The Phillies finish their past week of baseball with a 5-1 record over 6 games. They swept the Cardinals in a 3-game series at home and won 2 of 3 against the Angels at home. Over the 6 games for the week, they outscored opponents 48-24. It was a huge week for the Phillies in which they extended their lead in the Wild Card race. The offense remained incredibly hot, as they wrapped up what was a very impressive month of August. The Phillies have hit 59 home runs in the month of August, the most in any calendar month in franchise history.
They are 7-3 in their last 10 games and remain in 2nd place in the NL East with a 74-59 record, 14 games behind the Braves and 7.5 games ahead of the Marlins. They are currently alone in the first Wild Card position with a 3 game lead over the Cubs as they begin the month of September with a 6-game road trip featuring series with the Brewers and Padres.Rosters expand from 26 to 28 players on September 1st and it is likely Christian Pache will rejoin the team. Ranger Suarez is also expected to return September 3rd.
NL Wild Card Standings
Hitting Stats (last 7 days)
Pitching Stats (last 7 days)
Injury Updates
Ranger Suarez - Suarez was placed on the 15-day injured list August 19th with a right hamstring strain. Suarez has a strong possibility of returning to the rotation Sunday, Sep. 3rd.
Christian Pache - Pache has been on the injured list since July 17. Pache will play in Lehigh Valley Wednesday and Thursday and if all goes well could return to the majors after rosters expand in September.
Results:
8/25 vs. St. Louis Cardinals - W (7-2)
Christopher Sanchez took the mound in the series opener against Miles Mikolas. Paul Goldschmidt hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 1st to take a 2-0 lead. In the bottom of the 2nd, Garrett Stubbs hit a 2-RBI double followed by a Kyle Schwarber RBI double as the Phillies took a 3-2 lead.
Bryson Stott hit an RBI sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 3rd to extend the lead to 4-2. Alec Bohm hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 6th. In the bottom of the 7th, Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run, followed by a Harper triple and a Castellanos RBI double to extend the Phillies’ lead to 7-2.
Christopher Sanchez really settled in after the first inning and had a great outing, going 6 innings with 6 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 2 earned runs on 5 hits. Sanchez, Alvarado, Bellatti, and Hoffman combined to retire the last 21 consecutive batters. The Phillies had 11 hits as a team as Schwarber, Harper, Bohm, and Marsh had multi-hit ball games.
8/26 vs. St. Louis Cardinals - W (12-1)
Zach Wheeler got the start against Dakota Hudson. Luken Baker hit a solo home run in the top of the 3rd to put the Cardinals up 1-0. The Phillies answered with 2 runs in the bottom of the 3rd on an RBI double play and a Harper RBI single. Bryson Stott hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 4th to extend the lead to 3-1.
Bryce Harper hit an RBI single in the 5th inning, extending the lead to 4-1. Alec Bohm hit an RBI single in the 6th inning and the Phillies offense exploded in the 7th, scoring 7 runs in the frame. In the 7th, Trea Turner hit an RBI single, Castellanos hit a 3-run home run, and Brandon Marsh hit a 3-run home run. The Phillies led 12-1 after 7 innings.
Zach Wheeler was excellent on the mound, going 7 innings with 10 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 1 earned run on 3 hits. Soto and Covey each threw scoreless innings out of the bullpen to end the game. The Phillies had 12 hits as a team, led by Bryce Harper (3 for 4 with a double,walk, 2 RBI, and a run), Trea Turner (2 for 4 with a double, RBI, and 2 runs), Bryson Stott (2 for 4 with a home run, 2 runs, and an RBI), and Nick Castellanos (2 for 5 with a double, home run, 3 RBI, and 2 runs).
8/27 vs. St. Louis Cardinals - W (3-0)
Aaron Nola got the start on the mound against rookie Drew Rom with the Phillies looking for their first sweep of the Cardinals at home since 2003. Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a solo home run in the top of the 1st. In the bottom of the 5th, Trea Turner drove in a run on a sacrifice fly to go up 2-0. In the bottom of the 7th, the Phillies added an insurance run on a Bryce Harper RBI single to go up 3-0.
Aaron Nola was masterful, going 7 innings with 9 strikeouts, 1 walk, and 0 runs on 1 hit. Alvarado pitched a hitless 8th and Kimbrel pitched a scoreless 9th to earn his 20th save of the season. The Phillies outhit the Cardinals 11-2 and were led offensively by Johan Rojas (3 for 3 with a double and a run) and JT Realmuto (2 for 4).
8/28 vs. Los Angeles Angels - W (6-4)
Taijuan Walker got the start against Lucas Giolito. The Angels went up 1-0 in the top of the 1st on a Luis Rengifo RBI single. Trea Turner followed with a solo home run in the bottom of the 1st to tie the game at 1. Brandon Drury hit a 2-RBI single in the top of the 4th to take a 3-1 lead. In the bottom of the 4th, Bryce Harper tied the game at 3 on a 2-run home run.
In the bottom of the 5th, Trea Turner hit a 2-run home run, his second of the game, to give the Phils a 5-3 lead. Former Phillie Mickey Moniak hit an RBI single in the 7th to make the score 5-4. The Phillies added an insurance run in the bottom of the 8th on a Brandon Marsh single and took a 6-4 lead into the 9th. Craig Kimbrel came on and retired the side in order to earn the save.
Taijuan Walker did what he’s done essentially all season, earning the win although it didn’t look perfect. He went 5.2 innings with 6 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 3 earned runs on 8 hits. The Phillies offense lived off the long ball and were led by Trea Turner (2 for 3 with 2 home runs, 3 RBI, and 3 runs) and Brandon Marsh (2 for 4 with an RBI). Marsh also extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
8/29 vs. Los Angeles Angels - W (12-7)
Michael Lorenzen took the mound against left-hander Tyler Anderson. Luis Rengifo hit a solo homer in the top of the 2nd to put the Angels on the board. Bryce Harper responded with a solo homer of his own in the bottom of the 2nd to tie the game at 1. Shohei Ohtani’s RBI single in the top of the 3rd gave the Angels a 2-1 lead. Kyle Schwarber then tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd with a solo home run.
Luis Rengifo hit his second solo homer of the game in the top of the 4th to give LA a 3-2 lead. In the top of the 5th, Ohtani hit another RBI single to extend the lead to 4-2. The Phillies offense exploded in the bottom of the 6th, scoring 6 runs in the frame. The inning was highlighted by an Alec Bohm 3-run home run, Rojas RBI bunt single, and a Trea Turner 2-RBI triple. Randal Grichuk, who was placed on waivers before the game, hit a solo home run in the top of the 7th to shorten the deficit to 8-5.
In the bottom of the 7th, JT Realmuto hit an RBI single and Bryson Stott hit a 2-run homer. Trea Turner hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 8th to extend the lead to 12-5.The Angels scored 2 runs off Andrew Belatti in the 9th to give a final score of 12-7. Lorenzen wasn’t at his best but he battled, going 6 innings with 5 strikeouts, 2 walks, and 4 runs (3 earned) on 8 hits. The Phillies had 13 hits as a team with 5 home runs and 5 players with multi-hit games (Turner, Harper, Bohm, Realmuto, and Stott). Trea Turner extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
8/30 vs. Los Angeles Angels - L (8-10)
Christopher Sanchez took the mound against Reid Detmers with the Phillies looking for a sweep in what turned out to be a wild game. Hunter Renfroe hit a 2-run home run in the top of the 2nd. The Phillies tied the game at 2 in the bottom of the 2nd on a Johan Rojas RBI single and Garrett Stubbs beat out a double play for an RBI on a fielder’s choice. The Angels put up 3 runs in the top of the 5th on a sac bunt, Ohtani RBI single, and Brandon Drury RBI single.
Nick Castellanos hit an RBI single in the bottom of the 5th to bring the score to 5-3. In the bottom of the 6th, Trea Turner hit a 3-run home run to take a 6-5 lead. The Angels took the lead back in the top of the 8th on a 2-RBI single by Hunter Renfroe. In the bottom of the 8th, Bryce Harper hit a 2-run home run, the 300th of his career, to give the Phillies an 8-7 lead. Craig Kimbrel came on to pitch in the 9th and the Angels tied the game on a Luis Rengifo sacrifice fly. Brandon Drury then hit a 2-run home run to take a 10-8 lead. Carlos Estevez came on for the save and retired the Phillies in order to end the game.
Sanchez finished the game with 5 strikeouts, 0 walks, and 5 runs (3 earned) on 7 hits. The Phillies had 11 hits, led by Nick Castellanos (3 for 5 with an RBI), Trea Turner (2 for 4 with a home run, 2 runs, and 3 RBI), and Garrett Stubbs (2 for 4 with a run and an RBI). Brandon Marsh’s 10-game hitting streak came to an end as went 0 for 1 with 4 walks.
Looking Ahead
The Phillies begin Week 22 of the season with a 3-game series on the road in Milwaukee against the Brewers (74-59) over the weekend. They then travel to San Diego for a 3-game series with the Padres (62-73) Monday through Wednesday, followed by an off-day Thursday.
Friday, 9/1 8:10pm @ MIL - Zach Wheeler (10-6, 3.59 ERA) vs. Freddy Peralta (11-8, 3.95 ERA)
Saturday, 9/2 7:15pm @ MIL - Aaron Nola (12-8, 4.30 ERA) vs. TBD
Sunday, 9/3 1:05pm @ MIL - Taijuan Walker (14-5, 4.05 ERA) vs. Wade Miley (7-3, 3.17 ERA)
Monday, 9/4 6:40pm @ SD - Michael Lorenzen (8-8, 3.73 ERA) vs. Rich Hill (7-13, 5.26 ERA)
Tuesday, 9/5 9:40pm @ SD - Christopher Sanchez (2-3, 3.48 ERA) vs. Pedro Avila (0-1, 2.63 ERA)
Wednesday, 9/6 4:10pm @ SD - Zach Wheeler vs. Michael Wacha (10-2, 2.84 ERA)
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