Riding the high of Alumni Weekend -- a decisive series victory over the first-place Detroit Tigers, which featured a pair of electrifying Jhoan Duran entrances and saves -- the Phillies played host to another American League club, the Baltimore Orioles, to begin a week that they will finish on the road.

Monday's series opener was all about Kyle Schwarber, whose absurd season continued with a pair of hellacious swings. The Phillies and Orioles were tied, 3-3, before the Phils staged an eight-run, two-out rally to stampede Baltimore en route to a 13-3 victory. On Tuesday, Taijuan Walker was excellent for six innings while Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler and Bryson Stott drove in all five Phillies runs in a 5-0 victory.

Going for the sweep on Wednesday, Ranger Suárez took the mound against resurgent left-hander Trevor Rogers, and a brutal inning sunk the left-hander. With diminished velocity -- even relatively speaking -- Suárez was asking for trouble, and he found it. A four-run fourth inning for Baltimore helped the Orioles avoid a sweep, as the Phillies fell by a score of 5-1.

Everything that stood out from the Phillies' series win over the Orioles:

Big inning sinks Ranger Suárez

For much of Wednesday's afternoon game, Suárez was only reaching 90 miles per hour with his fastball. None of his secondary pitches were notably dazzling, either. In typical Suárez fashion, the lack of stuff was not preventing him from executing. Suárez had impeccable command through four innings, throwing strikes, inducing plenty of weak contact and trusting the defenders behind him.

Suárez is always walking a tightrope. In the top of the fourth inning, that high-wire act went wrong. Suárez's ability to get outs without overpowering stuff is impressive -- perhaps even admirable -- but the limits of pitching at such a noticeably low velocity were on display in the fourth inning.

Gunnar Henderson led off the frame by poking a fastball at 91 miles per hour the other way for a base hit. Adley Rutschman hit a dribbler in between the pitcher's mound and first base that Suárez took a stab at and whiffed. Suárez's first pitch to Jeremiah Jackson was a cutter far inside, but only at 86.4 miles per hour. Jackson smoked it down the line for a run-scoring double. Then Suárez tried to start off Coby Mayo with a changeup, left the ball over the middle of the plate and watched it get obliterated into the seats:

In 2024, Suárez was a Cy Young Award candidate in the first few months of the season, then tailed off significantly and never quite found himself again. After missing the first month-plus of 2025, Suárez looked similarly dominant to begin the year. The Phillies have hoped that more diligent management of his workload during the summer will lead to better long-term sustainability for Suárez. There is no question he is a very good starting pitcher, powered by his command and ability to keep hitters off balance. His skill set is as entertaining as it is unique.

Even on Wednesday, Suárez ended up working his way into the seventh inning before he found himself in real trouble again. But there is no doubt that Suárez is more prone than many others to blowup innings like the one that cost him and the Phillies in the fourth on Wednesday. Those are the ones that rightfully give plenty of people pause.

In an era of baseball at least in part defined by massive upticks in pitching velocity, Suárez is going the other way. He will never need to throw triple-digits to succeed, but these days, it is incredibly difficult to thrive at 90 miles per hour.

MORE: Cristopher Sánchez's star keeps growing

Kyle Schwarber owns the moment on Monday

In the final season of the four-year contract he signed with the Phillies before their run to the World Series in 2022, Schwarber has almost exclusively been used as a designated hitter. So literally and figuratively, just about all Schwarber has done in 2025 is hit.

Schwarber had already done more than enough in a Phillies uniform to pay off the $79 million investment made in him by the Phillies in 2022 and spark interest in an eventual second contract -- from not just the organization, but its fans and Schwarber's teammates. But from Opening Day and on, Schwarber has been unconscious at the plate in 2025, obliterating his prior career-best marks, performing like a full-blown offensive superstar and at times carrying an offense that has been desperate for consistency.

What is just as impressive as Schwarber's raw production is the timeliness of it. He is clutch as it gets, and when the Phillies need a big swing, it has often been the 32-year-old slugger who has provided it. As has happened on many occasions this season, he provided Citizens Bank Park with a major buzz on Monday night.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third inning after Jesús Luzardo allowed a pair of early homers, Schwarber crushed a game-tying two-run shot into the second deck:

The game remained knotted at 3-3 until the sixth inning, when J.T. Realmuto hustled down the line to leg out an infield hit that held up after a lengthy review. Orioles lefty starter Cade Povich would have had a 1-2-3 inning, but instead, his night was over. Right-handed reliever Corbin Martin entered the game and gave up a base hit to Nick Castellanos. That brought Harrison Bader to the plate, and the trade deadline acquisition made his first hit with the Phillies count:

Things continued to unravel for Baltimore, as Otto Kemp, Edmundo Sosa and Weston Wilson all rattled off consecutive singles, with Wilson's knock scoring Kemp. Trea Turner walked, and the crowd knew what could be coming next. Chants of "MVP" became deafening as Schwarber stood in the batter's box with two outs and the bases loaded. In classic Schwarber fashion, he met the moment by clobbering a grand slam, his 40th home run of the year:

For the near-capacity crowd, Schwarber's second grand slam and third multi-homer game of the season elicited pure joy. For Jesús Luzardo, perhaps the better word would be relief.

"I was lined up to go back out, and then once he hit it, I kind of knew my day was done," Luzardo said. "So I was happy about it and it was cool to see. Obviously, he got MVP chants and I think they're warranted. He's a stud and I couldn't be happier for him. Couldn't happen to a better guy."

Odds and ends

Some additional notes from this three-game set:

• Speaking of Luzardo, the left-hander seemed genuinely pleased with his outing on Monday despite the pair of early homers. After a strong start against the White Sox in Chicago last week, Luzardo believes he is finding comfort pitching out of the stretch, where consistent issues have derailed him for months. Luzardo allowed five hits and zero walks while striking out seven hitters, with 64 of his 91 pitches being strikes. He is lined up to make his next start on national television this weekend.

• José Alvarado, whose 80-game suspension will be lifted on Aug. 19, returned to Philadelphia on Monday and to Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday. He got to the ballpark, threw a bullpen session, took part in the team photo and then spoke to the media for the first time since news of his suspension broke in May.

Alvarado accepted full responsibility for his suspension and expressed disappointment about his ineligibility for postseason play, but insisted he did not knowingly take any performance-enhancing substances and would do anything he could to help the team win in the final six weeks or so of action in the regular season. Alvarado spoke Spanish for the first 13 minutes of his 14-minute media availability, and then was asked how much he has watched the Phillies since returning home to Venezuela during his suspension. There was no translation required.

"A lot," Alvarado said with a smile. "I watch my team every day."

• As far as individual players are concerned, nobody needed a big swing in this series more than Max Kepler, whose lone start on Tuesday could very well be his last with the Phillies. In his first at-bat against righty starter Dean Kremer, Kepler found that swing as he launched a two-run homer to right field:

The next time Kepler came up, he got a pitch to hit right away and smoked it to right field for a double. It might have been his best pair of plate appearances all season long.

Nothing is guaranteed for Kepler moving forward, particularly if the Phillies feel strongly that Bader or top outfield prospect Justin Crawford is a better option against right-handed pitching. Kepler's big day could extend his stay in Philadelphia. It also might be a case of too little, too late.

• Just as big of a story as Kepler on Tuesday night was Walker, whose stellar turnaround from 2024 to 2025 continued as he spun six shutout innings. Thomson said it was the best Walker had looked on the mound in two years, opened the door for Walker to remain in a six-man rotation once Aaron Nola returns from the injured list and raved about Walker's mental makeup.

"He's tough," Thomson said. "He's tough as nails. And he's going to compete. He's not going to back down from anybody. You can book that. I'm really happy for him. He's gone through a lot."

• On Wednesday morning, Thomson told reporters that Zack Wheeler had been experiencing some shoulder discomfort and got imaging done. It all came back clean, Thomson said, and as a result, Wheeler will merely have his next start pushed back from Friday to Sunday.

Thomson has never been shy about his hesitance to ask pitchers for complete games due to the physical toll it takes. He said Wheeler going the distance against the Cincinnati Reds -- that start took place exactly one month prior to Wednesday's series -- has been on his mind as Wheeler has undergone what has been his worst three-start stretch of the season.

Cristopher Sánchez only needed 84 pitches to throw eight scoreless innings on Sunday night against the Tigers. Instead of sending the lefty back out, Thomson summoned his new closer Duran. Does Thomson expect any of his starters to throw a complete game again this season?

"I hope not," Thomson said. "It bothers me. It really does. It scares me. It concerns me... It's hard to take [the opportunity] away, but I know there are some effects that are put on the body, the arm, the team."

Up next: The Phillies will be off on Thursday before beginning a 10-day road trip that starts on Friday night in Texas when they begin a three-game series against the Rangers.