Suárez (career-high 11 K's) gives Phils momentum heading into big series
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PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies manager Rob Thomson wasn't ready to talk about this week's showdown with the Mets on Sunday morning.
He instead wanted his club fully focused on taking care of business in that afternoon's series finale against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
Safe to say the Phillies did exactly that in a 3-2 win to secure a series victory. Ranger Suárez was dominant once again, racking up a career-high 11 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings. That marked his second straight start with at least 10 strikeouts after he had recorded just two double-digit-strikeout outings in his first 111 career starts prior to this week.
Suárez has 21 strikeouts and zero walks over his past two starts while allowing only two runs over 13 2/3 innings. As a whole, Phillies starters posted a 2.37 ERA with 46 K's in 30 1/3 innings for this past turn through the rotation -- their first full turn since losing Zack Wheeler for the season.
With the series victory squared away, the Phillies can now turn their attention to this week’s three-game series against the rival Mets.
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Philadelphia (76-54) heads to Citi Field with a seven-game lead over New York (69-61) atop the National League East. The seven-game advantage is tied for the Phillies’ largest of the season.
Starting with Monday's series opener, however, the two clubs still have seven meetings remaining this season.
“There's a lot of baseball to be played still, and we've still got a lot of games against them specifically,” said designated hitter Kyle Schwarber. “We're not going in there with a relaxed mindset or anything like that. We're going there to take care of business.”
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The Phillies know things can change in a hurry, especially given their recent struggles against the Mets -- particularly at Citi Field. The Phils were swept in a three-game set in New York from April 21-23, and they've lost seven straight games at Citi Field dating to last year, including Games 3 and 4 in the NL Division Series to end their season.
“Every time we walk out of the clubhouse, it's kind of the same mindset -- nothing is ever changing,” Schwarber said. “It doesn't matter [if it’s a] home, road, exhibition game -- we're going there with the same mindset. We know what they're capable of. We know they're a good team.”
Of course, the two teams are trending in opposite directions of late.
The Phillies are 15-7 in August, while the Mets are just 7-14. That’s a 7 1/2-game swing in just three and a half weeks.
“It can go the other way, too,” said Thomson. “So we've got to pay attention.”
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Monday’s series opener will feature NL Cy Young candidate Cristopher Sánchez (11-4, 2.46 ERA) taking the mound opposite Mets righty Kodai Senga (7-5, 2.58). On Tuesday, it’ll be Jesús Luzardo (12-6, 4.10) against fellow left-hander Sean Manaea (1-2, 5.15), while Wednesday's finale will pit Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.44) against rookie right-hander Nolan McLean, who is 2-0 with a 1.46 ERA through two career starts.
“It'll be a fun series. It's always a fun series between us,” said Walker, who has a 3.19 ERA in eight starts during his latest stint in the rotation. “But you try to do too much, that's when you start to get in trouble. So I'm just going to try to keep doing what I'm doing and not try to change anything.”
The same goes for the Phillies, who have won six of their past seven games. They’ve lost only one series since the start of August, while winning five and splitting one.
“The goal is obviously just one game at a time and just try to win the series,” Walker said. “As long as we keep winning series, I think we'll be in a good spot at the end of the year.”
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This could prove to be a pivotal 17-game stretch for a Phillies team in the midst of playing 39 games in 41 days.
Following their three-game series in Queens, the Phils return home to host four games against the surging Braves (11-4 in their past 15 games) before heading to Milwaukee for three games vs. the MLB-best Brewers. Then, after a three-game set in Miami, the Phillies return home to play four more games against the Mets.
“Every game is big from here on out,” Thomson said. “The Mets have a good club. We've got to go in and pay attention to every detail and play hard.”