For the first time since the Oakland Athletics became just the Athletics, the Phillies traveled to West Sacramento in hopes of continuing their hot stretch of play in a weekend set against a sputtering young team. Even beyond the Athletics' recent struggles, the stars were aligned for the Phillies to keep rolling, with Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo lined up to take the ball.
The Phillies appeared primed to secure a series sweep after Wheeler, who has now tossed 22.2 consecutive scoreless frames, threw 6.2 shutout innings in Friday's series opener, a 4-3 win. They followed that up by emerging from the depths on multiple occasions the following night, supporting Sánchez in a difficult start and notching a 9-6 victory in 11 innings.
With Luzardo taking the mound against his former team and looking for a sweep on Sunday, the Phillies had a chance to steal another victory after a gutsy outing from their left-hander. After getting knocked around in the first inning, Luzardo was dominant through the seventh, but Matt Strahm allowed a pair of runs in relief that proved to be the nail in the coffin of the Phillies' winning streak, which was snapped at nine games with a 5-4 loss.
Here is what stood out from the Phillies' series victory over the Oakland Las Vegas Athletics:
Could the Phillies trade for Mason Miller?
Jordan Romano struggled in a save situation on Friday, requiring Tanner Banks to notch the final out of the game and his first save of 2025. But Romano allowing a three-run homer to Athletics rookie Nick Kurtz was not a fatal blow because in the top half of the same inning, the Phillies scored three runs against Athletics flamethrower Mason Miller. While the 26-year-old has not been as effective this season as he was in a breakout rookie campaign last year, rallying against the hardest-throwing pitcher in the majors is a feat on its own. Hits from J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, Johan Rojas and Turner did the job, putting three runs on the board and chasing Miller before he could finish the inning.
The next day, Miller entered in the top of the ninth inning with a one-run lead, looking to end the Phillies' winning streak at eight games. Then Max Kepler stepped to the plate and crushed a fastball thrown 101.4 miles per hour:
MAX KEPLER! pic.twitter.com/ElLRQ3KbJr
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 25, 2025
Perhaps out of desperation, the Athletics used Miller again on Sunday, trying to protect a one-run lead. This time he came through, putting up a zero and ending his team's lengthy skid.
Because of José Alvarado's suspension — and ensuing ineligibility for the postseason — the Phillies' need for bullpen reinforcements figures to only be more pronounced heading into the trade deadline. Romano had been on an outstanding run in a rebound from his disastrous start predating the weekend, Orion Kerkering has come on strong in recent weeks and Strahm is as close to reliable as it gets (his loss Sunday notwithstanding). But the Phillies already lacked steady bullpen depth before losing Alvarado, the arm they had the most trust in.
There were plenty of trade rumors surrounding Miller last summer — with the Phillies mentioned frequently — but the then-Oakland-based franchise elected to hold onto him without a king's ransom being offered. It is difficult to imagine them suddenly caving in during what is lining up to be a down year for their closer, but Miller's volatility is in itself the strongest argument against giving up a massive collection of prospects for him: relief pitching is such a difficult thing to project. Many are also understandably concerned about whether the young star's arm will hold up for many years to come as he continues obliterating radar guns.
If the Athletics ever trade Miller in his early years, it would probably be done in the midst of a strong year so they can maximize any potential return. He certainly has the ability to turn things around quickly, but the Phillies set Miller back a bit this weekend.
Saturday night chaos
If you were not awake so late on Saturday night that you watched it turn into Sunday morning, you missed a whole lot in the later innings of the second game of this series, even beyond Kepler torching Miller's heater. The key moments from a wild night with plenty of twists and turns that ultimately resulted in what felt like an unlikely Phillies win:
• While Wheeler was his typical dominant self in Friday's series opener, Sánchez looked unusually out of sorts in his own lackluster outing. For the only time this season outside of his injury-shortened start against the New York Mets last month, the star left-hander did not make it out of the fifth inning.
Sánchez's final line in a start in which he struggled with command: 4.2 innings pitched, seven hits, three runs (two earned), six strikeouts and three walks on 83 pitches (only 49 strikes).
• Athletics lefty Jeffrey Springs, the team's starter on Saturday, had not allowed a home run to a left-handed hitter in 2025. Naturally, the first to get him was Schwarber, whose complete dominance of southpaws continues to be astounding. Schwarber tied Aaron Judge for major-league lead with his 18th bomb of the season:
The @Phillies regain the lead on Kyle Schwarber's 18th home run! pic.twitter.com/zVjUQmf9rg
— MLB (@MLB) May 25, 2025
• After Kepler sent the game to extras, the Phillies failed to score their automatic runner in the top of the 10th inning. Manager Rob Thomson went to Orion Kerkering looking to extend the game to the 11th, making Kerkering the first Phillies pitcher all year to pitch on three consecutive days when he took the mound Saturday. In fact, according to Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia, the last Phillies pitchers to do that were Jeff Hoffman and Craig Kimbrel in September of 2023.
After allowing a single to begin the inning, Kerkering intentionally walked rookie shortstop Jacob Wilson to load the bases with no outs. And he got out of the jam, with a major assist coming from the excellent arm of Brandon Marsh:
Are you not entertained?! pic.twitter.com/uaM54YjRuz
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 25, 2025
It was a gutsy performance from Kerkering, who has rebounded after a disappointing beginning to the season. Across 10 appearances and 8.0 innings in May, Kerkering has only allowed one earned run, lowering his season-long ERA from 5.56 to 3.72 in the process. His resurgence has been critical in the wake of Alvarado's suspension.
• Of course, after a whole lot of madness in the late innings and extras on Saturday, it was Schwarber who gave the Phillies a comfortable lead, pairing another important swing with stellar base-running:
See previous tweet: https://t.co/2f80P1IosV pic.twitter.com/6iMBaMYfGA
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 25, 2025
On Schwarber's go-ahead hit, he bumped into Athletics first baseman Logan Davidson and instinctively darted for third base, knowing he would likely be awarded the base after obstruction had been called. Indeed he was, and it enabled Schwarber to just barely tag up and score on a sacrifice fly from Nick Castellanos.
• By that point, the last available arm in Thomson's bullpen was Max Lazar, recalled from Triple-A ahead of the team's road trip. Lazar, 25, threw a scoreless inning and notched his first major-league save.
Jesús Luzardo exhibits mental toughness
In the first inning of Sunday afternoon's series finale, it felt that my story published hours earlier detailing Luzardo's brilliance through 10 games — including his ability to prevent home runs — was poorly-timed. The first pitch he threw on Sunday was blasted for a home run by Wilson, and he allowed another two runs on a hard-hit double before getting out of the inning.
To say Luzardo settled in after his worst inning of the season would be making a massive understatement.
Luzardo flipped a switch and went right back to mowing hitters down with sustained velocity and good command. A start that could have unraveled did the exact opposite — the ultimate sign of a mature, confident pitcher. In some ways, this was arguably more encouraging than another stress-free outing for Luzardo, who showed some real resilience to keep his team in the game.
After allowing three runs on four hits in the first inning, Luzardo surrendered three hits across two scoreless frames in the second and third innings. He did not allow another hit until Wilson singled with one out in the seventh. Wilson's single was followed by one from Brent Rooker, but Luzardo buckled down one last time, inducing a fly ball out before escaping the jam with his 10th and final strikeout of the game.
Luzardo's final line on Sunday: 7.0 innings, nine hits, three earned runs, 10 strikeouts and one walk on 105 pitches (73 strikes).
Almost immediately after home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz aided Luzardo en route to that final strikeout, Turner connected on a go-ahead solo shot to left field, giving the Phillies a 4-3 lead:
Oh how the tables have Turned pic.twitter.com/pVD0OkEjDd
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 25, 2025
Unfortunately for Luzardo, Strahm's struggles in the eighth inning did not just cost Luzardo a chance to improve to 6-0. The left-hander allowing those two runs prevented the Phillies from extending their winning streak, departing Sacramento with only a pair of victories.
Up next: The Phillies will have Monday off as they return home for six consecutive games at Citizens Bank Park, beginning with a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves.
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