Phillies take 2/3 in much-needed bounce-back series against the Chicago Cubs
The Phillies would head home against the Chicago Cubs, desperate for a series victory. Desperate for any positive momentum. Things would start on the wrong foot, though, as Kyle Tucker would take Zack Wheeler deep in the first inning to give the Cubs a 1-0 lead. That would hold as the score of the game until the fourth inning, when the Phillies finally showed some signs of life. Kyle Schwarber would lead off the inning with a walk, which was immediately followed by Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos singles to load the bases for JT Realmuto. JT would ground into what should have been a double play, but the Cubs were not quick enough to turn it, and JT beat it out, and Schwarber scored to tie it at 1-1. After seeing his teammate ground into a near double play, Edmundo Sosa was inspired to follow through and ground into a double play himself. The Phillies turned no outs with the bases loaded into one run. In the bottom of the fifth, Otto Kemp would get his first big league hit, ripping a base hit to left centerfield. Immediately after that, a throwing error on a pick-off led to Kemp standing on third base with no outs. Weston Wilson would quickly single him in, and the Phillies would take a 2-1 lead. After that first inning homerun, Wheeler was lights out, striking out seven and only allowing three more batters to reach base as he went six innings. The game would remain 2-1 until the eighth inning, when Matt Strahm would again relinquish a lead as he gave up a solo shot to Ian Happ, tying the game at 2-2. The game would be a toss-up until the eleventh inning when the Cubs took control as Pete Crow-Armstrong would rip a double off Carlos Hernández, which allowed the ghost runner to score and give the Cubs a 3-2 lead. If the Phillies were going to rally, they would need to do it against Cubs closer Daniel Palencia, and rally they did. JT Realmuto would immediately single to lead off the inning and score the ghost runner to tie the game. That would be followed by back-to-back bunt singles by Bryson Stott and Otto Kemp, which would load the bases with no outs for Brandon Marsh. He would drill the second pitch he saw to centerfield, over the head of the centerfielder, and secure a desperately needed win for the Phillies, 4-3.
Tuesday would feel like an unfortunate return to the norm. Mick Abel would take the mound and look a little shaky as he ran his pitch count up quickly. The Cubs would get their first run on a Dansby Swanson home run in the second inning to make it 1-0. The Phillies would get two in the bottom of the second, though on a Max Kepler fly ball that just kept carrying until it somehow left the yard to make it 2-1 as the ball was flying in CBP. In the top of the third, Ian Happ would tie it 2-2 with another solo shot, and in the fourth, Michael Busch would also hit a solo shot that gave the Cubs a 3-2 lead. Abel would stand on the precipice of disaster with the bases loaded for Kyle Tucker later in the inning. He rallied, though, and got the superstar to strike out to end the inning and his night after four innings of three-run ball while striking out three. The Phillies would strike back, though, as in the bottom of the fifth, Alec Bohm would rip a line drive to centerfield that scored both Brandon Marsh and Trea Turner and gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead. In the top of the sixth, Taijuan Walker would give the lead right back to the Cubs when Ian Happ went deep AGAIN to give the Cubs a 5-4 lead. Things would only get worse as the Phillies would not score another run, and the Cubs would add three more between Joe Ross and Carlos Hernández. The latter of which was DFAd Wednesday morning as the Phillies would sink quietly into an 8-4 loss.
On Wednesday afternoon, the Phillies would look for their first series victory since May 29th. They would hand the ball to Jesús Luzardo, who was coming off one of the worst two-start streaks, not just in his career, but in league history. Luzardo would completely turn the page, though. He’d pitch incredibly as he only allowed one run while striking out ten and not walking a single batter through six innings. The Phillies would get the scoring started early as Trea Turner would lead off with a single that was followed up by a Kyle Schwarber walk and then a double steal that put runners on second and third with no outs. Alec Bohm would ground out to third, which would be enough to get Trea Turner home, and then Max Kepler would bring Schwarber home with an RBI double to make it 2-0. You’re allowed to score even more than that in an inning, as JT Realmuto would single home Kepler to make it 3-0 off of former Phillies prospect Ben Brown. Later on, Kyle Schwarber would make it 4-0 with his 21st Schwarbomb of the season as he would tattoo a pitch to right centerfield. Alec Bohm would account for the final two runs the Phillies scored with an RBI single in the fourth and a solo shot a few innings later to make it 7-1. The Cubs would tag one more, but the Phillies would close the door on a much-needed series win over the Cubs.
This series still had its ups and downs for the Phillies to take away for the Phillies. Bullpen and situational hitting continue to be a problem, but this team is still good and capable of winning baseball games. They got a nice off day Thursday before hosting the Blue Jays for a three-game set starting tonight. Maybe the biggest positive from this series was the return of Luzardo to what he had been doing every start before the last two. With the injury to Nola, somewhat unknown expectations of Mick Abel, and slow progression of Andrew Painter, the Phillies will need to continue to rely on the lefty, and his start Wednesday was extremely promising. Hopefully, the offense can find another gear when Bryce Harper steps back on the field, but the offense’s inability, specifically with runners in scoring position, continues to hold them back. The bullpen will continue to cost this team games until it is addressed with multiple pieces, as it is just not good enough. That being said, a series win is a series win, and hopefully something to build on as they now find themselves five games behind the Mets for the division lead, but only half a game behind the Giants for the first wildcard spot. The expectations for this group continue to move week by week.