March 31, 2024
Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports
Bryce Harper sat out Sunday (a scheduled day off) after laying out for a foul ball Saturday.
The Phillies salvaged a win Sunday and some much-needed good will against the Braves, after two of the ugliest losses in recent memory on Friday and Saturday. They still dropped the season-opening three-game set 1-2, but the vibes have considerably improved after a 5-4 win in the finale.
All season long we'll be handing out hardware to the Phillies, whether they win or lose. Here are five awards for the Phillies following their opening set in South Philly:
Even after winning the last game of the series, it was apparent that only one team came to Citizens Bank Park ready to play this weekend. Over the first two games, the Braves put on one of the most dominating opening series performances in baseball history.
| Braves | Phillies | |
| Hits | 32 | 13 |
| Runs | 21 | 7 |
| Home runs | 5 | 2 |
| Strikeouts (hitters) | 13 | 19 |
These two teams play 10 more times. The Braves have won six straight NL East division titles. The Phillies have won both of their playoff series in each of the last two. This is the best rivalry in Philly right now. It will be interesting to see how the division standings look when the Braves and Phillies face off next, all the way in July.
The Phillies light-hitting but defensively gifted outfielder ran out a ground ball Sunday in the seventh inning with the Phillies trailing by one and one out. It seemed relatively inconsequential. It wasn't.
A double-play was erased after a review of the play at first, which in turn led to a Kyle Schwarber single and Trea Turner RBI, tying the contest at 3 apiece.
There are not many MLB players who have the speed to create a seemingly unexciting two-out opportunity, but despite his shortcomings at the plate, he seems to have earned his roster spot.
The Phillies finally jumped ahead en route to their first win of the season when Bohm continued the 2-out rally with a 2-RBI bloop single.
BOOM.
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) March 31, 2024
A Bohm single and the Phils have the lead. 👊 pic.twitter.com/OkUpEplvoj
The bullpen hung on with Jose Alvarado earning a big save in their lone victory.
It's only been one series. But this story from a week ago, projecting that the Phillies would have the best bullpen in the entire major league seems has not aged well.
With a 2-run lead in the first game of the series, the pen came in and allowed nine runs in three innings. On Saturday, Aaron Nola looked just as bad as the team's relievers, allowing seven runs and a career high 12 hits in four and one third innings — but the relief corps came in and allowed four more runs in rapid succession (with a fifth in the ninth for good measure).
Some positives came Sunday, as Ranger Suarez looked good in his five innings of work and the bullpen, save for a Seranthony Dominguez hiccup, did its job. Still, there are question marks all over the pitching staff.
Perhaps forgotten in this weekend's misery is that Wheeler tossed six scoreless innings to start the year. That's something to build off. He tossed only 89 pitches and it seems likely that he would have gone another inning or two if this was later in the season and he was more stretched out. Or if Rob Thomson knew the bullpen would come in and allow nine runs.
Either way, Wheeler didn't even need his best stuff to shut down the best offense in baseball. He should feast on the easy opponents ahead on their schedule.
Things looked rough at times this weekend — and not all of Philly's struggles can be attributed to them facing a very stacked Braves team. However, if the Phillies are not close to double digit games above .500 come the middle of May, that's when fans should really panic. They have on their schedule all teams that finished in third place or worse in their respective divisions in 2023 for the next few weeks, with four last place teams out of their next six opponents.
A look at the next six series:
| Opponent | Last year |
| vs. Reds | 82-80 (3rd) |
| at Nationals | 71-91 (last) |
| at Cardinals | 71-91 (last) |
| vs. Pirates | 76-86 (4th) |
| vs. Rockies | 59-103 (last) |
| at White Sox | 61-101 (last) |
The Phillies will not face a team that made last year's postseason until a two-game set against the Blue Jays at home on May 7. They won't face another until May 21, when the World Series champion Rangers come to town.
That's five games against contenders in their next 48.
Follow Evan on Twitter:@evan_macy
Like us on Facebook: PhillyVoice Sports
