June 10, 2026
The Phillies followed a very solid homestand (they won five of six games last week) with a series win over the defending AL pennant winning Blue Jays this week — highlighted by great pitching in the first two games and some big home runs in the finale.
They probably should have won all three games, but closer Jhoan Duran finally blew a save in the middle game (after a questionable managerial decision).
Philadelphia will get a much-needed day off Thursday after nine work days in a row, before a tough test ahead in Milwaukee against the NL Central leading Brewers this weekend. Here's a quick look at who starred, and who struggled in Canada:
The two aces
The Phillies had their two best starters slated to pitch back-to-back in Toronto and each was a formidable force.
Though he wasn't quite as dominant as when he was tossing more than 50 consecutive scoreless innings though the month of May, Cris Sánchez kept Blue Jays hitters off balance Monday, as he earned his eighth win of the season. In Game 2, a lack of run support and an overworked Duran (more on that in a bit) cost Zack Wheeler a win Tuesday, but he pitched more than well enough to earn it.
Not to be outdone, the inconsistent but no less talented Jesús Luzardo did his best ace impression in the finale as he looked like a force to be reckoned with over his first five innings before crumbling in the sixth (he left with the bases loaded but Jonathan Bowlan got out of the jam).
A look their three starts north of the border:
| Pitcher | Stats |
| Sánchez | 7 IP, 4 H, 10 K, 1 BB, 2 ER |
| Wheeler | 6 IP, 6 H, 5 K, 0 BB, 1 ER |
| Luzardo | 5.2 IP, 4 H, 8 K, 4 BB, 1 ER |
That's 18.2 innings from the starters and a 1.93 ERA.
Bryson Stott
It's been a good week for Stott, who has raised his batting average 15 points over his last eight games. He has an active a streak of four games in a row with an RBI and a five-game on base streak that continued Wednesday night when he hit his first of two singles. His RBI came in some important spots too.
Monday's RBI came on a walk — a skill Stott teased the Phillies with when he first broke into the league. He looked like he had the skills to be a hitter who saw a lot of pitches, was a high on base guy, with speed on the bases. But his approach became less patient in recent seasons.
Tuesday, Stott's ninth inning RBI-double was the go-ahead hit — and would have been the winning run had they not blown a safe an inning later. Stott piling up clutch at bats is a good sign. And Wednesday's RBI-single came in the seventh to give the Phillies some insurance to help with a shaky last few innings for the bullpen.
Homers where the heart is
The Phillies won on getaway night Wednesday, 7-4, night thanks to home runs from Bryce Harper (his 15th), Kyle Schwarber (his MLB-leading 24th) and Alec Bohm.
Their 86 homers actually have them 4th in the National League (as of this publishing), which is sort of the offense Philadelphia fans are used to. When the Phillies are hitting home runs things are usually going pretty well everywhere else.
Trying to pitch Jhoan Duran every day... maybe?
So far this season the Phillies have played in a lot of close games, and have had a lot of save situations.
Prior to Tuesday night, flame-throwing Duran had successfully (often with ease) navigated 16 of them. But called on to close for the fifth time in seven days might have been a bit of a heat check for Duran, as Don Mattingly showed faith that the closer would be able to keep pounding opponents with his action-packed fastball.
He gave up three hits and threw a wild pitch without retiring a single batter — throwing just eight total pitches — in the bottom of the ninth. It happened fast:
Brandon Valenzuela walks it off for the @BlueJays! pic.twitter.com/L3N3fpU0WM
— MLB (@MLB) June 10, 2026
Chase Shugart
One of the biggest unexpected surprises of the season so far, middle reliever Chase Shugart is a journeyman 29-year-old who has carved out a reliable role in the Phillies bullpen. Through his first 16 games and 20.1 innings, he had a 2.21 ERA with 25 strikeouts and just five walks.
Entering with a 7-1 lead to work with in the seventh inning Wednesday, Shugart walked three hitters in a row and was ultimately knocked around for three runs — giving the Blue Jays life and forcing even more stress on a pretty heavily taxed bullpen of late.
That bad start
So much for that 9-19 start. The Phillies have been one of the best teams in baseball since they fired Rob Thomson, and have had answers for criticisms every week of the season. They can't pitch? Here come the aces. They can't score runs? They've averaged just around six per game their last seven games. Can't beat good teams? How about two sweeps of the Padres, and series wins against the White Sox and Blue Jays?
It's hard to keep a good baseball team down, and the Phillies weren't down for long. Whether they have any chance to catching the Braves, up by 8.5 games, is anyone's guess. But they have the makings of a Wild Card team absolutely no one will want to face in October.
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