Phillies beat Blue Jays 7-4, take series in Toronto
The Phillies beat the Blue Jays 7-4 Wednesday night and took the series in Toronto. Luzardo went five and two-thirds innings of one-run ball with eight punchouts while Bohm hit a three-run homer and Schwarber added a two-run shot for good measure. The offense hung seven on the Blue Jays and chased Max Scherzer before the fourth inning was over.
Mattingly is now 28-12 with 10 series wins in 13, which makes this the best 40-game stretch by any Phillies manager in franchise history, tying Steve O’Neill in 1952. The man took over a 9-19 team that the entire baseball world had written off and has turned it into one of the hottest clubs in the National League. Whatever he’s doing in that dugout, it’s working at a level this franchise hasn’t seen from a first-year skipper in over 70 years.
Bohm Crushed Scherzer and That’s the Version We Need Every Night
Max Scherzer has 3,500 career strikeouts and a plaque waiting for him in Cooperstown. Bohm got ahead 1-0 and Scherzer came back with a slider that he left over the middle of the plate like he was playing catch. Bohm didn’t miss it and instead crushed a three-run bomb into the left-field seats.
Alec Bohm RING IT
That’s the Bohm I’ve been asking for all season. Not the guy who rolls over on mistake pitches and grounds into double plays with runners on. The guy who gets a hanger from one of the greatest pitchers alive and punishes it. Pull-side power to left field with the same swing he was showing in spring training before the season went sideways. If that version of Bohm is here to stay, the middle of this lineup just got a lot more dangerous.
Harper went oppo off his former teammate for a solo shot in the first before Schwarber singled on the first pitch to start the rally in the third and Turner singled behind him.
Bohm cleared the bases with the three-run blast and then Schwarber tagged reliever Mason Fluharty for a two-run homer after Scherzer was pulled, making it 6-0 before anyone could blink. In games where Harper and Schwarber both go deep, the Phillies are 25-8 all-time. When both of them are hitting, this team doesn’t lose.
Scherzer lasted just 3 1/3 innings on 82 pitches before getting yanked. The Phillies worked his count, attacked fastballs in the zone, and ran him out of the game before the fifth inning.
That’s what a lineup with this much talent is supposed to do to a 41-year-old pitcher who leaves the ball over the plate. It took two months for the offense to start doing it consistently but the last week has been the best stretch of hitting from this group all season.
Luzardo on the Road Is a Different Human Being
Here’s the weirdest stat of the Phillies’ season. Luzardo has a 1.55 ERA in seven road starts and a 7.34 ERA at Citizens Bank Park. That 5.79-run gap leads all pitchers in baseball and is the third-largest home-road ERA split by a left-hander since they started tracking it in 1976.
One home run allowed in seven road starts versus seven homers in his home starts. Thirty-seven hits on the road versus 43 at home in fewer innings. He’s two completely different pitchers depending on which city he’s in and nobody, including Luzardo himself, can explain why.
He joked that maybe the City Connect jerseys are bad luck and honestly I’m not ruling it out at this point. Whatever it is, the Phillies need to figure it out because the version of Luzardo who showed up in Toronto on Wednesday, battling through four walks and eight strikeouts to keep the Blue Jays off the board long enough for the offense to blow it open, is a legitimate number three starter on a championship team. The version who pitches at home is a guy you’re scared to hand the ball to.
The road Luzardo and the home Luzardo need to have a conversation and figure out which one is showing up for the rest of the summer.
Garcia Got Hurt Because Of Course He Did
Adolis Garcia pulled a muscle near his right shoulder trying to throw out a runner in the seventh inning, knew immediately something was wrong, and came out of the game on the spot. Imaging is expected Thursday.
The man had three homers in five games including the 429-foot pimp job against the Padres and back-to-back dingers after that. The best week of his season by a mile with the bat finally waking up after two months of .195 hell and now he might be heading to the IL. The timing is so perfectly terrible that it almost feels scripted by whatever sadistic force controls the Phillies’ injury luck.
The outfield depth was already nonexistent and just got worse. Marsh can slide to right, which opens the door for Kemp, Reyes, or De La Cruz from Lehigh Valley, but none of them are real solutions.
If Garcia misses any significant time, the trade deadline need for a right-handed outfielder goes from “we should probably address this” to “Dombrowski better be on the phone right now.”
Duran Bounced Back Like a Closer Should
The night after blowing his first save of the season, Duran came back and nailed down the ninth on his third straight day on the mound. Mattingly said Duran was “adamant” about pitching and the coaching staff went with it.
That’s the mentality you want from your closer. Blow a save, demand the ball the next day, and slam the door without sulking or asking for a rest day. Seventeenth save in 18 chances and one bad night doesn’t define the season when the response is to go right back out there and handle business.
Milwaukee Is Next and Painter Has to Deliver
The Phillies head to Milwaukee for three against the NL Central-leading Brewers who have 41 wins. Painter gets the ball Friday night at American Family Field against Jacob Misiorowski, the flamethrowing Brewers ace sitting at 7-2 with a 1.50 ERA.
That’s a brutal draw for Painter given his inconsistency this season, especially with the 42-pitch first inning against the White Sox still fresh in everyone’s memory. Misiorowski is one of the best pitchers in baseball right now and the Phillies are sending their most volatile starter against him in a hostile environment.
Let’s go.
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