The Phillies returned to Citizens Bank Park earlier this week on a pretty good roll, having won five straight series spanning the end of April and start of May to climb within striking distance of the NL East-leading Mets.
Problem is, they were about to confront a Cardinals team that was even hotter than they were. The Cards brought a nine-game win streak into South Philly, the longest in the majors, and extended it to 10 before the Phillies finally ended it with a 2-1 win in the opener of a Wednesday twinbill.
With an opportunity to take another series, Aaron Nola instead got shelled in the rubber match, a 14-7 defeat that meant the Phillies would lose their first series since getting swept by the Mets from April 21-23.
They’re off Thursday before welcoming the Pirates for a weekend series.
Here’s a look at the biggest winners and losers before Pittsburgh comes to town for three more:
Winners
Phillies starters not named Aaron Nola
The Phils' two young lefthanders got the job done, as the starting rotation, minus one, continues to power the club. Cristopher Sánchez scattered four hits, fanned eight and allowed just two runs in the Tuesday opener but was the recipient of scant run support as the Phillies fell, 3-2. Sánchez lowered his season ERA to 2.91 and has continued to build on his 2023 breakout, emerging as one of baseball’s most reliable starters – and, technically, he's the fourth starter. Not to be outdone by his fellow southpaw, Jesús Luzardo allowed one run on five hits and struck out six in seven brilliant innings of the doubleheader opener, improving his ledger to 4-0. Like Sánchez, Luzardo has shined and helped the Phillies boast arguably MLB’s best starting rotation, even with Nola off to another slow start.
Orion Kerkering
Kerkering pitched a scoreless eighth in the series opener and then bailed out a shaky José Alvarado on Thursday in Game 1 by getting the final two outs of the eighth despite entering with Cardinals runners at second and third as the game-tying and go-ahead runs. Kerkering induced a foul pop from Nolan Arenado before striking out Willson Contreras to escape the jam. In his last five outings, Kerkering has scattered two hits over five innings and allowed one run while striking out four, despite inheriting three runners.
Nick Castellanos
With just four total runs in the first two games, big hits were at a premium for the Phillies for most of the series. But have we talked enough about Castellanos’ .280 batting average and .325 on-base percentage this season? Those are his highest since 2021, his last season with the Reds, and even higher than his All-Star season with the Phillies in 2023. For the series, he went 5-for-12 (.416) against the Cardinals, with two RBIs, a run scored and a stolen base. Even better, he only struck out once – in the first game of the doubleheader. That means he didn't strike out in two games of the three-game series. He's struck out just 33 times in 43 games so far, as opposed to last year's 44 Ks through 43 games. He’s been pretty darn good since that dreaded five-strikeout night against the Braves in April.
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Losers
Phillies streaks
Some really important streaks died in this series, including Kyle Schwarber's streak of reaching base safely and the Phillies' streak of winning a series at home, both of which went back to last year. Schwarber fell one game short of matching Bobby Abreu's streak of reaching base in 47 consecutive games – the third-longest in franchise history – when he failed to reach in the doubleheader opener. But hey, Schwarber clubbed his 15th homer in the second game, starting a new streak. The Phillies also saw their stretch of winning or tying a series at home snapped at 13. The Cards became the first MLB team since the Yankees last August to win a series over the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park.
Phillies table-setters
The Phillies scored just 11 runs in the series – four in the first two games – thanks to a lack of opportunities for the sluggers to actually plate any runs. Trea Turner, who batted lead off in the opener, began the series with a 1-for-5 effort from the top spot and finished 1-for-10 in the three-game set. Bryson Stott, who's done a way better job this season of getting on base and seeing pitches like a leadoff hitter should, batted at the top of the order in both doubleheader games but went 2-for-8 in the twinbill with just one walk. He went 2-for-10 in the entire series.
Aaron Nola
Can we just fast-forward to the summer, when the weather turns muggy, swampy and unbearable for practically every normal human being except for the Phillies righthander? Nola, who typically starts slow and doesn't find his rhythm until June, was knocked around yet again and couldn't even protect an early 5-0 lead. Nola took his MLB-leading seventh loss after getting rocked for four runs on seven hits and allowing two more homers in 6 1/3 innings. Don't look now, but his next start should come next week in Colorado, which might be MLB's least balmiest place in May.
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