Phillies Return Home Looking to Bounce Back Against the San Diego Padres
The Philadelphia Phillies return home to face the San Diego Padres and look to bounce back from their recent road trip. Coming into the matchup, the Phillies finished off a brutal road trip where the team lost four out of the six games, including being swept by the Houston Astros. On top of the poor team performance, the team only scored 16 runs on the entire road trip, with 13 of those coming in one game. On the other hand, the pitching looked amazing outside of game two against the Braves, where Jordan Romano gave up a grand slam. The Phillies held their opponents to only 12 runs across the six games, with six of those runs coming in the game against the Braves, talked about earlier. The Phillies are one of the teams trying to compete for a championship, and with how the offense is looking currently, they will need to make some changes or get hot quickly. With the Padres coming into town, the Phillies’ offense will be challenged at the plate by one of the best teams in the NL.
Speaking of the Padres, they enter the matchup with a 45-38 record to put them second in the stacked NL West Division. The team has been streaky this whole year with massive win streaks, but then falling to better opponents like the Dodgers. On their current road trip, the team is 1-2 after its contest with the Reds but looks to bounce back offensively at Citizens Bank Park. The team is led by Manny Machado, who is becoming a Padres legend late in his career, with a .293 batting average and 13 home runs. Outside of Machado, it has been Fernando Tatis Jr., who is batting .258, and Luis Arraez, who is batting .283 on the year. The Padres have all the talent they need to compete for a championship and look to turn the tide and gain some momentum in the matchup with the Phillies this week.
Monday 6/30 - 6:35 p.m. EST
In game one between those two teams, it will be Zack Wheeler taking the mound for the Phillies against Matt Waldron for the Padres. Starting with Wheeler, he has been a dominant force for the Phillies this entire season and his entire career in Philadelphia. Wheeler continues to put himself in the conversation to be an NL Cy Young Candidate with his performance this season to go along with his 7-3 record. As for his counting stats, Wheeler comes into the matchup with a 2.45 ERA, the best of his career, and the third most strikeouts in the MLB with 126. With Wheeler on the mound, look for the game to be low-scoring for the other team, as Wheeler has dominated his opponents most of this season. As for Waldron, he makes his season debut for the Padres after being out to start the year. Waldron enters the third year of his MLB career, where he is still struggling to find himself. Last season, Waldron pitched 146.2 innings, over a 100-inning increase from the season before, and performed well at times. Now, the young pitcher will look to start 2025 with a bang against the Phillies lineup.
Tuesday 7/1 - 6:35 p.m. EST
In game two of the series, it will be Cristopher Sanchez on the mound for the Phillies against former Phillies player Nick Pivetta. Sanchez, this season for the Phillies, has been lights out in his performances. He enters the matchup with a 6-2 record to go along with a 2.79 ERA, the best of his career up to this point. Sanchez has not only shut down his opponents but also gone deep into his starts, as in three of his last five starts, he went to at least the sixth inning. Unfortunately for Sanchez, in his most recent start, he went six innings while striking out 11 but gave up one run, which ended up costing the Phillies the game. Sanchez will look to bounce back against the Padres and get back into the win column. As for Pivetta, he spent the first three years of his career in Philadelphia before eventually ending up in San Diego. This year, Pivetta is having one of the best starts of his career with an 8-2 record. As for his counting stats, Pivetta has a career-best 3.36 ERA to go along with 101 strikeouts, which is tied for the top 20 in the MLB. Pivetta will look to get revenge on his old team and steal a game for the Padres.
Wednesday 7/2 - 1:05 p.m. EST
In the series finale, it will be youngster Mick Abel for the Phillies against Dylan Cease for the Padres. Starting with Abel, he enters his sixth start of his young MLB career, which he has done well so far. He comes in with a 2-1 record to go along with a 3.47 ERA; however, he has slowed down recently. He first burst onto the scene, only giving up one run in his first two starts, but since then has given up eight runs in his last three starts. Abel will look to build back some confidence and test himself against a tough Padres lineup. As for Cease, he enters his second year in San Diego, which has not been the best start for him. He comes in with a 3-7 record to go along with a 4.53 ERA, the third worst in his career. Cease has traditionally been known as a solid pitcher but has struggled this year so far. He will look to get back to his usual self against a Phillies lineup that is ice-cold.
