Part of the magic of baseball is its unpredictability.
The season typically features more twists than a Chubby Checker concert – fun fact: Chubby first performed “The Twist” as a 18-year-old at the Rainbow Club in Wildwood in the summer of 1960.
The latest turn of events has resulted in the Phillies overtaking the Mets in the National League East race.
In the span of just a week, the “Fightins’” went from being five and a half games out of first place to taking over the top spot with a 5-1 victory over the Mets last Sunday.
That was part of a surge that has seen the Phils post a 34-18 record in their last 52 games, the best record in the major leagues over that span.
Taking two out of three from the Mets also marked their fourth straight series win. They have won 17 series so far this season, which is tied for the most in the first 25 series of a season in franchise history.
Probably the most impressive part of the streak is that they accomplished most of it without arguably their best player in Bryce Harper, who as of Sunday had missed the last 21 games with a wrist injury.
They’ve also been without starting pitcher Aaron Nola for the last month with a stress fracture in his right rib. Additionally, reliver Jose Alvarado is serving a 80-game suspension for violation the league’s drug policy.
“When things go great, everything’s awesome, right?” Kyle Schwarber told The Athletic. “But when things are going to get a little hairy, whatever it is, you really have to buy into each other.”
The mark of a good team is the ability to withstand injuries and other absences and the Phillies have done that behind Schwarber, Trea Turner, Alec Bohm and others in their lineup. Their pitching staff has also held up well with Zack Wheeler, Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo, Ranger Sanchez and even rookie Mick Abel.
Wheeler and Luzardo began the week with seven victories apiece, tied for second in the National League behind Arizona’s Brandon Pfaat (eight) and San Francisco’s Robbie Ray (eight).
Wheeler also began the week ranked second in the National League with 118 strikeouts behind the Nationals’ MacKenzie Gore (123).
Wheeler (2.61) and Sanchez (2.87) are also among the league leaders in earned run average.
Schwarber has hit 24 home runs to rank third in the N.L. behind the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani (26) and the Diamondbacks’ Eugenio Suarez (25).
Turner’s 94 hits lead the N.L.
Of course, it’s much too early to be thinking of the playoffs and World Series, but at 47-31 overall as of Sunday, the Phils are looking and playing like legitimate contenders along with the Dodgers (48-31), Mets (46-32), Cubs (46-31), Giants (44-34), Brewers (43-35), Padres (42-35) and Cardinals (42-36),
They’ve been close before. Maybe this is the year they win the World Series for the first time since 2008.
“Come on, let’s twist again, like we did last summer. Yeah, let’s twist again, like we did last year.
“Do you remember when things were really hummin’? Yeah, let’s twist again, twistin’ time is here …”
EHT grad stars for Coastal Carolina
The Coastal Carolina University baseball team enjoyed an outstanding season, reaching the championship round of the College World Series before falling to LSU at Omaha, Nebraska.
Egg Harbor Township High School graduate Cameron Flukey was a major factor in the Chanticleer’s success.
The sophomore right-hander went head-to-head against highly touted LSU sophomore lefty Kade Anderson in the first game of the final, allowing just four hits and notching nine strikeouts over six innings of a 1-0 loss.
Flukey, a 2023 EHT graduate, finished the season with a 7-2 record, including a 3.19 ERA and 118 strikeouts over 101 2/3 innings.
The 20-year-old established himself as a strong candidate to be a first-round pick in the 2026 draft.
Local MLB update
Mainland Regional High School graduate Chase Petty made his return to the majors with a relief appearance for the Cincinnati Reds last Saturday.
The 22-year-old right-hander allowed an RBI single in the 11th inning of a 6-5 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Phillies called up Millville High grad Buddy Kennedy on Saturday. The 26-year-old was a combined 0-for-1 with a walk against the Mets on Saturday and Sunday.
David is a nationally recognized sports columnist who has covered Philadelphia and local sports for over 40 years. After 35 years with The Press, he has served as a columnist for 973ESPN.com and created his own Facebook page, Dave Weinberg Extra Points.
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