A Look Back With Captain Jack

Phillies 7, Marlins 0 at Citizens Bank Park, and Philadelphia comes home off a .500 road trip to throw a shutout at Miami. Zack Wheeler sets the tone with six scoreless, two hits, three walks, and nine strikeouts, and the bullpen of Tim Mayza, Jonathan Bowlan, and Chase Shugart finishes the blanking. The night belongs to a debut: Gabriel Rincones Junior, up from Jersey Shore, takes a hack in the second and his first career hit is a home run to right, and he drives in two. J.T. Realmuto adds a two-run shot to left in the fifth, his fifth of the year. Justin Crawford keeps cooking with three hits and a steal, Edmundo Sosa knocks two, and Bohm and Harper each cash a sac fly. With two balls in the seats on an open-air June night, the show brings in Dr. Jürgen Luftberg to sort the weather ball from the muscle. Trea Turner takes a pitch off the body in the sixth and exits in the eighth as a precaution. Philadelphia climbs to thirty-nine and thirty-three, holds a game and a half in the wild card, and stays seven and a half back of Atlanta. The Mets, for the record, got spanked.

Phillies 0, Brewers 4 at American Family Field, and Philadelphia gets blanked on getaway day to drop the series two games to one. A day after hanging nine, the bats manage four hits and never score. Cristopher Sánchez takes the loss, charged with four runs over five and two-thirds, both off the long ball: a Jackson Chourio leadoff homer in the first and a Blake Perkins three-run shot in the fourth. Kyle Harrison shuts Philadelphia out over six, and Abner Uribe and Aaron Ashby finish it. J.T. Realmuto sits on the day game, so Sánchez throws to Rafael Marchán, who later takes a foul off the helmet and is replaced by Garrett Stubbs. The lone bright spots are gloves: the Phillies nail William Contreras in a rundown and win their only challenge, an overturned tag on David Hamilton at second. Philadelphia falls to thirty-eight and thirty-three, stays eight back of Atlanta, and watches the wild-card cushion shrink to a half game. The road trip ends three and three; the club heads home.

Phillies 9, Brewers 8 at American Family Field, and Philadelphia answers a one-hit shutout with a seventeen-hit avalanche. A night after Misiorowski one-hit them, the bats wake up: J.T. Realmuto goes three for four with a three-run homer and four runs batted in, Edmundo Sosa and Realmuto both go deep, Bryson Stott doubles twice and drives in two, Brandon Marsh and Sosa each rack up three hits. Aaron Nola wobbles through four and two-thirds, Tim Mayza vultures the win, and Jhoan Duran slams the door for the save. But it's nearly a disaster: up 9-5 in the eighth, Brad Keller turns the inning into a fire drill and the Brewers crawl back to 9-8 before it ends. Jackson Chourio is a one-man wrecking crew for Milwaukee with four hits, two homers, and four RBI. The Phillies climb to thirty-eight and thirty-two, stay eight back of Atlanta in the East, and hold a game and a half in the wild card. Kyle Schwarber takes a backwards K in the first, a textbook Volpe, and a ball clanks off Alec Bohm's head in the eighth.

Phillies 0, Brewers 6 at American Family Field, and Philadelphia runs into the buzzsaw to open the Milwaukee series. Rookie Jacob Misiorowski throws a complete-game one-hit shutout, strikes out a career-high fifteen, walks nobody, faces the minimum, and hits 104.5 miles an hour, the fastest pitch of 2026 and the fastest ever thrown by a starter. Kyle Schwarber's fourth-inning single is the Phillies' only hit and the only thing standing between them and a perfect game. Tanner Banks opens and takes the loss after a Will Contreras RBI double in the first; Andrew Painter follows with five runs over five innings, the big blow a Jake Bauers three-run homer in the fifth. The Phillies fall to thirty-seven and thirty-two, slip to eight and a half back of Atlanta in the East, but hold a game and a half lead for the wild card as the Braves drop their second straight. Last ten still seven and three.

Phillies 7, Blue Jays 4 at Rogers Centre, and Philadelphia takes the series two games to one in Toronto. They jump Max Scherzer for three home runs — Bryce Harper's solo shot in the first, Alec Bohm's three-run blast in the third, and a 423-foot Kyle Schwarber bomb off the reliever in the fourth — and chase the future Hall of Famer in the fourth on the same day he records his three thousand five hundredth career strikeout. Jesús Luzardo strikes out eight over five and two-thirds, Realmuto guns down a runner in a rundown, and José Alvarado collects his five hundredth career K. Chase Shugart walks in three runs in a shaky seventh to make it 7-4, but Jhoan Duran slams the door for the save, bouncing back from last night's walk-off, his third straight night pitching. Roof open all game. The Phillies are thirty-seven and thirty-one, back up a game and a half for the wild card, and the Braves have lost two straight, so the division gap is down to eight.

Phillies 2, Blue Jays 3, walked off in the bottom of the ninth at Rogers Centre. Philadelphia carries a 2-1 lead to the last three outs on Bryson Stott's go-ahead double, then Jhoan Duran comes in for the save and records zero outs: a Jesús Sánchez single, a Piñango single, a wild pitch that ties it, and a Brandon Valenzuela walk-off single. Zack Wheeler was excellent and got nothing for it, six innings and one run on a Sánchez solo homer, and Dylan Cease carved the Phillies up for eleven strikeouts. Stott had two doubles and the only life in the lineup. The streak snaps at one, the wild-card cushion shrinks to a single game with the Jays now a half-game back, and the umpiring crew got reversed on three of four challenges.

Phillies 5, Blue Jays 2 up at Rogers Centre to open the road trip. Cristopher Sánchez does exactly what the show promised the night before, seven innings, ten strikeouts, two earned, the eleventh ten-punchout game of his career. Adolis García gets it started with a two-run homer in the second, then the Phillies hang three in the third on a Bohm single, a Realmuto single, and a bases-loaded Bryson Stott walk, all of it off a Patrick Corbin who couldn't find the plate. Ernie Clement's solo shot is the only real Toronto damage. Bryce Harper challenges the home plate umpire twice and the computer overturns the call both times, then walks both times, Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins gets tossed in the fourth, and Jhoan Duran slams the door at a hundred miles an hour for his sixteenth save. The Phillies are thirty-six and thirty, seven and three over their last ten, still up a game and a half for the last wild card.

Phillies 9, White Sox 5, and the Phillies take the series two games to one. Aaron Nola gets roughed up again, five earned over four and a third, but the bullpen throws four and two-thirds of shutout ball behind him, José Alvarado picks up the win, and Jonathan Bowlan ends it on a double play. Brandon Marsh keeps mashing, his eighth homer plus a wall-climbing catch, Rafael Marchán adds a two-run shot, Harper and Bohm each double in runs, and the bottom of the order does the damage. Jacob Gonzalez of the Sox gets the show's first official Volpe, called out by Nola without ever moving the bat. The Phillies are seven and three over their last ten and now up a full game for the last wild card. Off to Toronto tomorrow.

White Sox 6, Phillies 3. The Phillies go for a fifth straight and don't get it. Andrew Painter gets buried early, four runs in the first and six before he's out in the fifth, the killers a Colson Montgomery solo shot and Jacob Gonzalez's first career home run. Alec Bohm and Brandon Marsh answer with solo homers and Adolis García drives one in, but Sean Burke and the Sox pen hold the line and Grant Taylor strikes out Schwarber to end it. The bullpen, Banks, Mayza, and Shugart, throws four and a third scoreless behind Painter, the one clean thing on the night. The win streak ends at four, but the Phillies are still seven and three over their last ten and still holding the last wild card by a half-game. Rubber match with the Sox tomorrow.

Phillies 8, White Sox 6. A slugfest, and the Phillies out-slugged them. Jesús Luzardo gets roughed up for three home runs, two from Randal Grichuk and one from Derek Hill, but Kyle Schwarber goes four for five at the top, Brandon Marsh and Adolis García go deep, and Alec Bohm rips a two-run double. Tied at six in the seventh on a Colson Montgomery single, Edmundo Sosa lifts a go-ahead sacrifice fly and the Phillies tack on for the 8-6 final. Jonathan Bowlan gets the win in relief, Jhoan Duran slams the door for his save. Four straight now, eight and two over the last ten, the Braves finally lost one, and the Phillies are holding the wild card by a half-game.

Phillies 6, Padres 4. The broom comes out. Zack Wheeler carves the Padres up, eight strikeouts and two hits over seven, the only dent a Manny Machado two-run homer in the seventh. Adolis García's fifth-inning solo shot and a Justin Crawford run on a throwing error build a three-nothing lead, and when Machado pulls San Diego within one, the Phillies answer with three in the bottom of the seventh off Adrian Morejon. A Jackson Merrill two-run homer off José Alvarado in the ninth makes the finish a touch loud, but it's a sweep. Three straight over San Diego, and the Phillies climb into the wild card, a half-game up on the team they just buried.

Phillies 3, Padres 2. Cristopher Sánchez carves up San Diego, eight strikeouts over seven innings, and his left-handed scoreless-innings record ends at fifty and two-thirds on a Jackson Merrill single in the seventh. Adolis García's fifth-inning double opens the scoring, then Realmuto and Schwarber go back to back in the seventh off Jason Adam, Schwarber's M.L.B.-leading twenty-third. Trea Turner saves a run with a barehanded play in the eighth, Brad Keller plunks Bogaerts with the bases loaded to make it close, and Jhoan Duran slams the door for the save. Two in a row over the Padres, a half-game out of the wild card.

Phillies 3, Padres 2. Home cookin' fixes a lot. Aaron Nola goes five with eight punchouts, the only damage a Gavin Sheets two-run homer in the third. Bryce Harper answers with a four-hundred-and-nineteen-foot two-run shot in the fourth to tie it, and the go-ahead run scores in the sixth on, of all things, an Alec Bohm double play. Brandon Marsh goes four for four. Jhoan Duran slams the door in the ninth with three strikeouts on hundred-mile-an-hour splitters. The Phillies climb back to second in the East, past Washington, one game back in the wild card.

Dodgers 9, Phillies 1. Rubber game in LA. Andrew Painter can't get out of the fourth, giving up two home runs, Ryan Ward and Alex Freeland, and four runs. Yoshinobu Yamamoto carves the Phillies up, 5⅓ shutout innings, ten punchouts. Bryson Stott's ninth-inning solo homer is the only run. The Dodgers take the series two games to one, and the Phillies slip to third in the East at 30 and 29.

Phillies 4, Dodgers 3. Game two in LA. Down 3 to 1 in the eighth against Tanner Scott, Bryce Harper singles home a run and Edmundo Sosa, pinch-hitting, launches a two-run homer to take the lead. Jesús Luzardo grinds 5⅓, Orion Kerkering takes the win, Jhoan Duran closes it touching 101. Alec Bohm homers off Roki Sasaki early. Phillies even the series and climb to 30 and 28.

Dodgers 4, Phillies 2. Series opener in LA. Zack Wheeler gives up four solo home runs in six innings, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Will Smith, and Shohei Ohtani all going deep. Justin Wrobleski shuts the Phillies down, seven innings, one run, nine punchouts. Kyle Schwarber's solo shot and a Steward Berroa run-scoring single in the eighth are the only Phillies offense. Sweep at Petco on Wednesday, flat night in LA on Friday. Phillies fall to 29 and 28.

Phillies 3, Padres 0. Sweep clinched. Cristopher Sánchez throws seven shutout innings, nine punchouts, no walks, on a hundred pitches — and breaks Grover Cleveland Alexander's 1911 franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings, pushing the streak to 44⅔. Walker Buehler has to come out injured in the sixth. Trea Turner caps it with a solo shot in the ninth. Three in a row over San Diego. Phillies pass the Nats into second in the East.

Phillies 4, Padres 3. Three solo shots — Bryce in the first, Realmuto in the second, Trea in the third. Nola goes six on eighty pitches. Brad Keller hangs a sweeper to Laureano in the eighth, Duran closes it. Two in a row, sweep tomorrow.