It doesn’t matter if three of your All-Star caliber bats are on the injured list.

Next man up. This team doesn’t quit.

On a humid Sunday afternoon in South Philly, the Phillies powered back and erased a four-run deficit to a 7-6 win and split the series with the Marlins.

The birthday boy, Trea Turner, had a three-hit day and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs in the seventh inning.

Nick Castellanos had a four-hit, three-RBI day.

Alec Bohm had two hits and a two-run home run.

“That was a big one today and I think we all needed it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after the win. “The clubhouse needed it. They fought like hell the entire game. First of all to get up and then once we got down, to come back.”

Bad games are a rarity when it comes to the Phillies’ starting rotation in 2024. So are the average ones.

Ranger Suarez was pulled after four and two-thirds innings. Suarez allowed nine hits, six runs, walked two and didn’t have a strikeout on the day. His ERA jumped from 1.83 to 2.27.

The last time Suarez didn’t register at least one strikeout as a starter? July 23, 2021.

This rotation has spoiled everyone that’s paid close attention to the Phillies this season. So, when any of the five take the mound and perform the slightest under this A-plus standard we’ve grown accustomed to, it’s hard to justify any sort of frustration.

Aside from his hand injury scare June 1 against the Cardinals, where he only pitched two innings, this was Suarez’s shortest outing of the season.

Suarez allowed a run in the first inning for just the fifth time this season. With two outs, Bryan De La Cruz scored on a Josh Bell double to left field.

It was only a one-run deficit. And it was erased almost immediately.

With Turner on, Bohm crushed a 427 foot home run to center field. It was his 10th home run of the season. The two-run shot also bumped Bohm back up to the National League leader in runs batted in (68).

The Phillies then went back-to-back innings stranding the bases loaded.

Catcher Rafael Marchan stopped at least one run from scoring on the day. Jazz Chisholm reached on a rare fielding error from Suarez and was caught stealing just one batter later. Suarez then gave up a solo home run to De La Cruz.

The Marlins were able to tack on four more runs before Suarez’s day was done.

The sold out crowd at Citizens Bank Park was quiet but no one was waving the white flag. Not the 43,222 fans in attendance and certainly not the club they came to cheer on. In the fifth inning, the Phillies opened up with back-to-back doubles from Brandon Marsh and Castellanos. Marsh was the only run that crossed the plate in the inning … but it started the comeback.

Once again, the Phillies found themselves with the bases loaded in the sixth inning.

Down three runs, leaving them stranded for a third time was not an option. Castellanos, who was in the same situation in the second inning, singled to drive in Marchan and Bryson Stott.

It was only a one-run deficit. Again.

Whit Merrifield and David Dahl walked in the seventh inning and advanced when Marchan laid down a textbook bunt down the third baseline. Turner’s third hit of the day brought them both home to put the Phillies in front.

On a day where the starting pitching struggled, the bullpen stepped up. Jose Ruiz, Seranthony Dominguez, Gregory Soto and Jeff Hoffman didn’t allow a run and only gave up two hits.

“The bullpen was a fantastic job,” Suarez said through interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “Ruiz, Dominguez, Soto and then (Hoffman) to close it out. They did a tremendous job, so I’m really proud of them.”

On deck …

The Phillies are off on Monday and then open up a six-game road trip.

First up is a three-game series against the Cubs, who is sitting at the bottom of the NL Central.

Michael Mercado will make his first Major League start Tuesday at Wrigley Field. His last appearance was June 24 against the Tigers, where he pitched one scoreless inning. Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez will round out the series in that order.

Then, it’s time to pay a visit to the Braves.

This is the first time the teams will meet since Opening Weekend in Philadelphia. Of course, the current state of both rosters look a little different.

The Braves have been without their ace, Spencer Strider, since early April and Ronald Acuna Jr. since late May. The Phillies lineup looks like swiss cheese with the amount of holes; Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto are all on the injured list. No one is saying swiss cheese is a bad thing, though. Just different.

The Phillies have an eight-game lead in the division, but you never, ever sleep on the Braves.

It won’t be an honest comparison between the two clubs but it will be an important series when it comes to the NL East standings.

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1. Cross their fingers and hope the superlative pitching they’ve gotten most of the season continues for at least a few more weeks.
2. Cross their fingers and hope the shortened lineups that will be the norm while waiting for injured stars Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto and Kyle Schwarber to heal can scratch out just enough runs not to waste the efforts of those starters and relievers.

A plan, in other words, that eerily resembled the events that played out in front of yet another sellout crowd at the intersection of Broad and Pattison.

The Phillies were able to crank up the volume on the clubhouse sound system with a 2-0 win over the last-place Marlins because Cristopher Sanchez was at the top of his game with the first complete game of his big league career, a three-hit shutout.

They were able to fire up the celebratory smoke machine despite going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They were able to eke out a couple runs with the bottom of the batting order consisting of two players (Kody Clemens, Johan Rojas) who have spent time at Triple-A Lehigh Valley this season, a veteran utility man who was batting .191 (Whit Merrifield) and a backup catcher hitting .202 (Garrett Stubbs).

Sanchez was making his second start since signing a 4-year, $22.5 million contract extension even though he wouldn’t have been arbitration-eligible until after the 2025 season. There are also two club option years which, if exercised, would increase the total to $50.5 million as well as Cy Young Award escalator clauses that could further pump up the value.

He might ask to renegotiate soon.

Aw, just kidding. But the slender lefty has really outdone himself since setting himself and his family up financially for life.

“I’m so proud of this kid because he’s come so far,” said manager Rob Thomson, appearing to become emotional. “He’s a dominant pitcher in Major League Baseball. If you saw him a couple years ago you wouldn’t have thought he’d be able to do it. But he’s worked hard. He’s trusted his coaches in the minor leagues and his coaches here. It’s phenomenal. It really is.”

Asked what his transformation shows, he didn’t hesitate. “That nothing’s impossible,” he said through interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “You can do it. You just have to focus and work really hard towards it.”

Sanchez, who showed uncharacteristic emotion at times, including after striking out Josh Bell for the final out, said he made sure to keep the ball as a souvenir.

Against the Marlins he didn’t walk a batter while whiffing nine. But even that doesn’t fully illustrate how overpowering he was. All three hits were singles. Only one runner got as far as second base. He needed just 101 pitches and threw 73 of them for strikes.

His earned run average dropped to 2.64. He still hasn’t given up a run since signing his new deal and has given up just six hits in 16 innings.

“It was incredible,” Sanchez said. “It’s an incredible feeling. Amazing. I just go out and give the best of myself. Always focused.”

Bryson Stott, subbing for Schwarber in the leadoff spot, drove in both Phillies runs without getting a hit. The first came when he grounded into a fielder’s choice, the second on a sacrifice fly. But it was the last three hitters in the lineup who set him up.

Merrifield and Stubbs singled in the fifth to put runners on first and third; Merrifield came home from third when Stott grounded into the force. But it was Rojas, in his first game back after a stretch with the IronPigs, who practically manufactured the insurance run in the eighth all by himself.

He led off with what looked like a routine single to center. But when Vidal Brujan ambled up to play the ball instead of charging it, Rojas raced to second for a hustle double. He aggressively moved up on a wild pitch, putting himself in a position to come home when Stott flied out to left.

“Sometimes, in the near future at least, we might have to create some stuff,” Thomson said. “I told him when he came in, ‘Just play like you did in Triple-A.’ That’s it. Be aggressive but under control. And he did.”

The Phillies may have to patch some things together for the next couple weeks. Then again, it’s easier to have patience when you have an 8-game lead in the division to go along with a rotation that has a 2.90 earned run average.

STATS OF THE DAY: Phillies pitchers have walked a total of five batters in the last eight games.

Shortstop Trea Turner was 10-for-11 in stolen base tries before going on the IL with a strained hamstring on May 4. In 10 games since coming back, he has zero attempts.

Catcher Rafael Marchan, who went yard against Marlins starter Trevor Rogers on Thursday night, has six home runs in 89 career big league at bats. In 1,485 lifetime minor league ABs, he’s hit eight.

UP NEXT: Pitching matchups for the remainder of the Marlins series: RHP Roddery Munoz (1-3, 5.80) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (9-3, 3.39) Saturday at 4:05 p.m. and RHP Yonny Chirinos (0-0, 2.70) vs. LHP Ranger Suarez (10-2, 2.01) Sunday at 1:35 p.m.

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Thus far this month, Harper leads all NL players in hitting (.385), extra-base hits (14), slugging percentage (.718) and OPS (1.185!). He was already the NL Player of the Month in May.

So, to this point, he’s the MVP in a landslide, no?

No.

That’s because for all his mashing, being the best position player in the league for two months solid, there is another player who continues to match him, step for step, and actually exceed his crazy numbers.

It’s a guy who knows a thing or two about hitting. And pitching. And winning MVP awards.

It’s Dodgers megastar Shohei Ohtani.

As good as Harper has been this season, Ohtani has actually been better somehow. In fact, Ohtani has been better in every statistical category, with the exception of OBP, where Harper has a marginal lead (.401 to .395).

Fanatics currently has Ohtani at better than even-money to win the MVP, at -120 odds, implying a 54.55% of winning. Harper is second, at +185, or a 35.1% chance.

Both players are gunning for his third career MVP award. Ohtani won the MVP with the Angels in 2021 and 2023. Harper won his in 2015 with the Nationals, and 2021 with the Phillies.

This has a very Embiid vs. Jokic feel to it. Two players at the very top of the sport, both balling out, and really, leaving it up to the voters.

So what does Harper have to do, or what does Ohtani not have to do — barring injury — to overtake his rival and with his third MVP?

Harper seems to be closing fast. Even yesterday, he was at +230 to win. The main issue has been his start to the season, vs Ohtani’s April. In the season’s first month, the two had similar HR/RBI numbers, but Ohtani slashed .336/.399/.618/1.017, compared with Harper’s .230/.345/.460/.805.

There’s your difference right there.

Since May 1, here are the slash lines for the MVP front-runners:

Harper: .345/.433/.644/1.077

Ohtani: .305/.393/.632/1.025

To put a finer point on it, those figures for Harper are all the best in the NL since May 1. All four.

But Ohtani has been so good as keeping pace, he’s staying ahead because his April was so good.

The upshot here is that half of the regular season remains. Three full months of battling the numbers, the National League, and each other. One thing is certain: this is going to be one helluva MVP race.

Just one day after inking a four-year extension that runs through 2028, Sanchez went seven, strong innings to lead the Phillies to a 4-1 win and the club’s 16th series win of the season.

Sanchez’s command was in full force through his seven scoreless innings. He allowed just three hits, struck out four and threw 80 pitches, 54 for strikes. After retiring the last 11 batters he faced, his ERA dropped to 2.67 on the season.

“He was brilliant today, he really was,” manager Rob Thomson said of his starter. “All his pitches were working, he was throwing strikes, keeping people off balance. (Diamondbacks are) a good offensive club over there and predominantly right-handed. Just a masterful job.”

Thomson went on to credit catcher Garrett Stubbs’ performance behind the plate and how well the two meshed Sunday.

“I thought (Stubbs) did a great job with him,” he continued. “Stubby does a good job of using the secondary pitches early in the game and if he doesn’t have it, he keeps calling until he, especially the changeup, until he gets it going and starts to land.

“It was really a good job by both of them.”

It was almost an expected low-scoring effort after the offense exploded for 12 runs Saturday afternoon. Still, they ended the day with 11 hits to snag a National League-leading 51st win.

Nick Castellanos’ RBI that drove in Alec Bohm in the second inning was the 800th of his career.

Castellanos wrapped up the series with four hits, two home runs and seven runs batted in. In the month of June, the right fielder has registered a hit in all but five of the 19 games played. His batting average continues to climb and sits at a season-high .277.

Back-to-back walks from Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh wound up biting the D-backs after a balk moved them both into scoring position.

David Dahl singled on a line drive to right field, scoring them both. He ended his day with two hits.

Bryce Harper started off the seventh inning with a leadoff double. Bohm was then the fourth Phillie in the series to be hit by a pitch. It was a minor storyline all series but both teams were hit by pitches four times. A Stott single to right scored Harper to give the Phillies one more insurance run.

Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless eighth after not being used since June 17. The Diamondbacks’ only run was scored in a last-ditch effort in the ninth inning off Jeff Hoffman, when Ketel Marte singled to score Geraldo Perdomo.

Sanchez’s pitch count was only at that 80 mark by the time his day was finished, so was Thomson’s decision to pull him due to the excessive heat or a chance to work a few arms in the bullpen?

“A combination of it all. Really hot, sweat was pouring out of (Sanchez),” he said. “He did a great job. Alvarado had five days off, Hoffman had four days off, so wanted to get them some work. It was good all the way around.”

While the weekend has been nothing short of excellent for Sanchez, he remains focused on what’s next.

“It’s incredible. Signing an extension yesterday and then having the outing today,” Sanchez said. “But we have to keep going, we have to keep doing things right and keep competing.”

The Phillies take a quick trip to Detroit for a three-game series against the Tigers before heading back to Philadelphia to host the Marlins through the weekend.

Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez and Spencer Turnbull are scheduled to start in that order. This will be Turnbull’s first start since April 30 against the Angels. Prior to Sunday’s game, Taijuan Walker was placed on the 15-day injured list (retroactive to June 22), due to right index finger inflammation.

The Tigers have not announced their rotation at this point.

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The second pitch was another fastball, not as up but considerably more in, and nicked the Phillies leadoff hitter. He dropped his bat and trotted to first.

The headlines from an oppressively hot late afternoon at Citizens Bank Park were obvious.

Zack Wheeler bounces back from one of his worst starts ever, holds Arizona to one run on two hits and no walks in seven dominant innings!

Nick Castellanos drives in five runs and Bryce Harper three; Four homers lift Phils to 12-1 romp!

Just below the surface, though, a question lurked. Was Schwarber being hit by a pitch for the first time this year just one of those things that happens from time to time? Or did it have something to do with the fact that Phillies pitchers had nailed three Arizona hitters the night before?

The old school answer is easy. A Phillies batter would have hit by a pitch to send a message that the D-Backs weren’t going to serve as live shooting gallery targets. Then the case would be considered closed. Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who began his professional career almost 40 years ago, swore the thought never crossed his mind.

“Not at all,” he said. “I don’t think they wanted to hit Schwarber leading off the game. I don’t think it was intentional, not do I think (Friday) was intentional.”

Maybe that’s the way the game is played these days. Just one postscript: Wheeler hit Diamondbacks clean-up Christian Walker leading off the fifth. Arizona reliever Scott McGough came right back and drilled Edmundo Sosa in the bottom of the inning, literally knocking him out of the game with a left elbow contusion. X-rays were negative and Sosa is listed day-to-day. So we’ll see what, if anything, happens next.

In the bigger picture, for one game at least, the Phillies displayed the sort of pitching/hitting prowess that was almost a nightly occurrence while they were winning 29 of 35 from April 15 through May 23.

Wheeler has been one of baseball’s most dependable starters since coming to Philadelphia in 2020. Which is why it was such a shock when he was banged around at Baltimore last Sunday, giving up eight earned runs on nine hits, including a career-high four homers, in 4.1 innings.

Even after all these years, he still uses rare poor outings to fire himself up. “For sure,” he said. “You try to use anything as motivation. It was a bad start last time. So you try to take some things from it but also move on and turn the page.”

He was asked exactly what he’d taken from it.

“Don’t let it happen again,” he responded with a laugh.

Wheeler didn’t allow his first base runner until he hit Walker with a pitch leading off the fifth. Heck, he didn’t allow a ball to be hit out of the infield until Jake McCarthy followed with a clean single to right. His earned run average is now 2.73.

(It’s doubtful that Wheeler threw at Walker on purpose. Not with a perfect game working and the debt, if there was one, seemingly settled. Then again, the Phillies already had a 6-0 lead at that point and Wheeler seems like the kind of guy who would put the team first if he thought it needed to be done.)

Harper, Alec Bohm, Castellanos and David Dahl all homered as the Phillies scored their most runs in a game since putting up two touchdowns against the Giants on May 4. It was the sixth time they’ve scored in double digits, but the first since May 15 against the Mets.

Dahl’s homer came in the eighth off Tucker Barnhart, normally a catcher, who broke out his eephus pitch to help save the bullpen.

NOTABLY: Temperature at first pitch was 97 degrees … With Saturday’s win, the Phillies became the second club to reach 50 wins this season, joining the Yankees … They’ve won 26 of their last 31 at home … Since centerfielder Johan Rojas was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday, the Phillies have deployed some unusual defensive alignments to help get the best possible matchups in the lineup. Kyle Schwarber, normally the designated hitter, started in left for just the second time this year on Saturday, which allowed Rob Thomson to put Alec Bohm at DH and keeping Sosa’s bat in the lineup at third, where he started for just the fourth time this year … Friday night Sosa was at second for the fourth time this year against lefty Jordan Montgomery, allowing Thomson to keep four lefthanded bats on the bench: Bryson Stott, Brandon Marsh, David Dahl and Garrett Stubbs … Set your alarm and get the coffee brewing. It will be Diamondbacks RHP Slade Cecconi (2-5, 5.90) vs. LHP Cristopher Sanchez in a rare 11:35 a.m. start for Sunday’s series finale.

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They didn’t get it, of course. The starting pitching (Aaron Nola and Ranger Suarez had a combined 7.00 earned run average) and the bats (.175 average and just 2-for-17 with runners in scoring position) went cold at just the wrong time. It happens. Thomson had no control over that, but still second guesses himself for some of his in-game decisions. Like letting struggling Johan Rojas bat – and strike out – with the bases loaded and two down in the fourth inning of Game 7.

The Diamondbacks returned to Citizens Bank Park on Friday night for the first time since they sprayed champagne in the visitor’s clubhouse. That provided an easy, but lazy, revenge angle but Thomson wasn’t remotely concerned about results he can’t change.

Which is good because he has enough to worry about in the here and now. Like the enigma that is righthander Taijuan Walker, who was booed heartily by the Citizens Bank Park sellout crowd of 44,436 after allowing four runs on five hits – three of them homers – in four innings of a 5-4 loss to the Diamondbacks.

That pushed the rotation’s combined earned run average to 3.02, the highest it’s been since it stood at 3.09 after an April 14 loss to the Pirates.

Walker is now 3-3 with a 5.60 ERA.

“He struggled,” Thomson said plainly. “It just seemed like everything was hanging. He was getting behind in the count and having to come after people. And everything was up in the zone and hittable.

“But I know he’s working at it. And I know he cares. That’s why I have patience with him.”

Which is fine. But the manager said earlier this season, when asked about Walker, that whatever decision is made about him will be performance-based.

The hesitation is that there aren’t any clear alternatives at the moment. There are no pitchers in the system at the moment who are throwing so well that their success is all but screaming for a promotion.

And the obvious solution – putting Spencer Turnbull back in the rotation, a role he excelled in at the start of the season while Walker was on the injured list – also has drawbacks. Turnbull pitched a total of 57 innings, less than half in the majors, last year and not at all in 2022. The team will have to balance that risk against the fact that, even with sporadic work since being sent to the bullpen, his ERA is 2.63 after three shutout innings Friday night.

The Phillies have made it clear they don’t want to risk breaking him with a heavy workload, and he’s already at 51.1 innings this year.

Step One, the manager said, will be to sit down with Walker to ask him if he’s healthy.

Said Walker: “I feel healthy, so that will probably be my answer. I felt 100 percent fine. My arm felt really good (Friday).”

He believes the biggest issue continues to be that he doesn’t have command of his splitter, his best weapon for the last two years.

“The problem right now is that it’s not there,” he said. “It’s kind of been my bread-and-butter, my go-to pitch in tough situations. And right now it’s just not there. Obviously, I’m doing all I can to find it. But it really just isn’t there.

“It’s extremely frustrating. I’m busting my butt but I know I’ve got to clean my (stuff) up.”

Only nine of his 77 pitches Friday night were splitters. “Should he throw more?” Thomson asked rhetorically. “Yeah. But if it’s going to be up in the strike zone he probably shouldn’t.”

If the manager is convinced Walker has no physical problems, all bets are off after that. Thomson said that even if he was considering taking the 31-year-old, who is in the second season of a 4-year, $72 million contract, out of the rotation he wouldn’t admit it publicly.

Walker’s velocity ticked down for the second straight game, topping out at 91.7 mile per hour according to baseballsavant.com. When that happened last year, he was skipped a start to see if the extra rest might help.

“I don’t know if we’re there yet,” Thomson said. “I’m sure he’ll make his next start. But, again, there are going to be a lot of conversations. That’s why I want to ask the question (about his health). Because it looks like he’s trying to create velocity. It looks like he’s just humping up and trying to throw as hard as he can instead of staying within himself and focusing on command and control. That’s just what I’m sensing. And that’s when he gets the misfires.”

There’s no need to panic. The season still hasn’t reached its midpoint and the Phillies continue to hold a comfortable lead in the NL East. At the same time, they’re now just 12-12 since May 24 and have seen their lead over the Braves sliced from 10 games to six in less than two weeks.

Walker gave up a solo homer to leftfielder Lourdes Guriel Jr. in the second. With one away in the third he walked centerfielder Corbin Carroll, who stole second. Catcher Gabriel Moreno and designated hitter Joc Pederson followed with back-to-back homers to center and Arizona never surrendered the lead.

Trea Turner drove in all but one of the Phillies runs with a two-run homer in the third and a bases-loaded infield single in the seventh. Nick Castellanos rounded out the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth.

That brought up Bryce Harper with the bases still loaded and just one out but, as the crowd roared in anticipation, the National League’s All-Star votes leader grounded into a 1-2-3 double play.

“We had our chances,” Thomson said.

It remains to be seen how many more Walker will get.

UP NEXT: Remaining matchups for the Diamondbacks series: LHP Tommy Henry (2-2, 6.23) vs. RHP Zack Wheeler (8-4, 2.84) Saturday at 4:05 p.m. and RHP Slade Cecconi (2-5, 5.90) vs. LHP Cristopher Sanchez in a 11:35 a.m. brunch special at 11:35 a.m.

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Aaron Nola gave up a pair of four-run innings in the Phillies’ 9-3 loss to the Red Sox Thursday night at Fenway.

The eight runs tied his entire earned run total in the month of April. It’s the most he’s allowed in a single outing since August 30, 2022, where he gave up eight against the Diamondbacks.

His night ended after retiring just 11 batters. He allowed 11 hits and only had two strikeouts. The 3.2 innings is officially his shortest outing of the season. Those two strikeouts is also marks another season-low.

Nola’s ERA jumped from 2.77 to 3.48.

“I’m gonna flush this pretty quick,” Nola said following the loss. “I mean, these are not easy … You give up those first four, the team’s in a better chance to score some runs and then I give up the next four. It’s a little bit harder to come back on that. Obviously this one’s tough but I’ll flush it and move on. Get prepared for the next one.”

The biggest area of concern surrounding the amount of travel the Phillies have done in recent weeks has been health, though their secondary issue has come to fruition, too. The amount of off days seems to have affected majority of the pitching staff.

Nola lasted pitched in the series finale against the Brewers on June 5, which was the day the team traveled to London. Cristopher Sanchez, who had his second-shortest outing of the season last night, and gave up four runs, hadn’t pitched since June 4.

This was almost anticipated though, so it shouldn’t raise any red flags at the moment. It’s why getting off to such a strong start to a season is essential. When you’re 20-plus games over .500 nearing the midway point of June, a few missteps aren’t detrimental.

“You’ve got to overcome it,” manager Rob Thomson said about the disruption of the club’s routine possibly affecting them. “You gotta keep grinding, keep battling, so better days ahead. I mean, we were due for one of these, too. We haven’t had one of these since the second game in Cincinnati, I think.

“We just gotta come back tomorrow and get going.”

If there’s one clear bright spot from this series, it’s Kyle Schwarber.

In the past, the designated hitter has been tied to the month of June for the number of home runs he puts up. In 2023, he had eight through the month, in 2022, a league-best 12.

It took 11 days this time through, but he finally had his first of June in a multi-home run game in the series opener against the Red Sox.

So, Mr. June has technically arrived — though really, he’s been around — just in a different way. He’s only had the two home runs but Schwarber’s June production has elevated the Phillies’ offense, especially in the leadoff spot.

Through the three-game series, in his first at-bat, Schwarber homered, walked and singled. Through the last six games, he’s had 10 hits and walked six times.

Schwarber’s double in the fourth inning cleared the bases to give the Phillies their first, and only, runs of the game. He had a three-hit night.

If there’s one debate that can be squashed this season, it’s trying to figure out if Schwarber is the best option at the top of the order.

Right now, he is.

The road ahead . . .

The Phillies head to Baltimore to wrap up their seven-game road trip in a weekend series against the Orioles at Camden Yards.

The Phillies’ starting pitching will feature Ranger Suarez (10-1, 1.81 ERA), Taijuan Walker (3-1, 5.40 ERA) and Zack Wheeler in that order. The Orioles will run with Kyle Bradish (2-0, 2.62 ERA), Grayson Rodriguez (7-2, 3.27 ERA) and Corbin Burnes (7-2, 2.08 ERA).

Then, they’ll return home after 12 days and traveling over 7,000 miles to host the Padres and Diamondbacks.

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That was the case Wednesday night.

The Red Sox exploded for five runs in the fifth inning and went on to score eight unanswered to hand the Phillies an 8-6 loss.

This wasn’t a pitcher’s duel by any means when it came to the starters. Both Cristopher Sanchez and former Phillie Nick Pivetta only went four innings a piece. Where the Phillies got to Pivetta early, the Red Sox pounced in the fifth.

Boston had a couple of singles from David Hamilton, Ceddanne Rafaela and Jarren Duran to start the inning. A throwing error from Whit Merrifield scored two and it took some time to stop the bleeding.

Jose Ruiz replaced Sanchez and inherited two base runners with no outs. Three more runs scored before the Phillies were able to get out of the inning.

This was Sanchez’s shortest outing since April 23 against the Reds, where he allowed five runs in the 8-1 loss.

“Early it was a lot of sinkers, he wasn’t mixing his pitches,” manager Rob Thomson said about his starter. “He was behind in the count, so his command was off a little bit. Velo was there, wasn’t commanding his fast ball, wasn’t commanding his changeup. They were taking a lot of balls in the dirt, changeups in the dirt, he got behind in the count.”

Spencer Turnbull, who came in to pitch the sixth inning, didn’t have his best night. You can’t necessarily knock him, though, since he hasn’t pitched since June 1. There’s a difference between being well-rested and rusty. Unfortunately for Turnbull, he was rusty. Thomson confirmed it.

“Rust, that’s all it is,” he said. “Guy hasn’t pitched in 10 days or seen a hitter in 10 days. You can’t lay that on him. It’s just a lack of reps, that’s all.”

Turnbull gave up a two-run home run, allowed two hits and four walks.

On a night where you get offensive contributions from all but three in the lineup, it’s a loss that just stings.

The Phillies jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the first inning. Bryson Stott had a 2-RBI night. Whit Merrifield, David Dahl and Bryce Harper all drove in runs. Nick Castellanos had a double and a triple. They were 4-for-13 with runners in scoring position.

Still, the Phillies sit 10 games ahead of the Braves in the NL East.

It was an uncharacteristic night for a club that, through 67 games, has always found a way to bounce back quickly.

The three-game series wraps up Thursday with Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.77 ERA) on the mound for the Phillies. They’ll face Tanner Houck (6-5, 1.91 ERA).

The Phillies then head to Baltimore for a weekend series against the Orioles to wrap up their road trip.

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With a pair of home runs from Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies wasted no time getting back in the win column, beating the Red Sox, 4-1, at Fenway Park.

Maybe all the travel the past two weeks twisted his internal clock, but Schwarber, who was 5-for-28 heading into Tuesday’s series opener, had his 27th multi-home run game of his career.

His first, which came on the first pitch of the night, was a doozy. Schwarber crushed a 444-foot no-doubter to right center field on a fastball right down the middle of the plate. It’s the farthest ball he’s hit this season.

“It was huge, first pitch of the game,” manager Rob Thomson said postgame. “Kind of puts everybody on their heels and that’s what he does. He’s been swinging the bat pretty good. Average is going up, on-base is going up, it’s good to see him put the ball in the seats a couple times tonight.”

The second was just a smidge to the right of the previous, landing in the first row of seats behind the bullpen.

Two home runs. 871 feet.

There are few things in life more consistent than Schwarber heating up in June, though none come to mind at the moment.

Oh, here’s one, Zack Wheeler.

After giving up a run in the first inning for the first time through his 14 starts, Wheeler locked in. He went seven innings, allowed three hits, just the one run and punched out four.

“His stuff was excellent,” Thomson said. “Command, first-pitch strikes, seemed like he was ahead all night. I thought he was fantastic.”

It was also a costly night of errors for the Red Sox and the Phillies found a way to capitalize on every single one.

With Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott in scoring position, David Dahl grounded out to first in what should have ended the fourth inning. Instead, first baseman Dominic Smith missed a catch that allowed both runs to score.

Since we’re talking about consistency, let’s touch on Matt Strahm.

After striking out the side in the eighth inning, Strahm has now gone 26 and two-third innings without allowing an earned run. His ERA has dropped to 0.67.

Trea Turner goes down, Edmundo Sosa steps up. Brandon Marsh goes down, Dahl steps up. And now, J.T. Realmuto goes down and Garrett Stubbs steps up.

Prior to the start of Tuesday’s game, the Phillies placed Realmuto on the 10-day injured list. Realmuto will undergo right knee meniscectomy surgery Wednesday in Philadelphia and is expected to miss “about a month.”

Where Realmuto left off defensively, Stubbs picked it right up. He caught Connor Wong stealing second with a perfect throw to Sosa. It’s the fourth time Stubbs has thrown a runner out at second this season. Stubbs also singled on the night.

The Phillies will see a familiar face tomorrow as Nick Pivetta (3-4, 3.40 ERA) takes the mound for the Red Sox. He’ll face Cristopher Sanchez (3-3, 2.71 ERA).

Then, for Thursday’s series finale, it’ll be Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.77 ERA) facing off against Tanner Houck (6-5, 1.91 ERA).

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The question is, to this point, which rotation has been better? The 2011 squad featured two previous Cy Young winners – Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee – and a World Series MVP in Cole Hamels. All three named the NL All-Star Squad that season. But how do they stack up with this year’s edition? Let’s delve into the numbers through 65 games of their respective seasons.

#1 Starter – 2011 Roy Halladay vs 2024 Zack Wheeler

Halladay is an actual Hall of Famer, and he had a sensational 2011 season. Through 65 team games, Halladay was 9-3 with a 2.39 ERA. He led the NL to that point in wins and stirkeouts (106), and was second in ERA. But Wheeler makes this a very close race. He’s at 7-3 with a 2.23 ERA, a mark that ranks fourth in the NL. But he’s also fifth in strikeouts (91), second in opponents’ batting average (.181), and this in opponents’ OPS (.551).

VERDICT: Slight edge to 2011 Halladay

#2 Starter – 2021 Cliff Lee vs 2024 Aaron Nola

Based on numbers to this point, I give Nola the win here. This year’s #2 stands at 8-2 with a 2.77 ERA, good enough for seventh in the NL. He also ranks in the top six in WHIP (0.97), OBA (.195), opponents’ OBP (.249), and opponents’ OPS (.588). Lee suffered a couple of rough starts early on in the 2011 season where he allowd six runs two separate times. This would be a very different result if we were to make this comparison a few weeks down the line, though, as Lee was in the middle of a dazzling June where he allowed one run over 42 innings.

VERDICT: 2024 Nola

#3 Starter – 2011 Cole Hamels vs 2024 Ranger Suarez

What pitcher has been better this season than Suarez? He leads the NL in almost every major category: wins (ten), ERA (1.81), WHIP (0.85), OBA (.181), oponents’ OBP (.238), opponents’ SLG (.280), and he’s sixth in strikeouts (85). Hamels was no slouch himself in 2011, leading the NL through 65 games in WHIP (0.95), opponents’ OBP (.254), opponents’ SLG (.306), and opponents’ OPS (.560). But nobody’s touched Ranger this season, and nothing changes here.

VERDICT: 2024 Ranger Suarez

#4 Starter – 2011 Roy Oswalt vs 2024 Cristopher Sanchez

Oswalt never really lived up to billing as the fourth “Ace” on the Phillies staff. He had solid numbers for this comparison – a 3-4 record despite a 3.05 ERA – but a nagging back injury caused him to miss a chunk of the season. Meanwhile, Sanchez has had a career season in 2024. Similarly, Sanchez has just three wins, but his 2.71 ERA is good enough for fifth in the NL.

VERDICT: Slight edge to 2024 Sanchez

#5 Starter – 2011 Joe Blanton/Kyle Kendrick/Vance Worley vs 2024 Taijuan Walker/Spencer Turnbull

The back end of the 2011 rotation was a relay race for much of the season, as Blanton went on the IL at the end of April, leaving the #5 job to Kendrick and Worley, a call-up from AAA. This season, Turnbull opened the season as the #5 and was very strong, while Walker has yet to find his footing since regaining his spot. All told, the tandem of Turnbull and Walker have pitched to an aggregate of a 5-1 record with a 3.72 ERA, far better than the 2011 triumvirate.

VERDICT: 2024 Turnbull/Walker

Granted, there are nearly 100 regular season games and the playoffs yet to be played, but through 65 games, the 2024 starting rotation has been pitching better than the “Four Aces” et al. it remains to be seen if this year’s squad can see it through all the way to a Broad Street parade.

Voting for the 2024 MLB All-Star Game opens at noon today. Let’s take a look at the Phillies players who are deserving of All-Star consideration, in no particular order.

SP Ranger Suarez

You could make the argument that not only is Suarez a lock to make the roster, but he should get the ball as the game’s starter for the National League. So far this season, Suarez leads all NL pitchers in wins (nine), ERA (1.70), WHIP (0.80), opponents’ batting average (.167), and opponents’ OPS (.485). That opponents’ OPS mark is the lowest by any NL qualifier since Hall-of-Famer Greg Maddux posted a .482 in 1995.

SP Zack Wheeler

Not to be outdone, Suarez’s Ace-mate in the rotation is in the middle of his own standout season. While leading the NL in innings pitched (80.2), Wheeler ranks in the top five in the NL in strikeouts (91), ERA (2.23), WHIP (0.97), opponents’ BA (.181) and opponents’ OPS (.549).

Last night’s gem against the Brewers (7 IP, 1 ER) was Wheeler’s tenth this season allowing two earned runs or less, most in the National League.

1B Bryce Harper

Amid all the hype surrounding the starting rotation early on, a typical, very good/great season by Harper has kind of flown under the radar. I guess the cat hopped out of the bag when the man won NL Player of the Month for May.

Harper is all over the top five in the NL. He is tied for second in homers (14), tied for third in RBI (44), third in SLG (.522), and fifth in OPS (.898).

One side note – how odd is this – Harper has been a Phillie for six seasons now. He’s won an MVP, two Silver Sluggers, but made the All-Star game just once? It will be twice in a matter of weeks.

3B Alec Bohm

If an All-Star Game was played during the truncated 2020 season, Bohm likely would’ve been there. He is back to hitting at the level at which he played as a rookie four years ago, when he finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting, and should be named to his first mid-summer Classic.

Bohm leads all NL third basemen in batting average (.298), hits (68), RBI (49), doubles (23), and SLG (.474), and ranks second in OBP (.353) and OPS (.827).

RP Matt Strahm

Do you remember Opening Day? Me neither. The Phillies lost to the Braves, 9-3, with the bullpen allowing all nine runs in the final three innings. Among those who pitched that day, Matt Strahm allowed two runs on three hits.

He hasn’t allowed an earned run in the 24 games he’s pitched since Opening Day. 23.2 innings, 11 hits, three walks, 33 strikeouts. Unreal. For the season, he ranks third among NL relievers in WHIP (0.71), K/BB ratio (11.33), K% (39.1) and ERA. (0.75).

RP Jeff Hoffman

A little more than a year ago, any team could’ve had Hoffman, after being released by the Twins. He has been among the best relievers in the National League, and could be among the Phillies representatives in Arlington next month.

Like Strahm, it’s been a minute since Hoffman has been touched up. In his last 22 appearances, he has allowed just one earned run (0.42 ERA) and struck out 27 hitters. Overall, he has a miniscule 1.01 ERA and 34 K in 26.2 IP.

During Wednesday’s 10-3 loss to the Dodgers — the team’s eighth loss in nine games — Mets reliever Jorge Lopez was ejected from the game by third base umpire Ramon DeJesus after arguing a checked-swing call. On his way off the field, Lopez fired his glove over the netting and into the stands.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said of the incident, “What we saw out of [Lopez] today was unacceptable. We will address that, we will address that internally.”

That was just the appetizer.

The main course came during Lopez’s postgame clubhouse interview. Normally, people try to calm down after such a highly-charged episode before speaking to the media, to avoid saying something they really don’t mean. But Lopez seemed to come in off the top rope, throwing the entire organization under the proverbial bus.

Asked if he regretted his actions on the field, Lopez said he did not:

“I think I’ve been on [what’s] looking [like] the worst team in probably the whole f—ing MLB. So, you know, whatever happens, happens. Whatever they want to do. I’ll be here tomorrow if they want me, whatever they want to do.”

Within an hour of saying those words, the team announced that Lopez was being designated for assignment.

Lopez is a veteran reliever who is, for lack of a better term, well-traveled. The Mets were his sixth MLB team in nine seasons. He was having a solid season before this week. Today he was charged with two runs in one-third of an inning. In three outings over the past six days, he has seen his season ERA balloon from 2.25 to 3.76.

After Wednesday’s outburst, both on the field and off, it remains to be seen if any other team will take any interest in his services.

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Doesn’t a team that’s really trying to win have to splurge on at least one fancy new free agent?

Apparently not. By beating the Rangers, 5-2, Thursday at Citizens Bank Park, the Phils continue to have the best record in baseball. And there was a general feeling in the clubhouse as the players packed for the upcoming road trip to Colorado and San Francisco that keeping the status quo had some advantages that might not have been apparent at first.

Manager Rob Thomson has talked a lot about the unusual chemistry this group has and he’s also frequently mentioned that after losing the World Series in 2023 and being eliminated by the Diamondbacks last year has added an urgency to get over the finish line.

In that sense, running it back meant that equilibrium went largely undisturbed.

“We all know each other well,” righthander Zack Wheeler noted. “We know, for the most part, what we’re going to do in certain situations on the field. And that’s always big.”

Added rightfielder Nick Castellanos: “This is the best team I’ve ever been a part of. It’s a lot of fun. Winning is hard, right, even when you have the same pieces together for a long amount of time. So the fact that we’re able to feel adversity together, to feel triumphs together it just makes our bond as a group greater.

“So that’s hats off to the ownership and the front office for believing the pieces that are already here. I can’t speak for the whole team. I can speak for myself that I had a real hard time enjoying any part of the offseason, even when I was on vacation, just because of how the season ended.”

When shortstop Trea Turner went on the injured list with a strained left hamstring, it was a huge loss. But Edmundo Sosa stepped up. In 14 subsequent starts he’s hitting .341. Wednesday night he hit a clutch three-run homer to give starter Taijuan Walker some breathing room. Thursday he had his first three-hit game in two years and also made a terrific catch on a pop-up in shallow left.

“We all know what we’re here for. We all know where we want to go,” he said through interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “We all know what our goal is. We want to go out and finish something that we have on hold right now.”

UP NEXT: LHP Cristopher Sanchez (2-3, 3.31) will start against LHP Ty Blach (1-2, 5.14) Friday at 8:40 p.m. when the Phillies open a weekend series against the last-place Rockies at Coors Field. It will be RHP Aaron Nola (6-2, 3.05) vs. RHP Dakota Hudson (1-7, 5.89) Saturday at 9:10 p.m. and LHP Ranger Suarez (9-0, 1.36) vs. RHP Cal Quantrill (3-3, 3.59) Sunday.

Despite having one of the worst records in baseball, Colorado has been on a bit of an upswing recently. They had a seven-game winning streak from May 9-15 that included sweeps of the Rangers and Padres and are a relatively respectable 9-12 (.429) at home. . .They were swept at Citizens Bank Park on April 15-16-17, but two of the games were decided by one run.

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And it was just another throwback pitching performance from the team with baseball’s best record and, not so coincidentally, the lowest rotation’s earned run average – 2.64 – in Rob Manfred’s neatly-ordered realm.

Zack Wheeler pitched seven innings in the Phillies sixth straight win, 5-2, completing the sweep of the Rangers before a sellout afternoon crowd at Citizens Bank Park. Phillies starting pitchers have gone at least seven innings 18 times this season. What used to be expected is now considered exceptional.

To paraphrase the Montell Jordan song that was popular in the mid-1990s, this is how they used to do it. And Wheeler, who has pitched seven or more innings in five of his 11 starts this season, thinks the Phils could be on the vanguard of a back-to-the-future trend, that they’re proving that it’s possibles to pitch deep into games and be successful.

“I think we all have that mentality of going seven-plus every time,” he said. “If you don’t, it’s not necessarily a bad thing. But we have goals every time out and that’s one of them.

“I think it’s a new school/old school thing. Back in the day you went seven to nine innings and it was a great start. I came up, I guess, at the end of that time and I guess that’s just my mentality. I don’t know if me doing that and saying that has rubbed off on other guys. I’m sure it’s just a pride thing, also. It’s saving our bullpen for later in the season when it really counts. It’s just a cool thing to do, to go deep in the game and pitch well at the same time.”

Wheeler, Ranger Suarez and Aaron Nola all rank in the MLB Top 10 in innings pitched.

Said manager Rob Thomson: “I think that’s a function of the starters. These guys are really pitching well, and they’re efficient.”

Wheeler allowed two earned runs on five hits and two walks Thursday. He’s 6-3 with a 2.53 ERA. Which is a big reason why the Phillies are off to an historically hot start.

They have the best record in baseball at 37-14. They’ve not only won a lot but they’ve won in a lot of different ways. When they hit a lot of home runs and when the lineup passes the baton. When shortstop Trea Turner is on an epic tear and when he’s on the injured list. When they take the early lead and when they take control by putting up a big crooked number in the fourth, fifth or later. Fifteen times on comebacks, 15 times by five or more runs, 10 times by just one. Four in extra innings, three on walkoffs.

They won Thursday in part because Edmundo Sosa, White Merrifield and Cristian Pache all contributed from the bottom of the batting order, because Nick Castellanos is showing signs of coming off out his season-long slump that included a home run in the finale of the homestand and because J.T. Realmuto homered to extend his hitting streak to 13 games, tying his career high.

But with all due respect to an offense that continues to lead the world in runs scored and a bullpen whose effectiveness is sometimes underrated, the through line in this embarrassment of riches has been the starting pitching.

Before the 2020 season, the Yankees signed free agent pitcher Gerrit Cole to a 9-year, $324 million free agent contract. And they certainly have had no reason to regret that decision. Former Phillies general manager Matt Klentak raised some eyebrows when he inked Wheeler to a 5-year, $118 million deal.

Since then, Wheeler has 72 quality starts, one more than Cole.

He probably would have worked another inning but, with two outs and nobody on in the seventh, he quickly gave up three hits and a walk. That convinced Thomson to bring Jose Alvarado in to pitch the eighth and Jeff Hoffman to get the save in the ninth.

The manager keeps reminding everybody that the season is still young, that the Phillies have accomplished nothing yet. To underscore that he could point out that the Phillies had three starting pitchers (Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels) finish in the top five of the 2011 Cy Young voting. And were still eliminated by the Giants in the first round of the playoffs.

Still, for a team that has adopted World Series Or Bust as its unofficial motto, the depth and quality of the rotation as the season approaches the one-third mark has been remarkable.

Great starting pitching always gives you a chance to win. Fads and trends come and go, but that’s been a foundational baseball truth from the start.

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“This is the best rotation I’ve ever been a part of,” is what he said after pitching seven more strong innings in what turned out to be an easy romp over the Nationals, 11-5, at Citizens Bank Park.

Not that that’s a bold pronouncement. Nola was just graduating from high school in 2011 when the Phillies assembled the Five Aces rotation that ended the regular season with a franchise-record 102 wins. And the current group (including Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suarez, Cristopher Sanchez, Taijuan Walker and Spencer Turnbull) has a 2.63 earned run average. That’s the best in baseball, so, yeah. . .

Still, it sort of highlights how good this team has been. Twenty games over .500 before Memorial Day. Tied for the best 48-game start in franchise history with the 1976 and 1993 clubs. The fact that only four teams in this century (2023 Rays, 2016 Cubs, 2006 Tigers and 2001 Mariners) have gotten out of the gate more quickly.

The Phillies are off Monday, then host the defending world champion Texas Rangers for three games. It’s obligatory to point out that Texas has not picked up where it left off. They’re 24-24, meaning the Phillies still haven’t played a team with a winning record since opening the schedule at home against the Braves.

Even against that backdrop, what they’ve accomplished has been impressive.

What stands out is how, in an era when starters pitch fewer and fewer innings, the Phillies rotation routinely works deep into games. The rotation has combined for 16 starts of at least seven innings already this season.

“It’s pretty awesome,” Nola said. “I love watching each guy go out there and compete. That’s pretty much the biggest thing we all do. The pitchability of every guy is so fun to watch. And they want to go deep in the game every time.”

Nola has logged more innings than any pitcher in baseball over the last three seasons. Sunday he was coming off a complete game shutout.

He gave up three runs (two earned) against the Nationals, his sixth quality start of the season. He also won the 96th game of his career, giving him sole possession of 10th place on the Phillies all-time list.

“I think it’s crucial for starting pitchers to want to go deep into games. I think the biggest thing is the want,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of good arms down in the bullpen. We saw how they were used the last few years We need those guys fresh and throwing hard like they do. The more starting pitchers can keep those guys fresh (for the postseason) the better we’ll be.”

Manager Rob Thomson said it’s likely Walker, who had to leave his last start after being struck on the left big toe by a line drive, will be able to make his next turn.

That would mean Rangers RHP Jon Gray (2-1, 2.08) will face Suarez (8-0, 1.37) Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. Texas has not announced its starters for the final two games of the season but assuming Walker (3-0, 4.91) is healthy, he’ll get the ball Wednesday at 6:40 p.m. followed by Wheeler (5-3, 2.52) in the series finale Thursday at 1:05 p.m.

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The lefty swinger took a strike, then lofted what looked like a routine fly ball to left field. Jesse Winkler drifted over, but the ball kept carrying away from him. Winkler drifted more, the ball carried even more. Finally, improbably, it fell harmlessly in foul territory between the stands and the foul line.

“Off the bat, it was pretty much in play,” Clemens said. “Then it just kept sailing out over there and thankfully it wasn’t caught. I backspun it, kind of cut it a little bit and got it up in the air. It gave me another pitch.”

Added manager Rob Thomson: “That was kind of different. I thought it was going to be a fair ball and catchable. It must have had some funny spin on it.”

Well, it’s been said that baseball’s a funny game. Given another life, Clemens didn’t waste it. He drilled a double to left. Two runs scored and the Phillies romped to an easy 11-5 win to complete a sweep of the Nationals, delighting a Sunday sellout 44,713. It was the largest crowd of the season.

That sequence neatly encapsulated two of the traits that help explain why the Phillies continue to have the best record in baseball (34-14).

They’re getting production from all over the roster, from players who didn’t carry huge expectations. Clemens opened the season at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. This is his second call-up. He doubled twice Sunday, scored twice, drove in a pair of runs. He’s batting .321.

(For further reference on this subject, please see: Sosa, Edmundo; Strahm, Matt and Hoffman, Jeff.)

They’ve also seemed to have an uncanny knack for taking advantage when given the slightest opening. That’s hard to demonstrate on a spread sheet, but being 20 games over .500 this early in the season is pretty good circumstantial evidence. “We’ve been fortunate to find a lot of ways to win games when we haven’t played well,” is the way Thomson put it. “And that’s good. It shows we’re a good team.”

Clemens’ contributions came just hours after he helped illustrate another characteristic of winning teams: Playing hard to the final out. Just when it looked as though the Phillies were about to lose Saturday night, his homer tied the score and the team went on to win in the tenth.

He was one of several standout performers Sunday.

Aaron Nola gave up only two hits in seven innings. Both landed on the other side of the fence, but still. He’s now 6-2 with a 3.05 earned run average.

Alec Bohm had five RBI on two sac flies and a three-run homer.

Bryson Stott extended his on-base streak to a career-high 18 games.

Nick Castellanos, battling a season-long slump, had three hits.

So maybe the Phillies would have won even if Clemens’ foul ball in the fifth had been caught. Fortunately, they didn’t have to find out.

Clemens is getting his best chance to showcase himself yet because Trea Turner is on the injured list with a strained left hamstring. He tries not to think about what sort of roster move will be made when Turner comes back.

“It’s tough to think about that,” he said. “I kind of try and just go one day at a time. It goes back to believing in myself, knowing I can do this up here and just continue to try to help the team. It’s all about trying to have quality at bats and playing good defense. Just contribute as much as I can.”

During his time in the big leagues last season he played some left field. Of course, he’s willing to do that again if asked. “Obviously, I’m going to do whatever I can to stay. It’s a tough business sometimes, but when my name’s called I have to be ready.”

That’s the thing about baseball. Sometimes the fly ball is caught. Sometimes it falls foul and you get another opportunity.

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It has likely come to your attention that, while in repose waiting to begin their weekend series against the Marlins at loanDepot Park, your Fightins’ woke Thursday in possession of the best record (26-12) in all of Major League Baseball.

To put a slightly finer point on it, they’ve clearly accomplished their stated spring training goal of getting off to a fast start.

Which made a comment from Rob Thomson after Saturday night’s two touchdowns-to-a-field goal win over the Giants interesting. It wasn’t in response to a specific question. It was an offhand remark, almost as if he was thinking out loud.

“We’ve got to stay humble and keep going,” the manager said.

With that in mind, before the Phillies closed out a hugely successful homestand with a 5-3 loss to the Blue Jays that ended their winning streak at seven Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, Thomson was asked if his antennae are up for signs of overconfidence.

“Absolutely,” he said. “This game will humble you in a hurry if you think you’re better than what you really are. We’ve got a good club. But we just need to keep grinding, keep playing, keep being ourselves.”

In that spirit, here are some helpful reminders that the 2024 season is just now starting to get warmed up. That more than three-quarters of the schedule remains. That having the best record in baseball on May 9, along with 11 bucks, will get you a roast pork sandwich at Di Nic’s in the Reading Terminal Market.

Not to be a buzz kill. Just numbers that underscore Thomson’s pragmatism.

On this date in baseball history, for the last four full seasons, here are the teams that were No. 1 in the overall standings – and where they finished – followed by the eventual World Series winner and its overall position at the same time.

Spoiler alert. All made the postseason. None advanced to the World Series, much less won it.

 May 9, 2019 — Minnesota Twins, 23-12 (.657)

• Rest of the way: 78-49 (.614)
• Finished first in AL Central, lost in division series
• Hoisted the trophy: Nationals, on May 9: 15-22 (.405), 26^th (tie)

May 9, 2021 – Boston Red Sox, 22-13 (.629)

• Rest of the way: 71-57 (.555)
• Finished second in AL East; lost in LCS
• Hoisted the trophy: Braves, on May 9: 14-16 (.467), 17^th

May 9, 2022 – Los Angeles Dodgers, 19-7 (.731)

• Rest of the way: 92-44 (.676)
• Finished 1^st in NL West, lost in division series
• Hoisted the trophy: Astros, on May 9: 18-11 (.621), 7^th (tie)

May 9, 2023 – Tampa Bay Rays, 29-7 (.806)

• Rest of the way: 70-56 (.556)
• Finished 2^nd in AL East, lost in wild card round
• Hoisted the trophy: Rangers, on May 9: 21-13 (.618), 4^th

The last time a team with the best record at this juncture went on to win it all was 2018 when the Yankees and Red Sox were tied at 25-10 (.714). There’s no reason why the Phillies can’t follow in those footsteps. This is just to say that they haven’t clinched a dang thing yet. Including dethroning the Braves at the top of the NL East.

They have a 2-game lead over the team that has won the division six straight seasons. They’ve also had a remarkably favorable early schedule. Since opening the season with a head-to-head series against the Braves, the Phillies haven’t played a team that’s currently above .500. Other than Atlanta, they haven’t faced a single team with one of the Top 10 records in baseball.

In addition to the Phillies, Atlanta has played the Dodgers, Indians, Red Sox, Mariners and Rangers – all winning teams. That imbalance will even out over the next four-and-a-half months.

Injuries can dramatically alter the MLB landscape between now and the end of September. So can the trades teams make – and don’t make – before the deadline.

One final date point: The Phillies are 15-6 at Citizens Bank Park where their home winning streak ended at 11 on Wednesday. The back half of the schedule is backloaded with road games when 44 of 78 (56.4 percent) of the dates are denoted by white squares on your handy pocket schedules.

Again, the Phillies have put themselves in a terrific position. But Thomson has been around long enough to know that there are no guarantees in May. He understands there can be a hobgoblin around almost any corner, even against a Marlins team with the third-worst record in baseball.

“Now we go into Miami. There probably won’t be many people at the ballpark. So you’ve got to create your own energy internally,” he said. “And we have a good group of people who can do that. They tend to bring it every day. So that’s really the only thing for me.

“What happened the last two years at the end (losing to Houston in the ’22 World Series, losing to Arizona in the ’23 NLCS) is really motivating for this group. I think the entire room is competitive and they feed off each other that way. These guys come to play every day. They are tough. And they have fun at the same time. So it’s a special group. It really is.”

Exactly how special, though, won’t be determined until October.

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Sure enough, Seranthony Dominguez did that in the sixth Wednesday night and went on to give up four runs against the Reds at Great American Ball Park, helping cost the Phillies the game. Rob Thomson diagnosed the issue as Not Throwing Enough Strikes Syndrome and, before Thursday’s series finale, expounded on possible causes and potential cures.

“He’s working on tuning up his slider, so I don’t know whether that’s bleeding into his thinking too much about his mechanics, how he’s gripping the ball, whatever,” the manager said. “I think it’s more just confidence right now. Putting your thoughts on auto pilot and just going out to compete.”

The prescription at the moment is to be patient while Dominguez works through the issue, although ideally not in situations when the game is on the line. That’s made easier because, Thomson said, he’s ready to move righthander Orion Kerkering into more high leverage situations.

“Whenever a guy has an outing like (Dominguez did Wednesday night) you try to get him something where he can get some confidence back, because you don’t know how he’s going to react to it,” he said.

The numbers back up the theory that lack of command has been the biggest problem for Dominguez, who was dominant in 2022 but is now carrying a 9.72 ERA.

For the season, he’s thrown 60.7 percent of his pitches for strikes. But that number is down dramatically in his last four appearances (53.3 percent) and his ERA in that span is 13.50. In his first six games he threw 66.7 percent of his pitches for strikes. Also, for his career, he’s thrown 58.4 percent first pitch strikes. This season that’s down to 45 percent.

Dominguez’s thoughts on his struggles are unknown. He did not make himself available to the media after Wednesday night’s game or before Thursday’s game.

Bryce returns, Clemens back to AAA

As expected, Bryce Harper was activated from the paternity list Thursday and Kody Clemens was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Harper celebrated the birth of his third child, and second daughter, with a 2-run homer in the third.

Add Clemens: He got into only one game during his call-up, but took advantage with a double and a 3-run homer in Monday’s start. “He’s a big league player,” Rob Thomson said. “Right now it’s not a fit. But he can hit. He can play a bunch of positions in the infield. We’re going to play him a little bit more in the outfield (with the IronPigs).”

Turnbull or Taijuan?

Thomson still hasn’t spoken to righthander Spencer Turnbull about his role moving forward, even though Taijuan Walker’s return to the rotation Sunday in San Diego almost certainly means he’ll be moved to the bullpen despite a 1.33 ERA in five starts.

Spencer made the point after giving up one run in five innings while striking out eight Wednesday that he feels great and doesn’t think the Phillies should be concerned about his workload moving forward just because he was limited by injuries the last three years. Thomson promised there is no hard cap in terms of innings pitched. 

“I’ve never really thought of a number because I trust what the trainers and strength and conditioning guys measure,” he said. “Spin rates and velocity and extension and arm angle and things like that are indicators of whether a guy’s getting tired or if he’s about to be possibly injured.”

The Phillies continue the current road trip with as weekend series in San Diego followed by three games against the Angels in Anaheim. Matchups for Petco Park: RHP Aaron Nola (3-1, 3.16) vs. RHP Joe Musgrove (3-2, 5.74) Friday at 9:40 p.m., LHP Ranger Suarez (4-0, 1.36) vs. RHP Dylan Cease (3-1, 1.82) Saturday at 8:40 p.m. and Walker, making his first start of the season, vs. RHP Michael King (2-2, 4.11) Sunday at 4:10 p.m.

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Colorado is coming off a 103-loss season and didn’t do anything over the winter that suggests this year should be much better. The Rockies are 4-12 and have been outscored by an average of more than two runs per game. They’re without two of their better starting pitchers, Antonio Senzatela and German Marquez, both on the 60-day injured list after undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.

Chicago is even worse. The Sox are 2-13 (.133), the worst percentage in all of Rob Manfred’s realm. Their minus-51 run differential is the largest by a wide margin.

And, goodness gracious, would you looky here? The schedule makers have presented the Phillies with a gift. And it’s not even the Phanatics’ birthday until next Sunday. The longest homestand of the season concludes with three games against the Rockies followed by a weekend series against the Chisox beginning Monday.

That’s pretty sweet timing for a Phillies team that, with Sunday’s 9-2 loss to the Pirates, fell back to .500 for the season and is still looking to put together the kind of winning streak that they hope can set the tone for the rest of the season.

This is where the standard legal boilerplate is inserted. These are Major League teams with Major League players. Any team can beat another on a given day. No opponent at this level, no matter their record, can be overlooked.

“I think there’s always opportunity when you play at because we usually play well,” is the way manager Rob Thomson didn’t answer the question Sunday morning. “I know the records of these two teams, but you can’t take anyone for granted. These are all Major League Baseball teams so you have to go out and play the game and hope you come out on top.”

Well, yeah. Still, for a Phillies team with World Series aspirations that hasn’t been able to get much traction so far, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect opportunity to pad its record. Even in the midst of a stretch of 33 straight games against teams that didn’t make the playoffs in 2023, this six-pack stands out as the sort of situation that good clubs really have to take advantage of.

Thomson, a bit tentatively, agreed. “Especially at home,” he said. “They’re not in our division but I always say if you want to win a pennant, or win a division, you’ve got to win inside the division. And you have to win at home. Winning at home is big.”

Winning at home against the Rockies is particularly critical since they’re traditionally much more successful at hitter-friendly Coors Field than on the road. Last year, as bad as their record was, they were almost .500 (37-44) at home while going 22-59 (.272) everywhere else.

RHP Cal Quantrill (0-2, 7.20) will face RHP Aaron Nola (2-1, 4.50) in Monday’s series opener at 6:40 p.m. That will be followed by LHP Austin Gomber (0-0, 4.91) vs. LHP Ranger Suarez (2-0, 2.65) Tuesday at 6:40 and RHP Ryan Feltner (1-1, 3.38) vs. LHP Cristopher Sanchez (0-2, 3.52) at 6:05.

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The turnaround until he’d have to report back to Busch Stadium for the Phillies’ series finale against the Cardinals was about 10 hours and he had experienced dizziness, a sore throat and a headache behind his right eye.

Zack Wheeler had spiked a curveball in the seventh inning of the middle game of the series that bounced up and made direct contact with Realmuto’s throat. Fortunately for the All-Star catcher and the Phillies, the ball missed anything structural and made contact with the right side of Realmuto’s neck, above the collarbone.

The impact temporarily restricted blood circulation, which caused some dizziness.

“Right away, I got pretty dizzy,” he said. “The neck, the throat is obviously sore but that’s just normal soreness from a contusion, that doesn’t bother me. I got dizzy right away and then a headache behind my right eyeball, it was only on the right side. That kind of persisted while I was in the training room after the game, but that went away once I went to sleep.

“Going to bed, I wasn’t sure if the headache was going to continue through the night or if it was just going to go away. I slept good last night, didn’t get woken up with any pain, woke up and felt fine, texted (head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit) and told him I’d be good to go.”

None of his teammates were surprised. Realmuto has earned the reputation of “gamer” and “tough guy” by catching a zillion innings every year and rarely missing time. He’s been on the injured list for 10 days in his six seasons as a Phillie despite catching 305 more innings than anyone in the majors the last four.

“That guy’s a gamer, man,” Aaron Nola said. “I don’t think I’ve seen J.T. ever come out of a game. To get that guy out of the game, I guess you’ve got to hit him in the throat.”

Realmuto didn’t just play, he had a big day at the plate. He went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and reached on a two-base error in the first inning on a hard-hit ball to deep center that was muffed in the rain and wind by Victor Scott II.

He also had his work cut out behind the dish trying to navigate the Phillies’ pitching staff through grueling conditions that diminished the stuff of the arms on both sides.

Nola battled through six innings without his usual command or velocity. He had to adjust his delivery, cutting down his stride to avoid slipping. The alteration resulted in uncharacteristic wildness. Nola went 3-0 to three hitters in the first inning and walked three on the afternoon. He’s dealt with rain, wind, frigid temperatures or all of the above in his first three starts.

“I think right off the bat, obviously it was kind of difficult, it was wet and slushy on the mound, the balls were wet,” Nola said. “But battled through it, dried up there in the sixth, felt better in the sixth than I did all game. It was a grind for sure but we got through it and it was a good win.

“A lot of walks. I’ve gotta get those down pretty quick. Weather conditions, I mean that’s what you get when you play up in the Northeast, right? We’ve been through it before. We know it’s going to turn, hopefully soon. But just keep doing my thing and keep trying to command the baseball, keep my body healthy and cut the walks down. It was a little bit of the weather conditions but still, 3-0 right off the bat to three guys is pretty tough.”

Realmuto said these are some of his favorite games to catch because they require figuring things out on the fly with pitchers who aren’t at their sharpest.

“You have to do things differently,” he said. “You can’t pitch them like you normally would because the stuff’s not as sharp, the command isn’t there. You kind of have to try to bite off bigger parts of the plate and just trust that they’re going to hit it at guys. You try to get them to swing the bat more often because he’s not going to be dialed in on the corners as much as he usually is.”

The same was true of Gregory Soto, Seranthony Dominguez and Jeff Hoffman, who pitched the final two innings of the Phillies’ 4-3 win. Matt Strahm pitched the seventh and seemed unbothered as he continued to fire strike after strike. He’s thrown 81 pitches this season, 62 for strikes.

Hoffman ended the game and the road trip by inducing a 6-4-3 double play. He rebounded two days after blowing a save to begin the series. Jose Alvarado was down for the day after appearing in three of five games with two hefty pitch counts.

“Gets it done,” manager Rob Thomson said of Hoffman. “Just gives him confidence. I just want to make sure he knows I have confidence in him. Same thing with Soto. Same with all of them. It’s all part of managing people.”

The Phillies return to Citizens Bank Park for a 10-game homestand against the far inferior rosters of the Pirates, Rockies and White Sox. And surprise, surprise, weather could be a factor again with rain in the forecast Thursday and Friday.

“We’re gonna slug at some point, that’s just the way we’re built,” Thomson said. “You’ve got to win these types of games when you’re not slugging. And tough conditions, but we got it done. Really good road trip, now we’re looking forward to getting home and keep playing.”

Telemundo 62’s Jaime Becerril joins NBC Sports Philadelphia’s Ricky Bottalico, Ruben Amaro Jr., and Corey Seidman down in Clearwater. They will be standing by to answer all your Phillies questions at the tiki bar in left field following Saturday’s Phillies spring game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Baycare Ballpark.

If you can’t make it down to Clearwater, join our live stream and submit your questions in the chat. You can watch the event on the NBC Philadelphia News streaming channel, all of our social platforms, YouTube, and right on this page.

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It should have been scored Trea Turner’s 14th error of the season.

It turned out to be neither. Not because the official scorer took pity on Turner for a hard-hit ball, but because the Phillies’ shortstop had misplayed the grounder so badly that he never made contact with it on its way to the outfield.

Josh Bell’s ground ball single through Turner scored the tying run in the 11th inning, turning a Phillies win into an embarrassing 9-8 loss to the Marlins, a team against which the Phils had a golden opportunity to push further down the trough in the NL wild-card race.

Turner stepped up after the game, taking the mantle for the extra-inning loss in front of cameras and reporters. The Phillies and their fans would rather he step up on the field more often.

Turner’s struggles are to the point to where the manager needs to make a decision on whether to play him in the everyday lineup — not exactly where Rob Thomson wants to find himself.

Thomson should give Turner several days off to clear his head, to find himself, to recalibrate and recapture the magic that has made him one of the most exciting players in the game today.

To be fair, it’s not as though the team will miss his offensive output. Since April 18, when he was batting .338 through 16 games, he has a .633 OPS — nearly 200 points below his career average — ranking him in the bottom 10 of all qualified players over that span.

Whether the offense is affecting the defense, or vice versa, we don’t know. But the defense is suffering as well. His 13 errors this season are just three off his career high, with one-third of the regular season left.

While his play has been frustrating, it’s far too early to write Turner off. He has far too much talent for it all to just erode over the span of four months. Remember the World Baseball Classic this past spring? Some of his titanic home runs may still be traveling through the stratosphere.

He is searching for answers, and some time away from his job may help him find them. John Middleton and Dave Dombrowski invested quite a bit in Turner, and aren’t getting much return. This is a player they envisioned carrying the team toward perennial deep postseason runs. Right now, he is not producing much faith that he will produce in high-leverage situations.

Maybe a week off will hit the reset button for the superstar, and he can rejoin the starting lineup refreshed and ready to steamroll into October.

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They dealt for Tigers right-hander Michael Lorenzen, who is having a career year. The 31-year-old has allowed no runs or one run in nine of 18 starts this season and has a 3.04 ERA since May 1. He has a 3.58 ERA overall for Detroit.

It’s a one-for-one trade with the Phillies sending infield prospect Hao-Yu Lee to the Tigers.

Lee is a 20-year-old second baseman who was ranked by MLB.com as the Phillies’ fifth-best prospect. He is a thickly built 5-foot-9, 190-pound right-handed hitter who’s hit .283 with a .372 on-base percentage in 285 plate appearances this season with High A Jersey Shore.

Lorenzen is a free agent after the year and is still due about $1.5 million the rest of this season. He spent 2016-21 as a reliever and may end up in some sort of relief role with the Phillies because he’s only eight innings away from his career-high, which was set eight years ago.

“He’s having a good year, he was an All-Star,” manager Rob Thomson said. “The stuff is good, he’s durable, he’s going five, six, seven innings almost every start. The slider’s really good. He’s a guy.”

Starting pitching help was no longer the huge need for the Phillies that it was the first two months of the regular season. Cristopher Sanchez was called up from Triple A on June 17 and has the lowest WHIP (0.84) in all of baseball over that span, to go with a 2.30 ERA in eight starts.

But adding another arm improves the entire pitching staff, along with protecting the Phillies in case of injury.

The Phillies will go to a six-man rotation for the next two weeks. Lorenzen will likely make his debut Thursday afternoon in Miami, with Aaron Nola moving back a day to start the first game at home against the Royals Friday.

The Phils will use the six-man rotation until at least August 14, their next off day. They’re off again on August 17, so if they continued using it, some of their starters might have too much time off.

One option would be piggybacking Lorenzen and Sanchez, since they’re both so close to their innings maxes.

To make room for Lorenzen on the 40-man roster, the Phillies designated utilityman Josh Harrison for assignment. He had barely played, hitting .204 and starting just 26 games.