Phillies Bounce Back From Poor Offensive Opener For 6-1 Victory Against Mets
Kyle Ross/Imagn Images
The Phillies have their first win of the second half and recorded 10 hits in a win for the first time since the Fourth of July.
July has been a bit of an average month for the Phillies, despite continuing to gain traction on the Atlanta Braves for the top spot in the National League East. The Phillies were 6-6 heading into Saturday afternoon’s matchup against the Mets, with a .219 average and .294 on-base percentage as a team.
The offense has struggled, with the Phillies not being able to put quality at-bats and performances together, resulting in the .500 record in the month.
On top of the offense struggling, the bullpen has been horrendous over the 12 games so far in July, posting an abysmal 7.65 ERA over 37.2 innings pitched. They have also allowed more hits (42) than strikeouts (41) over those 37.2 innings.
The starting rotation was the only real thing keeping the Phillies in the race, and it also included multiple bullpen games and spot starts by Alan Rangel and the bullpen. The real carrying came from the three-headed monster at the top of the Phillies’ rotation in Cristopher Sanchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo.
Luzardo, who’s coming off making his first-ever All-Star appearance before the start of the series, got his first start of the second half, needing a good one to help the Phillies even the series against their rivals. Thankfully for the Phillies, not only did they get a solid outing from Luzardo, but it seems that their offensive issues may finally be solved.
Right away, Luzardo looked ready to roll, picking up two quick outs to open up the ballgame, and even worked around back-to-back walks to get Carson Benge to ground out for out number three.
Trea Turner led off the inning with an infield single off Sean Manaea. Kyle Schwarber dug in for his first at-bat of the afternoon, and after just missing hitting his 33rd home run of the season Thursday night, Schwarber didn’t miss a 2-0 cutter from Manaea, sending it 399 feet into the second deck in right field.
Manaea’s struggles with command continued the following at-bat when he hit Bryce Harper in the arm; however, he eventually worked back to strike out two to get out of the jam.
Luzardo was fantastic all game long, but one of his biggest mistakes was leaving a 2-1 changeup over the middle of the plate, allowing Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor to smoke it a 406-foot ball into the left-center field seats for a solo home run.
Following the home run, Trea Turner booted a ground ball for his 14th error of the season, six more than he had all of last season. With the tying run on base, Luzardo locked in and struck out Eric Wagaman and Francisco Lindor to end the inning.
After two scoreless innings from both teams, including the Phillies’ offense going 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position, Turner made up for his botch play in the second, smoking a solo shot to left field for his second consecutive game with a homer, extending the Phillies’ lead to two once again.
The runs didn’t stop there, as Schwarber worked a walk and advanced to third on a bad throw from Francisco Álvarez on a back pick. Two batters later, Alec Bohm smoked a single to left, scoring Schwarber and, more importantly, ending an 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
An inning later, the offensive push continued thanks to a leadoff triple from Bryson Stott and back-to-back walks from Turner and Schwarber, loading the bases for Harper. While his earlier at-bats weren’t great, the Showman finally came through for a two-run RBI single to right, making it 6-1 Phillies.
With a solid lead, the Phillies’ bullpen was called on to finish the final 12 outs of the game after Luzardo was pulled after five innings of work, totaling seven strikeouts, allowing just two hits and one run, the one being on Taylor’s homer.
Orion Kerkering was first, and he sent the Mets down 1-2-3. Jose Alvarado followed with a near-clean inning, allowing just one infield hit. However, following the top of the seventh, the game was put on hold for a nearly hour-long rain delay, but the skies cleared enough for the game to continue.
Chase Shugart, a right-handed reliever who had his fair share of up-and-down moments this season, was called on to finish off the final two innings of work. Shugart’s level of importance to this Phillies team has all of a sudden shot up due to the loss of Brad Keller to UCL surgery.
If this was a first showing for the rest of the year, it was a positive one as Shugart tossed back-to-back 1-2-3 innings, striking out two in the process, helping the Phillies pick up the 6-1 win against the Mets.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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