After taking three out of four from the Washington Nationals at home, the Phillies traveled to Atlanta for a crucial three-game road set against the Braves. 

The Phillies entered the series with a seven-game lead over the Braves in the National League East, and the implications of this week's meetings between the teams were enormous: with a strong showing, the Phillies could make it nearly impossible for Atlanta to catch up to them by the end of the regular season; with a poor showing, they would give the injury-ridden Braves new life in the race and plenty of momentum before the teams meet one final time for four games in Philadelphia at the end of this month.

A completely uninspiring performance on offense sunk the Phillies in the first game of this series, a 3-1 loss, before rebounding with a 3-2 victory thanks to a few timely swings and some impressive bullpen execution. In the final game of the series, the team's lineup once again came up short in a 3-2 loss, allowing the undermanned Braves to take the series.

Here is what stood out from three important battles between two teams who are not fond of one another:

Phillies offense flounders in series opener

With a chance to pounce on Braves starter Reynaldo López in the All-Star's first start in more than three weeks after a stint on the Injured List -- and set the tone to begin the series -- the Phillies came up short.

The team's offensive production and approach were absolutely putrid during Tuesday night's series opener, a 3-1 loss at Truist Park. López struck out 10 batters across five innings of work, and many of those came when the Phillies needlessly swung at uncompetitive pitches. López was impressive, but several of those 10 strikeouts stemmed from Phillies hitters chasing pitches that were never in the zone -- in many cases, they were not even near the zone.

As the Phillies' offense was lifeless for the last half of this game, opportunities they let pass in the first half of it loomed large. Center fielder Johan Rojas entered the series in the midst of what might be the most encouraging stretch of plate appearances of his big-league career; in 10 games in August before the team headed to Atlanta, Rojas slashed .333/.389/.394 with only seven strikeouts in 36 plate appearances. But Rojas struck out with two outs and the bases loaded in the second inning, then grounded out with two outs and two runners on base in the fourth inning.

The Phillies' lone run came on an RBI single by J.T. Realmuto with one out in the fourth inning. They did not have a single batter reach base for the remainder of the game. The team went 0-17 in its final 17 plate appearances, as three Atlanta right-handed relievers combined to spin four perfect innings after López's night was over. The top three hitters in their lineup -- Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, went a combined 0-12, including four strikeouts for Schwarber and three for Harper.

Tuesday night's offensive showing from the Phillies was particularly frustrating, because they were in no way victims of circumstance: they simply were stacking poor at-bats on top of each other for nearly the entire game.

José Alvarado reaches a new rock bottom

Despite the struggles of the Phillies offense, when Alvarado entered the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Braves only had a one-run lead: Phillies starter Zack Wheeler held Atlanta to two runs across six innings, and Orion Kerkering battled to get out of a jam unscathed in the seventh inning.

But, as has happened during far too many of Alvarado's appearances in 2024, it was clear almost immediately that he had no command. But never during this season has the left-hander struggled to throw strikes to this extent: Alvarado walked the first batter he faced and then retired the next two hitters. One out away from having a relatively clean inning, the wheels fell off: Alvarado walked another hitter... and then another hitter... and then another hitter. He was not missing on the edges, he was nowhere close to the strike zone.

Finally, Alvarado was removed from the game after facing six batters and issuing four free passes.

The final walk from Alvarado was perhaps the most confusing. He threw a first-pitch strike to third baseman Gio Urshela before  missing wildly on four consecutive sinkers (at his best, Alvarado lands sinkers on the inner half of the plate against right-handed hitters early in counts, but he has not been able to locate that pitch for months).

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What caused confusion: after three walks and 29 pitches to five batters, why was Alvarado still in against Urshela in the first place? Urshela has been dreadful against left-handed pitchers in 2024, but the sample has been very small (and he has also been very poor against right-handers this season). In the aggregate, Urshela has been a considerably better hitter against southpaws over the three seasons prior to this one. Rookie right-hander Max Lazar had been warming for quite a while, but instead of bringing in Lazar for Urshela, Phillies manager Rob Thomson stuck with Alvarado -- and it burned him. Following the fourth walk (third in a row), Thomson summoned Lazar, who struck out former Phillies utility player Whit Merrifield to end the inning.

Alvarado handed the Braves an insurance run and, in the process, likely caused his own demotion within the pecking order of Thomson's bullpen. Meanwhile, trade deadline acquisition Tanner Banks had allowed an earned run in three of his last four outings entering the Atlanta series. It is unclear if Thomson has any left-handed relievers he can trust whatsoever outside of All-Star Matt Strahm.

A quick note on Merrifield: in 53 games with the Phillies, he did not record multiple extra-base hits a single time. Naturally, then, Merrifield collected a triple and a double in his first two plate appearances against Wheeler in his first game against the Phillies in 2024.

Bottom of Phils lineup, bullpen come through in gutsy series-evening win

When Aaron Nola allowed Atlanta shortstop Orlando Arcia to put the Braves ahead with a two-run homer in the fourth inning on Wednesday night, a 2-0 deficit almost felt insurmountable because of how inept the Phillies' offense had been to begin this pivotal series. 

Before the sixth inning began, Braves starter Max Fried was absolutely cruising. But suddenly, the back end of Thomson's lineup got things going: Edmundo Sosa led off the inning with a single, and Rojas followed it up by lacing a double to deep left field. Schwarber drove in Sosa with a groundout and Turner brought Rojas home with a sacrifice fly. Just like that, Arcia's two-run shot had been nullified and the game was tied.

Nola struggled to prevent traffic on the bases on all night long, but was able to limit damage to just the pair of runs courtesy of Arcia. In the bottom of the sixth, though, he put two runners on with only one out. Thomson went to Jeff Hoffman, who in four pitches was out of the inning after inducing a double play against Urshela. Matt Strahm had the bottom of the seventh, and he tossed a 1-2-3 inning against the top three hitters in Atlanta's lineup. 

Weston Wilson continues to make a compelling case that he needs to be in the lineup on close to an everyday basis, not just against left-handed pitchers -- even when Austin Hays is activated off the Injured List, which is expected to take place over the weekend. Regardless of the pitcher, he is simply giving the Phillies quality at-bats constantly. So, when Wilson's spot came up in the order to lead off the eighth inning and the Braves had the very effective right-hander Joe Jiménez in the game, Thomson stuck with the 29-year-old rookie... and it paid off.

Wilson got a fastball over the middle of the plate and went the other way with it, doubling off the right-field wall to set the table. Bryson Stott and Brandon Marsh had back-to-back pinch hit appearances in place of Sosa and Rojas, and the two players who detailed how difficult pinch-hitting is in conversations with PhillyVoice last week came through: Stott barreled a ball to deep center field to advance Wilson to third, and Marsh delivered a sacrifice fly to the warning track in left-center field with two strikes. The Phillies had a 3-2 lead.

Rookie right-handed reliever Orion Kerkering has struggled quite a bit of late, and the team has been trying to avoid overusing him as they try to prepare him for October. But suddenly, Kerkering was on the mound for the bottom of the eighth, marking his second straight day of work. Instead of falling behind in counts as he has done so often recently, Kerkering absolutely pounded the strike zone with his signature slider and improved fastball. Kerkering struck out two-time All-Star Matt Olson to begin an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 inning. 

The Phillies' apparent closer, trade deadline acquisition Carlos Estévez, got himself into some trouble in the ninth inning. But all he needed was to make one more good pitch, and he did, forcing Merrifield to ground out to Harper at first base with the tying run on third base and the go-ahead run on second base.

While Wilson has long been deemed a consideration as a platoon bat across the diamond, Thomson admitted after the game that his at-bats have been too good to deny him chances against right-handers. And, sure enough, Wilson was in the lineup for Thursday's series finale against a right-handed starting pitcher, playing third base and giving Alec Bohm a night off following the conclusion of his 36-game on-base streak. The Phillies appear to have faith in Wilson at five positions: left field, right field, first base, second base and third base. That level of versatility is quite an asset for Thomson to have at his disposal.

Phillies drop series following lifeless offensive performance Thursday

In the top of the first inning of Thursday night's nationally-televised rubber match, Schwarber walked to set the table. Turner grounded into a fielder's choice, and Harper swatted a base hit the opposite way to move Turner to third base. Nick Castellanos narrowly avoided grounding into a double play, allowing Turner to touch home plate and give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

After Harper's single, the Phillies did not have a single batter walk or get a hit until there were two outs in the seventh inning, when Stott hit a come-backer to young Braves starter Spencer Schwellenbach that went off the rookie's glove and was -- perhaps generously -- ruled a single. On the very next pitch, Realmuto slashed a double into the right-center field gap, scoring Stott and chasing Schwellenbach out of the game.

Christopher Sánchez battled through six innings of three-run ball in his first outing since throwing his second complete game of the season, but did allow nine hits. And because the Phillies' offense was nonexistent for the majority of the game, his laborious outing was not good enough to earn the team a series victory.

One positive from Thursday's series finale was that Banks pitched well in a crucial spot. The left-hander had the bottom of the seventh inning against the top of Atlanta's order, and after allowing an infield single to leadoff hitter Michael Harris II, he buckled down and retired the next three hitters -- including a strikeout of triple crown contender Marcel Ozuna.

Ultimately, though, the Phillies' offense was their problem for the second time in three nights, and it cost them a chance to pad their advantage over a team in its weakest form. Cal Stevenson and Schwarber drew back-to-back walks with one out in the eighth inning, but Turner promptly grounded into an inning-ending double play.

These teams will meet again for four games in Philadelphia to end August, and those contests could be of massive importance. For now, the Phillies' division lead stands at six games.

Up next: Before returning home, the Phillies will travel to Kansas City for a three-game set against superstar shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. and the Royals. Taijuan Walker will take the mound to begin the series on Friday, with Ranger Suárez expected to return to action on Saturday. Wheeler would be able to start Sunday's game on normal rest, but multiple reporters in Atlanta indicated that Thomson is leaning toward using a spot starter or doing a bullpen game in that series finale to give all of his starters an extra day of rest before continuing their stretch of 13 games in 13 days.

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