After starting the 2025 season with a 7-2 record, including a series win against the defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers, the Philadelphia Phillies hit a rough patch. Entering Saturday, the team had lost three out of five series and 11 out of 17 games, including a three-game sweep at the hands of the New York Mets.
The Phillies have one of the most talented rosters in baseball, but have been underperforming. The fans were getting restless with the level of play.
Hopefully, the Phillies’ series win over the weekend against the NL Central-leading Chicago Cubs provides the team with the right momentum shift needed to get back on track.
Phillies’ weekend wins give optimistic fans hidden reason to keep the faith
The Phillies were shut out 4-0 in the series opener against the Cubs in a game that the offense could muster just five hits, two of which came from J.T. Realmuto. It was the team’s fifth straight loss, dropping them to .500 on the young season.
Could the Phillies be back to their winning ways? Rob Thomson’s ball club salvaged the series against the Cubs, picking up two much-needed wins to close out the road trip.
Jesús Luzardo continued his impressive start to the season on Saturday, tossing six scoreless innings with five strikeouts. The Phillies’ offense piled up 12 hits, including a six-run fourth inning, to earn the 10-4 win.
Despite an 0-5 record and rocky start to the season, Aaron Nola took the mound for the final game of the series on Sunday Night Baseball. The veteran right-hander pitched seven innings of three-hit baseball and allowed just one run.
The game went into extra innings, where the Phillies pushed two runs across the plate to take a 3-1 lead in the top half of the 10th inning. Struggling reliever Jordan Romano entered the game in the bottom half of the inning and completed the save with 13 pitches.
The Phillies own a 15-13 record and sit four games back of the first-place Mets in the NL East. Coincidentally, the Phillies own the same record through 28 games as the 1980 and 2008 teams, per John Foley on X.
The Phillies undoubtedly have the team to compete for the World Series in 2025. If the bullpen can fix its early-season issues and if the offense can continue to come up with timely hits, the Phillies will be among the league’s best. A series win against a good team like the Cubs is exactly the kind of momentum that can turn a season around.
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