Categories: 2024 Postgame Recaps

Phillies cap off soft stretch of schedule with 6 straight wins

Bryce Harper recorded one hit and a run scored in Sunday’s win against the White Sox (Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Phillies 8, White Sox 2

The Phillies (14-8) have enjoyed a week of baseball against two of the worst teams in MLB.

They finished off back-to-back sweeps of the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox with an 8-2 win over Chicago in Sunday’s series finale. Aaron Nola allowed two runs in the first, but kept his pitch count low and got through eight innings. Yunior Marte finished things up in the ninth. Nola’s pitch count was only at 91, but the starting pitching has been so good for the Phillies that manager Rob Thomson has had to find innings for his relievers to avoid rust.

Numerous Phillies hitters have seen their season numbers improve after a week against Colorado and Chicago. Johan Rojas entered the last game of the Rockies series with a .167 batting average. It is now up to .265 after recording seven hits in the last three games. Alec Bohm had a .704 OPS entering play on April 17. It’s now up to .877 after a two homer game to open the series and a three-hit game on Sunday. Bryce Harper’s OPS increased by 100 points from .673 after the Pirates series to .773.

It gets tougher for the Phillies from here. The team will fly to Cincinnati to take on the Reds for four games starting Monday. They then go to San Diego and Anaheim for three games apiece against the Padres and Angels.

Highlights

The Phillies created chaos on the bases with another double steal attempt in the first inning. A better defensive infield probably gets at least one out on the play, but a wild throw from second baseman Lenyn Sosa scored Turner. Harper advanced to second.

Brandon Marsh gave the Phillies the lead with a single in the first inning. He is third behind Harper and Bohm in RBIs on the season with 13.

Kyle Schwarber launched a second-deck Schwarbomb in the sixth. He walked three times in his first three plate appearances of the game.

Notes

The White Sox made sure there wasn’t going to be an extended no-hit bid in the first. Right fielder Robbie Grossman singled and Eloy Jiménez hit a two-run home run off Nola to put Chicago out in front 2-0.
Jiménez’s home run snapped the Phillies’ starting rotation scoreless streak at 31 2/3 innings.
Realmuto’s stolen base in the third inning was his first of the season.
Turner was credited with a steal of home when he scored on the Harper rundown in the first. He has now stolen 40 consecutive bases without getting caught. That’s the longest streak in MLB history since Ichiro Suzuki stole 45 consecutive bases from April 29, 2006 to May 16, 2007.
Turner’s steal of home was the first for the Phillies in the regular season since Oct. 1, 2022, when Schwarber stole home against the Nationals.
Per the Phillies, Rojas is the first Phillies player since César Hernández (June 28-30, 2015) to record a stolen base in four consecutive games.