their last 10, even before the road trip. The fall has not only dropped the team out of first place in the NL East but has now pushed them to be four games behind the Mets for first. Still, the last time the Phillies played the Cubs, they were in a similar state and were able to spark a turnaround. The Phillies will look to repeat the turnaround, but this time on their home field. 

Monday 6/9 - 6:45 p.m. EST

For the opening game of the series, it will be Zack Wheeler for the Phillies against Matthew Boyd for the Cubs. Wheeler, this season for the Phillies, has been up and down to this point in the year. Phillies fans have become accustomed to Wheeler being dominant on the mound during every start, and that has not happened this year. Yes, Wheeler has been phenomenal during the majority of his starts, however, he has had major hiccups this year, including his last start, where he gave up six runs in five innings against the Braves. Wheeler has still been the ace for the Phillies' rotation with a 6-2 record to go along with a 2.96 ERA, but the Phillies will need Wheeler at his best against Boyd and the Cubs. As for Boyd, he has been very solid this season for the Cubs with a 5-3 record across 12 starts. In those starts, Boyd has kept the games very competitive for the Cubs, only having a 3.01 ERA, and has to at least the sixth inning in eight out of his 12 starts. The Cubs will rely on Boyd to keep the game close against a Phillies lineup that is ice-cold right now. 

Tuesday 6/10 - 6:45 p.m. EST

In the second game of the series, it will be young pitcher Mick Abel against Colin Rea for the Cubs. Abel, this season for the Phillies, was recently called up to the big leagues and has only seen two games of action, but has excelled in both starts. The pitcher has only gone a combined 11.1 innings but has shown a lot of promise with a 0.79 ERA to go along with 11 strikeouts. Abel has given the Phillies and their fans a lot of excitement for the rest of the season, and to see what he can be for a team that’s looking to win a championship. His opponent in the matchup is Colin Rea, who has performed decently for the Cubs this year. Rea comes into the start with a 4-2 record to go along with a 3.59 ERA. The downfall for Rea up to this point has been his inability to stay in the game for long, as he has reached the sixth inning only twice in his nine starts as a starter. Despite not getting deep into starts, the Cubs have performed extremely well when he pitches, with only four losses in his 13 appearances. The Cubs will look to keep that trend going and steal a game from the Phillies on the road. 

Wednesday 6/11 - 1:05 p.m. EST

In the final game in the series, it will be Jesus Luzardo for the Phillies against Ben Brown for the Cubs. To start the season, Luzardo was on fire for the Phillies and put himself into an early conversation to be a Cy Young contender. Across his first 11 starts, Luzardo has a 5-0 record to go with a 2.15 ERA and has only given up 16 runs across 68 innings of work. In his past two starts, everything has completely flipped in the wrong direction for Luzardo. In only 5.2 innings of work, Luzardo has given up 20 runs and 21 hits, resulting in his ERA being inflated to 4.46 and his record going to 5-2. The Phillies will look for Luzardo to get back on track against the Cubs and get back to his form to start the season. As for Brown, he has also struggled this year with a 5.37 ERA and a 3-4 record, but has been better recently. During his last two starts, Brown went at least to the sixth inning in both and only gave up a combined two runs. Brown will look to build on his success in the final game against the Phillies.