The Philadelphia Phillies have come roaring back from their slow start to the season and now sit at 38-34 on the season. They are miles away from the 25-32 record they held just a couple of weeks ago.
Did someone say World Series?
The club has won 13 of their last 15 games, 5 consecutive series, and are currently on a 6-game win streak, following their sweep of the Oakland A’s.
After some brutal road trips to start the year, the Phils went 6-1 on this stand, bringing them right back into the playoff hunt. Their sweep of the Athletics came in many different styles, but at the end of the day, all that matters is the win.
Game 1: Phillies win 6-1
This game started off fast for the Phillies, as Kyle Schwarber would put one in the seats to start the game 1-0 Phils.
A three-home-run parade would provide plenty of offense for the Phillies, but the star of this game was Taijuan Walker.
In what is by far his best start as a Phillie, Walker went 8 innings, allowing 7 hits, 1 earned run, and striking out 8 batters to deliver the win for the Phillies.
For Walker it may seem like while his individual numbers aren’t thrilling for the entire scope of the season, but the team is getting wins, which is why they paid him this off-season.
Game 2: Phillies win 3-2
Who doesn’t love free baseball?
After a comfortable win on Friday, the Phillies had to go 12 innings to beat the A’s on Saturday.
Rocking a bullpen game, the Phillies’ pen went the distance, holding Oakland to just 2 runs. The downside, however, was the offense, which was missing Nick Castellanos due to a stomach bug.
The A’s would take their only lead of the series with an early solo homerun from Carlos Perez off of Matt Strahm.
Later in the game, the player of the game; Bryson Stott, would tie the game with an RBI single. Stott would later hit a sac fly to give his group the 3-2 lead, which would be the game-winning RBI.
Game 3: Phillies win 3-2
Game 3 of this series was much like Game 2, where the Fightin’s relied heavily on good pitching to pick up the win.
Zack Wheeler went 6 innings for the Phils in this one. Wheeler seemingly didn’t have his best stuff in this start, but he was still able to get the job done. This was encouraging to see, as the Phillies ace has struggled in games where he didn’t have his best. Even though it was against a weaker Oakland lineup, I think that it was still promising to see Wheels work through some deficiencies to get the job done.
Kyle Schwarber once again led off the game with a lead-off homerun, giving Philadelphia a 1-0 lead.
The biggest performance of the game, came from Yunior Marte. After the Phillies placed Seranthony Dominguez on the IL, they recalled Marte, who had just been sent down days previously.
Yunior has had some up-and-down performances on the season, but he stepped into the ballgame in the 9th inning with a chance to shut the door on the A’s and the series.
Marte, entrusted with a 1-run lead, would sit down Oakland 1-2-3 to win the 6th straight ballgame for the club. You could tell how happy Yunior’s teammates were for him, as they embraced him on the mound after the game.
The Phillies are just 1 game out of the Wild Card as they trail the Los Angeles Dodgers.
LA was swept at home by the San Francisco Giants, who currently hold the 5th seed in the playoffs, and a 1.5 game lead over the Phillies.
Division rivals, the Miami Marlins, have matched the Phillies hot streak as of late. The Fish are 3 games up over the Phillies for the 4th seed in the playoffs.
The surprise team, the Cincinnatti Reds, are 1 game behind the Phillies, and have won 8 straight, sweeping the Houston Astros in Houston this past weekend.
The San Diego Padres are 2.5 games behind the Phils, the Pirates are now 3 games behind the Phillies, after losing 6 straight, and the New York Mets are 4.5 games behind the Phillies, losing 7 of their last 10.
The Phillies are set to host the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets at home for 6 games this upcoming week. If the Phillies can go 4-2, they can gain a game on Atlanta, and help put the Mets away, maybe for good this season.
AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin
