May 14, 2026
Eric Canha/Imagn Images
Kyle Schwarber hit two more homers against the Red Sox, adding to his Major League lead.
The Phillies badly needed Jesús Luzardo on Thursday night to resemble the guy who was a Cy Young vote-getter last year, not the inconsistent starter he's been for the start of the 2026 season.
They've been inching closer to .500 since Don Mattingly took over as manager for the fired Rob Thomson in late April, they hadn't lost a series since Mattingly became skipper, and they had taken one of their first two games against the Red Sox in Boston.
In a pivotal Game 3 Thursday against a Red Sox team that also fired its manager this year, the Phillies needed Luzardo to be dominant and then someone to supply some offense.
They got exactly that, as Luzardo blanked the Sox for six innings before the scorching hot Kyle Schwarber blasted a two-run shot in the eight to break a scoreless tie in a three-run frame, setting the wheels in motion for the Phils to win 3-1 and take another series, their fifth straight series since Mattingly took over.
The Phillies, who fired Thomson at 9-19, are 12-4 since the managerial change and can get over .500 if they sweep a pretty good Pirates team this weekend in Pittsburgh.
Expectations for these Phillies were way above .500, but they've slowly righted many of their wrong from that terrible start despite an offense that's still streaky, and the quicker they can get back to .500, the better for them to keep building and climbing in the National League East race and for the NL Wild Card.
Some notables from their series against the Red Sox:
Remember when it seemed impossible that Kyle Schwarber could duplicate his 56-homer season from last year? Some even thought the blockbuster five-year extension he signed in the offseason couldn't be great value for a 33-year-old DH coming off his most productive season.
Well, hold his beer.
Schwarber isn't just on pace to replicate last year's total. He might actually exceed it. With his MLB-leading 17th homer on Tuesday – his fifth straight game with a homer – and the big one Thursday night for his 18th, Schwarber is on pace for 67 dingers this year (assuming he reaches the 604 at-bats from last year), which would be tied with Mark McGwire for the third-most homers in a season ever for an MLB player, matching Sammy Sosa's total from 1998 and the most homers by an MLB player in 25 years.
7 home runs in 7 games for DJ Schwarbs 📀 pic.twitter.com/nd74kb70LP
— MLB (@MLB) May 15, 2026
Outside of rookie centerfielder Justin Crawford homering for the second time in five games – a solo shot in Wednesday's 3-1 loss – there just hasn't been much offense outside of Schwarber's power stroke.
Bryce Harper actually struggled all series, but he's having a productive season. Trea Turner's dismal season season followed him to Beantown, as he managed one hit in nine at bats and battled an illness that relegated him to pinch-hitting duties Thursday.
Adolis García went 0-for-12 in the series. Alec Bohm did have four total hits, including two on Thursday, so maybe he's starting to come out of it. But overall, the Phillies scored six runs in three games. They're not going to win too many more series scoring so few runs, even with the great starting pitching they're getting.
During his time as a Yankees superstar, Mattingly had several nicknames, including "Donnie Baseball" and "The Hitman."
As a Phils manager, he's quickly earning the nickname – at least from me – of "Captain Hook." Mattingly showed in the first week of becoming manager that he believes in pulling starters early if they're winning to build confidence.
In his first series replacing Thomson against the Giants last month, Mattingly yanked both Luzardo and Cristopher Sánchez before either got to the 90-pitch mark. Both had been struggling prior to those starts and Mattingly wanted them to leave the game feeling good about their effort and before the roof could collapse. The Phillies won both of those games and swept the three-game set.
On Wednesday against the Red Sox in Game 2, struggling rookie right-hander Andrew Painter got pulled after five innings and just 62 pitches despite silencing Boston's bats to one run on four hits, the lone run coming on Trevor Story's solo shot. The game was tied at 1-1, and Orion Kerkering allowed a two-out, two-run homer to pinch-hitter Ceddanne Rafaela in the sixth, the deciding runs in a 3-1 Boston win.
Was Mattingly right to follow his instinct? It's one thing to pull a starter nearing the 90-mark to build confidence. But 62 pitches? That seemed a tad early, even by Mattingly's standards.
We'll see if the long-term gain was worth it when Painter toes the hill again, which should be Monday against the Reds at Citizens Bank Park.
On Wednesday, with the Phils down 3-1 in the ninth, Schwarber drew a leadoff walk against closer Aroldis Chapman. Harper and Garcia, each representing the game-tying run, followed with strikeouts, bringing up Brandon Marsh, the current MLB leader in batting average, with two outs.
Mattingly decided to pinch hit Turner, who's batting .234 and, more importantly given the situation, is slugging just .345, for the red-hot Marsh to avoid the lefty-on-lefty situation. Turner walked, which then brought Bohm to the plate as the go-ahead run. Schwarber and Turner executed a double steal to get both runners in scoring position, but Bohm struck out to end the game.
It's fair to question if Mattingly should've let Marsh, who's batting almost 70 points higher this season against lefties than his career average, hit against Chapman. If Marsh had reached, maybe use Turner to pinch hit for Bohm, who's having the worst season of his career?
It also shows the lack of depth of the Phillies' bench, which only exacerbates their existing issue of a struggling offense.
Wheeler was clinical against the Red Sox on Wednesday in the opener, needing just 16 pitches to get through the first three innings – 16 pitches in three innings! – to be the savior of Game 1.
Zack Wheeler needed just 16 pitches to complete the first 3 innings tonight.
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2026
That's the fewest pitches thrown by a starter through the first 3 innings of a game since at least 2000! pic.twitter.com/3Z6rYuMhFs
With Wheeler rounding back into form, Luzardo dominant in three of his past four outings, and Sánchez also in Cy Young form, the Phils' starting rotation is elbowing its way back into contention as the sport's best. The Phillies entered Thursday with MLB's eighth-best ERA in May (3.42) and that was before holding the Sox to one run in the last game.
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