Phillies put an Exclamation on the Sweep in the most Inspiring Series of the Season, Win 11-2 Over Mariners

As the season enters the home stretch half way through August, the Philadelphia Phillies have played and seen a lot of baseball, meaning that this week’s series sweep against the Seattle Mariners standing out at this point in time puts the Phillies in a beautiful spot not only in the standings, but puts them in a confident state heading down the stretch. After today’s 11-2 victory over Seattle, not one batter for the Phillies seems to be down low, as everyone has found a way to pull through whether it was a multi-hit game or a power surge. This game and series shows that the Phillies are at their highest they have been at all year immediately after their concerning play in Washington as they split that four game series.

Luzardo Steps up Big

With the spontaneous removal of Zack Wheeler from the rotation due to blood clotting, questions and concerns rapidly grew regarding the rotation. Though that fear of the rotation was palpable, the rotation this series, including the struggling Jesus Luzardo, did not disappoint, as Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez, and Luzardo all impressed during their start.

This is especially big for Luzardo, who picked up his 12th victory this afternoon, as he needed to get himself right before October rolls around. After an early run from the dangerous Julio Rodriguez, Luzardo put it behind him and went six innings with no walks and 12 strikeouts for the quality start.After Suarez and Sanchez continued to pile on strikeouts, Luzardo kept with the theme as he averaged two strikeouts per inning today.

Today’s start for Luzardo was an excellent performance that will hopefully get him back on his track for good.

Offense Explodes

With fans all around complaining about leaving runners on base, the Phillies heard everyone loud and clear, as the offense put on a clinic during the bottom of the seventh and eighth innings. With one out in the seventh inning, the Phillies would score five runs after the next four batters had reached on a base hit, officially opening up the game for the Phillies and insuring what was prior, a one run lead. In between, were stolen bases from Bryson Stott and Trea Turner, which helped drive in more runs as they applied as much pressure on Seattle as possible. The scoring capped off in the eighth with none other than a Kyler Schwarber two-run home run to right field for his 45th home run on the season and hit 20 for the Phillies on the day.

Those 20 hits continue off of Monday’s 21 hits in the 12-7 victory. The Phillies offense had zero holes during this series, as again, every starter had a hit. Lesser guys such as Brandon Marsh and Max Kepler, who is now hitting over .280 during the month of August, have significantly gained confidence and contributed both on offense and on defense. Stott, who had three hits today, continues to climb closer to .250 as he is hitting .247 on the year, and Schwarber’s three hits brings his OPS up to .957.

Though all of this is extremely impressive, today’s spotlight turns toward Trea Turner, who now leads all of Major League Baseball in hits with 158 hits. Turner’s five-hit day brings his average back up over .300 where he now sits at .301. Turner’s patience and hard work is finally paying off, and it has come at a great time. In this series, Turner collected 10 hits total for seven RBIs total.

Though there will be stretches that do not look like this, all the Phillies can do is continue what they have been able to do with their confidence and motivation.

Phillies Earn a Day off

With a scheduled day off tomorrow, the Phillies can rest after all the scoring, before they bring in the Washington National’s on Friday night to start a new series, as Taijuan Walker looks to continue his recent success on the mound.

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