The Phillies kicked off the holiday weekend by hosting the Cincinnati Reds for a three-game series at Citizens Bank Park. Entering Friday afternoon’s contest, Philadelphia was clinging to its lead atop the NL East, while Cincinnati sat fourth in the NL Central, ahead of only the Pittsburgh Pirates. This three-game set marked the Phillies’ final home series before the All-Star break, ahead of a West Coast swing against the Giants and Padres.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at how the Fightin’ Phils fared in their last home stand of the first half.
While fans across the city celebrated the July 4th holiday on Friday, there was little for the Phillies dugout to cheer about.
On the mound for the Phillies was Jesús Luzardo, who was looking to rebound after taking the loss in his previous outing against the Braves on June 28. In that start, he allowed two earned runs and three walks while striking out seven over five innings — a solid, if unspectacular, performance. Unfortunately for Luzardo, Friday’s start proved far more troubling.
The left-hander lasted just two innings, surrendering six hits and six runs (five earned) while issuing three walks. Over those two frames, he threw 60 pitches, forcing manager Rob Thomson to pull him in the top of the third without recording an out. Ironically, the game didn’t begin poorly for Luzardo. He looked sharp in the first inning, retiring all three Reds batters he faced and striking out two. The Phillies then gave him an early cushion, scoring three runs in the bottom half to take a 3-0 lead. Though a run scored in the second, Luzardo also struck out two more, and Philadelphia maintained a 3-1 advantage heading into the third. However, that’s when everything unraveled. Luzardo allowed the first six Reds hitters to reach base, five of whom would come around to score.
While his afternoon ended abruptly, the Reds’ offense continued to produce. After plating five runs in that disastrous third inning, they tacked on another in the fourth and two more in the fifth, ultimately rolling to a 9-6 victory in the series opener.
“My breaking ball wasn’t landing for strikes and basically had to go at the zone with fastballs later on, so I need to find ways to limit that and obviously find the zone a lot more,” Luzardo commented after the game. “I feel great. I still feel strong and healthy, which is a positive. But I need to find a way to limit deep counts and the pitch count and try to get out of innings as fast as possible.”
In addition to Luzardo, the Phillies used five pitchers in the contest.
Despite the loss, the Phillies enjoyed a productive afternoon at the plate, collecting 14 hits as a team. Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper — the top three hitters in the lineup — each tallied two hits, with Schwarber driving in two runs. Nick Castellanos also homered, his 11th of the season, and finished the day with three RBIs.
On Saturday, looking to bounce back from Friday’s loss, the Phillies handed the ball to Ranger Suárez, who entered the game with a 7-2 record and a stellar 2.00 ERA in what has been a career year. Over his last 10 starts, the left-hander has posted a remarkable 1.19 ERA.
Suárez delivered another solid outing on Saturday. Although he didn’t factor into the decision, he limited the Reds to just one run over five innings while striking out six. He exited with the game tied 1–1.
From there, the Phillies bullpen took control. Jordan Romano earned the win, tossing a clean sixth inning. He was followed by Tanner Banks, who shut the door in the seventh, Orion Kerkering in the eighth, and Matt Strahm closing out the ninth—all delivering scoreless frames. The entire Phillies pitching staff held Cincinnati to a single run.
The Phillies did their damage at the plate with three big swings. Edmundo Sosa put them on the board with a solo home run in the fifth, Alec Bohm followed with a two-run blast an inning later, and Schwarber capped it off with a two-run shot in the eighth to give Philadelphia its fifth run of the afternoon. The final score read 5-1 in favor of the home team.
Looking to secure the series win on Sunday, the Phillies turned to none other than their ace, Zack Wheeler. The right-hander was recently named the NL Pitcher of the Month for June.
And Wheeler delivered, surpassing even the loftiest expectations with a masterful performance. For the first time since 2021, he went the distance, throwing a complete game on just 108 pitches. He allowed only one hit, a solo home run in the top of the fifth, while striking out 12 and not issuing a single walk. After the outing, Wheeler’s ERA dipped to 2.17, a testament to just how dominant he’s been.
It marked the fifth complete game of his career.
As the Associated Press noted, Wheeler has given up just three earned runs over 40 innings since returning from paternity leave on June 9.
With the game knotted at 1-1 in the eighth, Bryson Stott played the hero, launching a rare home run (his sixth of the season) to give the Phillies a 3-1 lead. That was all they needed to secure Wheeler’s ninth win of the year.
With Sunday’s 3-1 win, the Phillies took two of three from the Reds in their final home series before the All-Star break.
It was announced Sunday that Wheeler and Schwarber will represent the Phillies at the All-Star Game on July 15.
The Phillies, now 53-37 on the season, head to California to open a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants starting Monday night.
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