3 Numbers to Remember: Phillies sweep Nationals behind strong starting pitching

Less than two weeks ago, the Phillies were coming off a five-game losing streak that sucked the wind out of their sails, culminating with a brutal late-inning loss to the Atlanta Braves.

Now, they have won nine of their last 10 and sit just two-and-a-half games out of first place in the NL East. An improved bullpen behind solid starting pitching and a consistent and steady offense has fueled this run, and helped the Phillies to sweep the Washington Nationals in a four-game set this week.

Here are three numbers to remember from their impressive week against a division rival:

2.10 – Starters’ ERA

A big reason behind the Phillies sweep was dominance out of the rotation. Spencer Howard earned his first career win on Monday, as he pitched five solid innings and allowed just two runs that came on a Juan Soto home run.

On Tuesday, Aaron Nola pitched an impressive eight shutout innings, and Zack Wheeler followed him with 6 2/3 shutout innings of his own on Wednedsay.

And although Zach Eflin allowed four earned runs on Thursday, he still had a serviceable outing, going six strong innings. The Phillies are 14-6 in games started by the trio of Nola, Wheeler and Eflin, and the trio has a 1.79 ERA in the last two turns through the rotation.

.871 – Combined Slugging Percentage of Rhys Hoskins, Alec Bohm and Jay Bruce in this Series

The Phillies offense is scoring enough to win, averaging 6.0 runs per game over their last 10 games. And in this series, it was fueled by a red-hot Rhys Hoskins in addition to rookie Alec Bohm and Jay Bruce, who is fresh off the injured list.

Hoskins has hit six home runs in his last nine games, and added two home runs and two doubles in this series. Bruce added two home runs of his own, including one against Max Scherzer in Wednesday’s game.

Bohm hit a two-run home run in Tuesday’s game that broke a 0-0 tie in a pitcher’s duel between Aaron Nola and Patrick Corbin. On Thursday, he added another three hits and got the game-winning RBI on a walkoff sac-fly.

Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto have not contributed much during the last couple weeks after starting the season scorching hot, but it has not mattered.

1.000 – Winning Percentage Against the Mets and Nationals

The Phillies have played particularly well against division rivals this season, and that continued into this series.

They swept the Nationals this week and have yet to lose to them this season. They also swept the New York Mets in one series against them, and face them for a four-game set that starts on Friday night.

The Phillies fared well against the Braves, too, going 5-5 against a fierce and competitive division rival that currently holds the top spot in the NL East.

Perhaps their biggest test is to come, when they face off with the Miami Marlins in a seven-game series that begins next Thursday.

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