Despite returning from a 6-1 deficit in the last game of the series, the Phillies just didn’t have enough gas in the tank to get them across the finish line for a series sweep yesterday against the Arizona Diamondbacks. With another series win, several happy reunions between injured players and the big league club, and a rainy weekend for baseball, the Phillies are starting to return to form. With an off day today, let’s recap the highs and lows of the series against the Dbacks, and what to expect going forward for the Phightins.

Game one against Arizona brought a new fan favorite, Jesús Luzardo, to the mound for his seventh start in a Phillies uniform. While it wasn’t his sharpest outing, he still succeeded going five and one-third innings where he only gave up two runs, one walk, and struck out six. The southpaw has been so dominant in his first few starts with Philly, proving very quickly after the Ranger Suárez injury during Spring Training that he would be one of, if not the most, successful offseason acquisition. In his seven starts with Philadelphia, Luzardo has only given up nine earned runs, with the team winning five of his seven outings. His ERA is one of the best in baseball, not just the National League, currently sitting at 1.94. A meticulous righty, Luzardo, number 44, consistently works to the minute, ensuring that the time he begins his pre-start routine, walks onto the field, and makes his first throw must add up to a four or eight. Take last Friday for example, the two hours and twenty minutes in his pre-start routine adds up to four, then, when he walked onto the field for the game, the time was 6:16, 6-1-6 added up to 13, but one plus three equals four, and when he threw out his first pitch, the time was 6:20, 6-2-0 additionally equating to eight. However, his superstitions don’t stop at the numbers; his rec specs are also a notable good luck charm, as Luzardo no longer needs the on-field glasses, but when he was a kid, he struggled taking pitches from his catcher, so he would wear glasses. As time passed, he no longer needed them, but after pitching poorly in 2021, he brought them back and hasn’t stopped wearing them since.

Luzardo has been one of the highest highs with this 2025 roster, and having acquired him from an NL East rival makes it even sweeter. In addition to Luzardo’s pitching, some of the Phillies’ “big guns” were successful at the plate, equating to the first win of the series. Right from the first inning, the Phils were swinging the bat as Trea Turner continued his hot streak, singling to right, then, with two outs, Schwarber knocked him in with a double, also out to Corbin Carroll in right. Schwarber continues to be successful at the plate as he came back up in the bottom of the seventh, smashing a 94-mph sinker to right center, 389 feet, tying the game 2-2 after the Diamondbacks scored two in the top of the fourth and sixth. The Phils weren’t done after the Schwarbomb though because with just one out in the inning Max Kepler then came up to the plate, hitting a slider out as well right around where Schwarber just hit his, only Kepler’s home run sailed 421 feet into the stands, the ball almost making it to the concourse in Ashburn Alley. Jose Alvarado came in to get the save and close it out for a 3-2 Phillies win in their City Connects.

Game two was an absolute slugfest for the Phillies, winning 7-2. Aaron Nola was on the mound for the Phils, and while he wasn’t as sharp as the start he had in Chicago, he still put up six shutout innings and eight strikeouts in his first win of the season. In 2023, when the Phillies were playing the Diamondbacks to represent the National League in the World Series, the then-rookie Brandon Pfaadt was trouble for the Phils’ bats. On Saturday night, however, the Phillies’ offense gave Pfaadt some trouble. Essentially, right away in the second inning, the Phils were on. After a leadoff single to Castelleanos, Max Kepler stepped up, hoping for some of the same success he saw the night before at the plate. With just one pitch, Kepler was able to square up a four-seam fastball and launch it out to the bullpens in right center, quickly putting them up 2-0. The third had even more success after Schwarber reached base safely for the thirty-ninth consecutive game when a pitch hit him. Then, Kepler returned to the plate and singled, reaching base again just an inning after his second-inning heroics. However, it was none other than the Phillies’ struggling catcher, JT Realmuto, who found himself the victor of the inning as he clobbered a three-run home run to left center, extending the Phillies’ lead to 6-0 in the blink of an eye. The seventh and final run for the Phillies came from a throwing error by the Dbacks at the bottom of the fourth, allowing the team to extend their lead just a little more and get in the heads of their opponents. Once Nola was taken out of the game, the relievers came in and gave up a two-run shot off the bat of Lourdes Gurriel Jr., but even the Phillies bullpen couldn’t blow the lead their offense established early in the game.

That’s our guy pic.twitter.com/geVvb5iz2B

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 4, 2025

While the win was sweet, the night’s highlight was the return of beloved Phillie, Brandon Marsh, who went on the IL April 16th with a right hamstring strain. He had not had a major league hit since March 31st, but he didn’t miss a beat in his first at-bat back with the club. Marsh went 2-4 with a double and an RBI in his first game since the injury and rehab assignment in AAA Lehigh High Valley. Johan Rojas, who was filling in for Marsh in center field during his time on the IL, was producing the way many, including manager Rob Thompson, would’ve liked to have seen from him in 2024 hitting .310 with a double, triple, home run, three walks, and three stolen bases in the fourteen games Marsh missed. Despite his hiccup on the basepaths in the series finale against Washington, Rojas was consistently on, being the definition of a nine-hole hitter. Because of his success, Thompson mentioned that he will absolutely still get reps and playing time, but now that Marsh is back in, the original opening day lineup is back in action.

The last game of the three-game set brought back yet another familiar face in the likes of lefty Ranger Suárez. Despite being a rocky first game back for Ranger, who hit a career high in runs scored during his start (7), he was pulled in the third inning after getting the first two outs of the inning. One positive from Ranger’s first 2025 outing is that he put away the first three batters on strikeouts, giving us hope that the only way is up for Mr. Rager. Give him another start or two, and hopefully he’ll start to resemble postseason Suárez. Before yesterday’s eventual loss, the last time the Phillies managed a comeback from a 6-1 deficit was on September 21st, 2021, when they managed to rally in the late innings to win 12-6 against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Last night’s game didn’t end as they had hoped; it was a valiant team effort that almost ended in a series sweep. Thanks to Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos, JT, and Alec Bohm, the party rolled on to the tenth inning; however, the Phillies couldn’t come back after a bases-loaded top of the tenth, where the Diamondbacks managed to score three. The Phillies did manage to get one back in the bottom of the frame; however, it was going to be a tall order now being down again, 11-8. With Bryson Stott running on second, Max Kepler delivered a sac fly far enough that Stott could score easily. With runners on first and second and one out in the inning, the Greatest Showman, Bryce Harper, stepped in.

Harper has been struggling at the plate this season, and yesterday’s game proved that something is still going on. It’s tough to say whether he’s playing through injury or just struggling, but in the moments where we need our franchise player the most, he hasn’t been able to show up. Despite his solo shot in the first inning, he was otherwise silent at the plate, as he often has been, but there was hope that maybe, in typical Bryce fashion, he would thrive when the pressure was on. The first pitch he saw, a four-seamer, he swung so hard he almost came out of his shoes. Something he, and a lot of the team (JT specifically) have been struggling with is swinging for the fences in moments of need, instead of just trying to put the ball in play. He wants to be the hero, as all great Philly franchise players have been; however, he just has not been able to deliver in the ways he wants; he’s always looking for another moment like the one he had in the 2022 NLCS against the Padres, but in yesterday’s game, he didn’t even come close, hitting a fly ball out to center. He is out here taking accountability, needing to “play better, and be better,”  which you’d want to see out of your struggling star; however, yesterday’s extra-inning flyout was a deflating blow.

As mentioned, the Phillies did manage to take the series from Arizona and will have this rainy Monday to recover as they fly down to the Rays’ 2025 home, George M. Steinbrenner Field. As it stands right now, they are just two and a half games behind the Mets for first place, and have a 4.5 game lead over both Washington and Atlanta for 2nd place. Miami is 6.5 games out of our spot, and while many say that the games at this point of the year aren’t “relevant,” they are starting to be, and every win is one step closer to the promised land, October baseball. Tomorrow at 7:05, Zack Wheeler takes on Rays ace Drew Rasmussen, and hopefully we’ll see yet another Phillies win.