As the Phillies’ bats and arms begin to maybe round into form, the Phillies took two of three from an excellent Arizona Diamondbacks team
The Phillies would open up this series against the Diamondbacks with a bang Friday night in what again felt like a potential playoff matchup. The Phillies would jump on the board first, as after a Trea Turner single, Kyle Schwarber would rocket a double to right field that would score Turner. Jesús Luzardo would not have his best stuff, but would still find a way to get outs. Going 5.1 innings while striking out 6. He would keep the DBacks scoreless until the fourth when a Geraldo Perdomo RBI single made the game 1-1. The DBacks would take a 2-1 lead in the sixth after Phillies Killer Lourdes Gurriel Jr would drive in a run on a single. Arizona would cling to this one-run lead until the bottom of the seventh. That was when Kyle Schwarber tied the game with another Schwarbomb off a lefty to make it 2-2. One batter later, Max Kepler thought that looked fun and would do the same as he too would put one over the right field wall to take the lead 3-2. That would be all the Phillies needed as they got nearly flawless innings from Jordan Romano in the eighth and José Alvarado, plus an immaculate catch by Johan Rojas in the ninth to close the door on a crucial series-opening victory.
Saturday was just an overall satisfying result. Aaron Nola would be great for the second start in a row as he went six shutout innings while only scattering five baserunners and striking out eight. It is even more impressive when it was reported that he was dealing with some neck pain 45 minutes before game time. This time, though, and for the first time this year, the Phillies scored runs for Nola. The Phillies scored plenty and were up 7-0 by the end of the fourth. Max Kepler got the scoring started with a two-run homerun in the second inning as more and more of his warning track bombs are starting to go over the fence as the temperature heats up. A return from the IL, Brandon Marsh, made it 3-0 with an RBI double. In the third, JT Realmuto would double the lead with a three-run bomb to make it 6-0. They would score one more run to make it 7-0, and the Phillies’ pitching closed the door for an uneventful Saturday win.
Sunday was a loss, but honestly, the most impressive and entertaining loss the Phillies have had all year. Ranger Suarez would make his season debut on Sunday and looked great for the first 3.1 innings. He would retire the first seven batters he faced, striking out four of them. Bryce Harper would get the scoring going in the bottom of the first with a much-needed run to make it 1-0. However, the wheels would completely fall off for Suarez in the third, and by the time the top of the fourth was over, the Phillies would find themselves in a 7-1 hole. The Phillies would not go away, though, as they scored one to make it 7-2 in the bottom half. The Phillies’ bullpen would steady the ship and not allow another run until the top of the ninth to keep them in it. Things got turned up another notch in the sixth when Weston Wilson launched a three-run bomb to make it 7-5. They would get another one in the seventh when JT Realmuto drove home Harper. The Phillies throughout this day took great at-bats and worked over the DBacks’ pitching staff. It was now 7-6 heading to the top of the ninth. The DBacks would get what felt like a dagger in the ninth, scoring a run against Alvarado to make it 8-6 going into the Phillies’ final at-bats. It seemed the end of the line as both Trea Turner and Bryce Harper would go down swinging. With two outs, Kyle Schwarber came up and launched a moonshot to make it 8-7. The Phillies still found themselves down a run and only had one out left. What followed was three straight singles, the final one by Alec Bohm driving in Brandon Marsh, to tie the game at 8-8. With runners on first and second, Bryson Stott would ground out, and we would go to extra innings. In the tenth, an overused Alvarado would allow the ghost runner and another run to score before being replaced by Carlos Hernández, who would allow one of Alvarado’s baserunners to score before the inning was over, and it was now 11-8 Diamondbacks. The Phillies would continue to fight, though. A quick Wilson single and Max Kepler sacrifice fly made it 11-9. Turner would follow that up with a single, and now the winning run was coming to the plate in Bryce Harper. The heroics were over, though. Bryce would fly out to center, and Kyle Schwarber would follow that up with a grounder to the first baseman to end the game as the Phillies would come up short of the sweep.
This was a very reassuring series by the Phillies. The Diamondbacks are a very good baseball team and are a team that this Phillies group has struggled with over the past few years. The Phillies seemed like they were in control of the entire series, though. Game one was a solid come-from-behind win as they got to a bullpen that they have always struggled with. Game two was just a dominant win, and even Sunday, it felt more like the DBacks survived than the Phillies lost. Sunday is a good example of what you would want from the Phillies night in and night out. Working counts and putting in efforts even during losses. The lifeless games are killer, so if the Phillies can find a way to be competitive like this in every game, it will go a long way to the success of the team. Luzardo and especially Nola looked good, and things should come along for Suarez as he gets his feet under him. The pen was also relatively solid on this homestand, which is hopefully something that can be built upon, despite them still definitely needing more help. The Jordan Romano resurgence has especially been a positive sign and will help lighten Alvarado’s load. The offense also looked solid, and as the power has started to reemerge, if combined with the great discipline they have shown for the most part this year, this could be a fun summer. The Phillies will head down to Tampa on Tuesday and will look to take advantage of a middling Rays team.