With MLB’s first-ever “Rivalry Weekend” now in the books, the Phillies could walk away victoriously as they collected their second sweep against the Pittsburgh Pirates. While these two Keystone State teams are no longer in the same division, seeing the league pay homage to these two former rivals with a three-game set at home in Citizens Bank Park was a nice testament to the heated animosity between these two former NL East teams. The series between these two came with a fair amount of fanfare from the Phillies organization. With milestones hit and debuts made, this was slightly more elevated than a typical series sweep. Let’s take a deep dive into the highs and lows of the series, and let’s see what’s to come with the Phillies now playing a four-game set against the Colorado Rockies.

Game one against the Pirates came with an 8-4 win over the Bucs as Ranger Suárez finds himself again on the mound against Pirates’ southpaw, Andrew Heaney. It was great to see Ranger take the mound more like his old self last Friday. Suárez went seven innings and only allowed six hits, one walk, and six strikeouts, bringing his ERA down to 5.09 after his abominable first start against the Diamondbacks when his ERA ballooned to 17.18. This is the second start in which Ranger looked like himself, leading to a promising rest of the season for the young lefty. History was made at the bottom of the fifth when first baseman Bryce Harper recorded his 1,000th RBI on a bloop single to left, scoring Johan Rojas. Harper is now just the eighth active MLB player to reach the milestone, but with him having three hits and reaching base four times in the contest, he was not done after RBI number 1,000. It wasn’t until the latter half of the game, after the seventh inning stretch, that the Phillies’ bats really started to come alive. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Phillies scored four runs when six consecutive hitters reached safely against three Pirates relievers; with said relievers only giving up one hit in the frame, all other basemen reached either via walk or being hit by a pitch. After the one-out rally, the Phillies didn’t stop there. Now up 5-3, Pirates reliever Joey Wentz was sent in to stop the bleeding. After striking out the first batter, Max Kepler, he then walked the number nine hitter in Johan Rojas; once the lineup flipped over to the scorching Trea Turner hitting leadoff, he smacked a triple down the right field line, scoring Rojas, and the Phillies were now up 6-3. Harper then returned to the plate and tallied RBI number 1,001 on a single to right that easily scored Turner. Realmuto ended the inning with a groundout to shortstop, but not before Nick Castellanos knocked Harper in for the 8th and final run of the first game.

Stay hot, 3!@Toyota x #RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/ZbCAgL9pgL

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 17, 2025

Game two was another absolute gem from Cy Young candidate Zack Wheeler, who is strengthening his case for the accolade this season. Hopefully, this will result in his first win. Wheeler pitched six shutout innings in which he struck out six, walked one, and only allowed three hits. The Pirates’ starter for game two, Cameron Mlodzinski, did not have such luck as the Phillies’ bats stayed hot after the rally in the game before. Turner’s speed was his friend as he outran a blooper right before the plate for an infield single. Harper, who at this point managed to reach base safely 11 times in his previous 17 plate appearances, got on once again, now allowing the Phillies to score in the first with runners on the corners. Schwarber also pulled through again in the first inning as he doubled to right, allowing Turner to score and Harper to move over to third; however, after the gap shot from Schwarber, the inning quickly ended, stranding him and Harper. However, the game’s offensive player has to be Bryson Stott. In the third inning, Stott blasted his fourth homer of the year into the right field seats on a slider that was dropped perfectly to the lower inside part of the plate. He then came back up in the bottom of the fourth with his buddies Marsh and Bohm on second and third, then squared up a cutter in the middle of the zone to score them both, putting the Phillies up 4-0 just before a Harper double could score Stott quickly making it 5-0. The Bucs retaliated in the bottom of the ninth when outfielder Bryan Reynolds got a slider down the heart of the plate from Tanner Banks, making the Phils pay for the one-out walk issued to Andrew McCutchen; however, the Pirates didn’t have enough juice to finish the game off, giving the Phillies another win with a score of 5-2.

The last game was a truly special one for Phillies fans as the long-awaited debut of former first-round draft pick, Mick Abel, who has been a top prospect in the franchise since he was selected fifteenth overall by the Phils in the 2020 draft. With Nola on the IL with a sprained ankle, the Phillies recalled Abel to make his debut, headlining against the Pirates’ coveted ace, Paul Skenes. Abel outdueled the former National League Rookie of the Year in his debut, striking out nine over six innings, helping the Phillies lock down the sweep in a 1-0 victory in the last game of the set and the Phillies’ fifteenth win in twenty games. All Phillies fans hoped for was scoring one run off of Skenes, and that they did. In the home half of the fifth, Brandon Marsh grounded into a run-scoring forceout that scored Castellanos. Skenes pitched his first complete game, going all eight innings, but the Pirates’ offense didn’t have the skills to bring one home against Abel and the relieving staff. Abel only allowed five hits and walked none, and his nine strikeouts tied a Phillies high for a debut, set by Curt Simmons against the New York Giants on September 28th, 1947. Out of his 84 pitches, the young hurler threw 62 of those pitches for strikes, but more impressively, Abel didn’t walk anyone, which is a pleasant shock to those who have followed his progression in the minors, as walks were the main struggle Abel faced before his debut.

One more time for the big 3-0-0 👏 pic.twitter.com/pCA4f4NgyP

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 20, 2025

One of the biggest Phillies headlines, however, is not related to their sweep of Pittsburgh, nor is it the fact that slugger Kyle Schwarber blasted his career 300th home run last night in the Phillies’ first game at Coors Field in their come-from-behind victory against the 8-39 Rockies. It was announced on Sunday that Phillies star closer José Alvarado will be suspended for eighty games after he tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. He has been self-conscious about his weight, and the drug he was using had an ingredient that led to his positive test result. While Alvarado can return in the second half of the season to help the Phillies reach the postseason, Alvarado himself will no longer be an eligible member of the playoff roster. While the team still has a star-studded rotation with some gems in the bullpen, this is a harsh blow to bounce back from, as Alvarado already racked up seven saves on the season with a 2.70 ERA. In the wake of Alvarado’s absence, the Phillies have already picked up Lucas Sims and signed him to a minor league deal, who started the season with their NL East rivals, the Washington Nationals. The Phillies are always the ones to solve the problem internally before requiring Dombrowski to make a trade. Still, some movement could be on the horizon, knowing Alvarado won’t be able to help them cross the finish line once October baseball rolls around, but until a deal is made, Rob Thompson and the Phils will need to rely on Jordan Romano to be the potential multi-inning closer.

The Phillies will play game two of the four-game series against the Rockies tonight at 8:40, with Phillies’ southpaw Jesús Luzardo set to start against Rockies right-hander Antonio Senzatela. Tune in to see if the Phillies can continue on in hopes of winning their fifth game in a row, padding their first-place lead to a full game above the Mets, who have now lost two in a row to the Yankees and Red Sox.