5 things we learned about the Phillies as they win a big-time series against the Braves

The Phillies took three of four from the Braves in a thrilling and mostly entertaining series in Philly this weekend, surrounding a 7-2 stinker with comeback wins and pitching dominance.

From a pair of teams that are no strangers — the Phillies upset the Braves in back-to-back playoff series the last two years (ironically 3-games-to-1 each time) — Philly continues to assert dominance. And the timing couldn't be better.

Expect to see the Phillies back on top of power rankings and World Series odds next week, as the push for Red October heats up.

What happens in the regular season will be irrelevant very soon — performing in the playoffs is all that matters. Did we learn anything from their tango with Atlanta that can preview what we might see from this team come October?

Here are five things we learned from the series victory:

Primetime players

The Phillies haven't played in a playoff atmosphere for nearly a year. Yes, they have had more than a few sellouts. They swept a high powered Dodgers team at home. They've thrilled the fans with the most home wins in Major League Baseball.

But in their series against the Braves, the pressure was on. A Braves series win makes the division a race again. And wth three of the four games broadcast nationally in prime time — the team was in its element. If you remember, the 2023 postseason featured the Phillies prominently placed in the 8 pm time slot for every single game they played. 

In a tie game in the Sunday finale, needing to win to jump way ahead in the NL East race, the anxiety was high and so was the volume. In the ninth, with Matt Strahm on the mound, the reliever was able tip toe around a bases loaded, one-out jam and give the Phillies a chance to walk off in the ninth.

When the rivals got to the 11th, Nick Castellanos capped off a series he won't soon forget driving in a walk-off run. Castellanos has been a monster over the last few weeks but this one is up there:

They've got some fight in them

The series opener had all the makings of one of those games where the Phillies go quietly into the night without showing much fight. And then after stranding a bunch of hitters on base for the first six innings, Braves manager Brian Snitker made a horrible mistake. 

After throwing 101 pitches — and dancing around a bevy of baserunners — 40-year-old Charlie Morton was kept in the game to face off against left-handed hitting Brandon Marsh, who has gigantic splits between lefties and righties. 

This three-run homer in the sixth got the Phillies on the board for the first time in more than 15 innings and put some momentum back in Citizens Bank Park:

And then in the seventh Castellanos made it feel like October came early with a two-run go-ahead blast:

From a 4-0 stinker to a 5-4 comeback win.

Zack Wheeler has a Cy Young case

Yeah, we knew this before, but amid Phillies pitchers struggling and going through cold streaks, Wheeler has been outrageously consistent all season long and he is clearly among the top three or four pitchers in the conversation for the award — one he's come close to winning but has never taken home.

In his start Saturday, Phillies bats supported Wheeler with a pair of solo shots from Edmundo Sosa and Trea Turner and a Sosa triple. But the defense made some potentially critical mistakes (including an error from fill-in third baseman Weston Wilson and some un-turned double plays). 

It actually could have been three solo shots by the way — but perhaps the catch of the year took one away from Austin Hays in the seventh:

Amid all of that, Wheeler was his steady self, tossing seven innings of shutout baseball while striking out eight and scattering four hits. It was his career 100th win. 

Having an ace like Wheeler to rely on could literally be the difference in October. He made a difference every fifth day in August.

Has Ranger Suárez lost his ace stuff?

Suárez was another Phillies hurler with a beefy Cy Young campaign leading into the All-Star break, but he hit the skids with four terrible starts in row following a 10-1 stretch with a 1.75 ERA through his first 15. He hit the Injured List and missed about a month before he returned last week. He looked good in five one-run innings in Kansas City.

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But then in Game 2 of the series against the Braves Friday, Suárez looked like the he did right before he missed that month of games. The lefty was roughed up for four runs in four innings. The Phillies offense did little to lift him off the mat, but the start was just the second time (that was not injury related) that he failed to get through five innings this season.

A healthy Suárez will be getting handed the baseball third in a potential postseason series, and having him pitching like he did in June has to be a very high priority for the team.

Finally, some relief

The Phillies had their equivalent to the Eagles' "gauntlet" of games against contenders over the last few weeks and somehow the team still controls its NL East destiny.

Starting on July 22 against the Twins, the Phillies had 10 of 12 series against teams in the playoff picture. Over those 32 games, the Phillies won 14 games, including three against the Braves to hold a seven-game lead for the division. With 25 games remaining that's nearly insurmountable.

There are eight series remaining in the regular season. The Phillies will face just one team currently in playoff position — the NL Central-leading Brewers at home — and two NL Wild Card hopefuls, the Cubs and Mets (twice). A look at their remaining opponents:

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