PITTSBURGH — Saturday was a good day for Trea Turner. He hasn’t had many of those this season, but the Phillies believe more will come.

Turner went 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the eighth inning of Saturday’s 6-0 win against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He has a hit in three straight games, but the season numbers look bleak relative to his very lofty standards. His lowest OPS in a full season is .760 in 2018. He was a five-win player, according to FanGraphs, and played in all 162 games that season. His OPS is sitting at .633 entering play Sunday.

The Phillies have the fourth-lowest OPS from the leadoff spot at .597. The Guardians, Red Sox and Padres are the only teams that are worse. The Phillies have moved Kyle Schwarber up to the No. 1 spot on days Turner was not in the lineup. In the long run, moving Schwarber to the leadoff spot will lead to more plate appearances for their best hitter. The arrangement last year, with Turner at the top and Schwarber behind him, largely worked because Turner hit over .300 and got on base in front of Schwarber.

This year, Schwarber has 20 home runs, but only 35 RBIs. He homered 56 times last year and drove in a major-league leading 132 RBIs. For what it’s worth, Turner has been on-base for a higher percentage of Schwarber’s home runs this year versus last year. Turner has come around to score on six of Schwarber’s 20 home runs (30%). Last year, Turner was on-base for 16 of Schwarber’s 56 home runs (28.6%). Turner did miss a few weeks at the end of the year with a hamstring injury.

Turner is a notoriously streaky hitter and the Phillies have taken the good with the bad. He entered August of 2023 with a .673 OPS, then hit 16 home runs in the last 51 games and raised his season OPS by over 100 points.

Interim manager Don Mattingly believes Turner will hit, which is why he’s not considering a lineup change. Turner worked an eight-pitch at-bat against Paul Skenes, but struck out in the top of the first inning of Sunday’s game.

“Whatever he’s doing now is not something that’s going to keep going,” Mattingly said pregame on Sunday. “He’s working. It’s not all of the sudden Trea has lost it. He’s gonna hit and he’s gonna be himself. There’s going to be a period of time where Trea is going to be on fire and we’re going to be going, ‘Trea is back.’ He’s always here, but it’s going to get better.”

Outside of Schwarber and Turner, the Phillies have few logical leadoff options. Most of their production this year has come from the left-handed batters. Bryce Harper could leadoff, but he is typically more comfortable hitting second or third. The Phillies are committed to managing expectations for Justin Crawford, another lefty hitter, in his rookie season. It’s why he’s unlikely to spend significant time in the leadoff spot this year.

But Mattingly thinks Crawford has the tools to be a productive leadoff hitter in the future.

“With Trea and him, it’s kind of back-to-back with speed,” Mattingly said. “Hopefully getting on for Schwarber and Harper.”

PITTSBURGH — With success comes some audacity. Cristopher Sánchez, a consensus top pitcher in baseball, has let his confidence take over.

He smacked his glove and yelled as he struck out Marcell Ozuna to end the fourth inning, stranding the runner on second. The two had been eying each other all game. You would call it a friendly rivalry. Ozuna, the former Atlanta Brave, entered the game a career 5-for-13 hitter against Sánchez.

“I think Ozuna told him he was going to hit a home run before the game,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. Ozuna ended up striking out four times.

Sánchez smiled at Ozuna as he walked back to the dugout after the third strikeout. The fourth one came in the ninth inning and set a new career high in strikeouts for the left-hander. With his pitch count near its maximum, Sánchez induced a groundout to shortstop from Nick Yorke to finish off his second-career complete-game shutout to lead his team to a 6-0 win.

When he was all done his TV interview, Sánchez stayed to sign autographs for Phillies fans down the first base line. Many made the trip over to the Steel City and cheered loudly as Sánchez emerged from the dugout in the ninth inning.

“Felt goosebumps every time that I thought about it,” Sánchez said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello. “It felt like a home start.”

Sánchez’s transformation has been one of the more remarkable stories to tell. Everyone that watches the Phillies knows the basic details.

“When we first got him from Tampa, he would throw bullpens in spring training,” acting manager Dusty Wathan said postgame. “I saw him throw bullpens and there were a lot of balls off the chain link fence. For a guy to make the transformation that he’s made, it’s something special.”

“He knows how to handle his game today versus the player he was a couple years ago,” Edmundo Sosa said through a team interpreter. “He was obviously a very young player. We all were at some point.”

A taxi squad arm during the 2022 postseason run, Sánchez entered camp the following year as an afterthought. The Phillies were granted a fourth option year on Sánchez in 2023 and opted to keep him as a starting pitcher in Triple-A. They recalled Sánchez for a start against the A’s in Oakland in June. He has been in the majors since, developing into a reliable back-of-the-rotation pitcher turned bonafide ace.

“I think that’s the biggest difference in him now and five or six years ago, he’s got so much confidence,” Realmuto said.

The Phillies extended Sánchez once in 2024 and again two years later. He now has a 1.82 ERA through his first 10 starts. If he stays healthy, he should be in the mix for the Cy Young Award.

“I’m proud of myself but at the same time, I just try to keep my feet on the ground,” Sánchez said. “Keep going, keep getting better, keep working.”

Sánchez is a humble guy with a big smile and an unequivocal belief in his ability. The Phillies have loved getting to know this version of Sánchez, the one who can’t be beaten.

“He knows he’s good,” Bryce Harper said. “He’s confident in his ability and doesn’t shy away from anything. It’s very fun to watch.”

Sosa traveled all over Europe with Sánchez in the offseason. He had a big smile on his face when reflecting on his friend’s success.

“I think that this is the best version of Sánchy that I’ve seen,” Sosa said. “I know he’s going to keep working. He’s going to keep putting in the work and getting better. I know there’s a lot more to come performance-wise from him. He’s going to keep leaving marks on the game. He’s going to hopefully keep hitting the record books in the game.”

Pirates hitters came out swinging, but Sánchez had answers. He had thrown just 53 pitches through five innings and 79 pitches through seven. Paul Skenes, one of the few pitchers on Sánchez’s level who will start tomorrow’s game for the Pirates against Zack Wheeler, throws seven different pitches. Sánchez has not only survived, but thrived with only three offerings: a sinker, changeup and slider.

“All three of his pitches are really good pitches,” Realmuto said. “His changeup is obviously elite, so you can use that every at-bat. And then (sinker), he uses it both sides of the plate and I think that makes it really difficult because righties can’t just look one side of the plate with him because he throws it both sides. That makes it really difficult to cover and you throw in the fact that his stuff is so elite, you can’t ever go up there a sit on just one pitch. He mixes it so well.”

It’s fun to watch, but impossible to fully appreciate.

“To me, it’s a once in a lifetime transformation to go from where he was to being one of the best pitchers in baseball right now,” Wathan said. “It’s special.”

Cristopher Sánchez fired the second complete game shutout of his career Saturday against the Pirates at PNC Park en route to a 6-0 Phillies win. With the victory, the Phillies (23-23) are .500 for the first time since April 13.

Sánchez’s final ledger included six hits, no walks and a career-high 13 strikeouts. The left-hander was economical. He was at 28 pitches through three perfect innings with five strikeouts. After six innings, Sánchez was at 63 pitches and eight strikeouts. He finished with 108 pitches, stranding a pair of runners on second and third to complete the shutout and keep his scoreless innings streak, now at 29 2/3 innings, alive.

Back-to-back one-out singles by Konnor Griffin and Bryan Reynolds threatened Sánchez’s shutout, but the left-hander struck out Marcell Ozuna and got Nick Yorke to ground out to shortstop Trea Turner to close things out.

The first two hits Sánchez allowed did not put him in any danger of allowing a run. He surrendered a two-out double to Reynolds in the bottom of the fourth inning. He struck out Ozuna one batter later to end that frame. Sánchez gave up a one-out single in the fifth to Nick Gonzales before Turner made a strong play on an inning-ending 6-3 double play off the bat of Brandon Lowe.

The third hit — a leadoff double by Griffin in the seventh — put Sánchez’s potential shutout in jeopardy for the first time. But he worked around Griffin’s two-bagger by getting Reynolds to fly out, Ozuna to strike out and Yorke to strike out — his 10th punch-out of the afternoon.

The shutout appeared to be in danger again in the eighth. Henry Davis lined a ball with two outs and a runner on first into the left-center field gap, but Justin Crawford ran over from center to make a diving catch to end the inning.

The last time Sánchez allowed a run was in his April 30 start against the Giants. So far in May, he’s pitched at least seven innings in all three of his starts. His season ERA is down to 1.82.

Sánchez has also pitched at least five innings in 32 straight starts, the second-longest active streak in MLB behind Zack Wheeler, who’s slated to be on the bump Sunday to face Paul Skenes.

The Phillies spotted their starter with an early five-run lead. Bryce Harper hit a three-run home run in the top of the first on a 2-1 fastball from rookie right-hander Bubba Chandler. The ball hit off the batter’s eye in center field, landing 457 feet from home plate.

Kyle Schwarber made it 5-0 in the top of the second with a two-out double. J.T. Realmuto easily scored from second base on the play; the ball was sharply grounded down the first-base line and into right field. Turner started at first base on the play and scored on a throwing error by right fielder Jared Triolo. Triolo’s throw short-hopped the cutoff man, Lowe, and popped into the air giving Turner, who was going to stop at third base, the ability to score.

Turner added an RBI to his day in the eighth on a double that plated Crawford.

Saturday’s win marks the sixth straight series win for the Phillies. They’ll go for their second sweep of the year on Sunday.

PITTSBURGH — An impromptu sign was made with duct tape outside the visiting manager’s office at PNC Park. Dusty Wathan, the 52-year-old former Phillies third base coach turned bench coach and now manager for a day, has another title courtesy of hitting coach Kevin Long.

“Substitute Teacher: Mr. Wathan,” the sign outside the office read.

For one day, Wathan will manage the big league club. Interim manager Don Mattingly is away attending his son Reynolds’ graduation from the University of Purdue’s doctorate in engineering program.

Wathan, 52, spent 10 years as a manager in the Phillies minor league system. His first stop in 2008 was in the now defunct New-York Penn League with the Williamsport Crosscutters. Then manager at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Wathan was promoted to major league third base coach under new manager Gabe Kapler prior to the 2018 season. He was the longest-tenured third base coach in Major League Baseball until April 28, when he was promoted to bench coach after the firing of Rob Thomson and the promotion of Mattingly from bench coach to interim manager.

Wathan knew about a week in advance that he would sit in the manager’s chair on Saturday. He did not fly in his family for the day. He does not want it to be a special occasion.

“The preparation is pretty close to the same,” Wathan said pregame in Pittsburgh. “I prepare like I’m helping Donnie manage the game and you’re kind of managing along with him.”

Wathan is the son of former Kansas City Royals and California Angels skipper John Wathan, who won 326 games in his career as a manager from 1987 to 1992. Dusty, a baseball lifer himself, has interviewed for managerial openings. He was in the running for his father’s old job in Kansas City after the 2022 season. The job went to then Rays bench coach Matt Quatraro.

“I don’t think you can worry about that stuff,” Wathan said. “Stuff happens for a reason and you’re in the right place at the right time. I know that’s what happened in my case as a player.”

Wathan did make the majors in September 2002, playing in only three games with the Royals. But being a third base coach, Wathan believes, is the closest thing to playing after retirement. He would study the arms of opposing outfielders and evaluate his own decisions on the bases.

“You get scouting reports, you go through last night’s game,” Wathan said. “I told people before when I started this that I had them build me a second-guess machine and it kind of gives you the out probabilities and the chances of a guy scoring. Should you have sent him, should you not have sent him? There’s a lot of studying that goes on and trying to learn from what has happened in the past.”

Wathan’s old job now belongs to Anthony Contreras, the IronPigs’ manager and third base coach from 2022 until his promotion to the major league staff in April 2026. Wathan will go back to second in command on Sunday. But on Saturday, he’s the guy.

“It’ll be neat when it’s all over, but it’s about the players,” Wathan said. “It’s about trying to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates today. It’s not about me at all.”

PITTSBURGH — For the second Friday in a row, the Phillies erased a 6-0 deficit and forced extra innings. The Phillies have mastered the art of the absurd comeback over the years. This one, an 11-9 win in 10 innings on a Friday night on the other side of Pennsylvania, may have topped them all.

With their former ace walking off the mound after another rough outing, beaten and battered, interim manager Don Mattingly turned to Bryce Harper. “We’re going to come back,” Mattingly told the group gathered at the mound.

“And I believed him,” Harper said after the game. Mattingly was right.

It turns out the Phillies are never out of a game when Kyle Schwarber is on a legendary tear. Schwarber has nine home runs in eight games, including two on Friday night to reach the 20 home run mark. He is on pace for over 70 home runs. It probably won’t happen, but there is a belief right now that anything is possible when Schwarber walks up to the plate.

“Schwarber is one of those guys that you think if you make pitches, you get him out,” Mattingly said. “And if you make mistakes, he makes you pay. So you feel like you can go after him a little bit if you make the right pitch. But he makes you pay when you make mistakes.”

Somehow, Schwarber is still getting pitches to hit despite being the hottest hitter on the planet. When he walked up to the plate representing the go-ahead run in the ninth, there was another absurd thought: Would Pirates manager Don Kelly hold up four fingers, intentionally walking Schwarber to bring home a run? Gregory Soto nibbled against Schwarber anyway, walking him on four pitches.

But another big threat loomed in the on-deck circle. It’s why pitching around Schwarber isn’t always a viable option.

“We’ve got another monster behind him that throws up four (hits) tonight and is always dangerous,” Mattingly said about Harper. “So it’s not like you can just, you know, bypass him and think Harper’s not going to hurt you.”

On a 2-1 pitch, Harper crushed a slider from Soto to deep right center. Harper watched, thinking he had his first grand slam since May 2024. The ball was inches away from clearing the fence. He had to settle for a game-tying double.

“Didn’t happen, it’s all good,” Harper said.

The Phillies, after getting off to an embarrassing 9-19 start that cost manager Rob Thomson his job, are just one win away from getting back to .500 for the first time since April 13. They have won 13 of 17. Not everything has gone perfectly.

The starting pitching, led by Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler, have turned things around after a terrible month of April, though Nola is still a concern. They have the least productive collection of right-handed hitters in the sport. The defense has been better of late, but they still have their sloppy moments, as evidenced by the two errors in the sixth inning.

But the Phillies are being led, not carried, by their stars. The bullpen, after Nola’s tough outing, allowed only one earned run over 6 1/3 innings to give the offense a chance to win the game. Two former Pirates turned Phillies offseason minor league signings, Tim Mayza and Chase Shugart, recorded ten outs. Jonathan Bowlan worked around a couple hits, but kept the Pirates off the board in the sixth.

José Alvarado, who has struggled all year against left-handed hitters, struck out all of the hitters from the left side he faced. Orion Kerkering, after surrendering the lead in his last appearance against Boston, shut the door in the bottom of the 11th.

Brandon Marsh, no longer the league leader in batting average, doubled for his first hit of the game to give his team the lead in the 11th. Rafael Marchan, with only four hits all season and no at-bats in the last eight days, singled to drive in two more.

Teammates cheered Marchan, that day’s backup to the backup catcher, as he entered the clubhouse postgame.

“I love the way that this guy comes in every single day,” Schwarber said. “First one in the cage. He works, keeps wanting to get better. He goes out there and has one of the bigger hits for us.”

There is confidence in every corner of the Phillies clubhouse. Everyone, no matter what your stat line says, is feeling it.

“It’s not anywhere near complete, right?” Schwarber said.

There is still so much left to be said about the 2026 Phillies. But this particular snapshot in time is glorious compared to when it was at its worst just a few weeks ago.

“When you get confident, anything can happen,” Harper said. “Good things can happen. I think we’re there.”

The Phillies’ top two sluggers helped carry them to a comeback victory on Friday night at PNC Park.

Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, the team’s two best hitters, were crucial to the come-from-behind effort. Schwarber went 3-for-5 with two home runs, five RBIs and a crucial bases-loaded walk in the top of the ninth inning, while Harper followed with a 388-foot, game-tying single off the top of the wall to send the game to extra innings with his fourth hit.

After trailing by six runs early, the Phillies scored three runs in the 10th to beat the Pirates, 11-9, in the opener of a three-game series. The offensive surge, led by Schwarber and Harper, allowed Philadelphia to overcome a short, ineffective start from right-hander Aaron Nola.

Nola allowed six runs in 3 2/3 innings with two-run homers given up to Brandon Lowe and Marcell Ozuna. He has a 5.91 ERA through nine starts. The veteran has pitched into the seventh inning just once this year and has failed to complete five innings in four of his last five outings.

The Phillies (22-23) removed Nola in favor of reliever Tim Mayza in the fourth inning, and Schwarber smacked a two-run shot to right-center field in the top of the fifth off Pirates starter Braxton Aschcraft to bring the score to 6-3. But the Pirates punched right back as Lowe hit his second home run of the game off Mayza; they scored again on an error by third baseman Alec Bohm in the sixth.

In the seventh, lightning struck again for the Phillies, as Schwarber lined another two-run homer into left-center field. He has now hit nine home runs in his last eight games and leads the major leagues in homers with 20.

Pirates closer Gregory Soto, a former Phillie, entered for a save opportunity in the ninth with Pittsburgh up, 8-5. The left-hander loaded the bases, then walked Schwarber on four pitches to force in a run. Harper batted next, and nearly hit a go-ahead grand slam. He had to settle for a long two-run single, advancing to second on the relay into the infield. Schwarber was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play.

While Schwarber and Harper got the game to extras, the rest of the lineup put the win away in the 10th. The Phillies tacked on three, with Brandon Marsh doubling home the automatic runner and catcher Rafael Marchán, who had previously entered as a defensive replacement, driving in two with a base hit.

The Pirates plated their automatic runner against Orion Kerkerking, but he locked in a save with the help of an impressive play from Bohm to complete the big-time win.

PITTSBURGH — The status of top Phillies prospect Aidan Miller is still somewhat of a mystery.

He did not play in any Grapefruit League games in spring training. He has yet to appear in any games for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. A back issue has significantly delayed an important season for Miller.

Miller is not taking ground balls nor swinging a bat. There is still no exact timetable for a ramp up for a return. He is progressing in his rehab, per Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski.

“He’s doing fine,” Dombrowski said in Pittsburgh. “We’re just very slow with him.”

Miller, 21, is widely regarded as the top prospect in the Phillies farm system. In 432 at-bats in the minor leagues last year, Miller slashed .264/.392/.433 with 14 home runs and 42 RBIs. He got off to a slow start, but really started to pick things up in the second half of last year. After spending most of last season with Double-A Reading, Miller was promoted to Triple-A near the end of the minor season.

Miller was never going to win a spot on the major league roster to open the year, but he could have forced the Phillies’ hand with a strong showing at Triple-A amid the struggles of multiple Phillies infielders.

Third baseman Alec Bohm has picked it up after an incredibly slow start to the year at the plate. In his last 13 games entering Friday, Bohm is batting .304 with an .818 OPS. Second baseman Bryson Stott is also on a hot streak.

The Phillies, for multiple years, have needed a big right-handed bat to occupy the middle of their order. It’s been a game of musical chairs so far for the Phillies, who entered Friday with the lowest OPS from their right-handed hitters in major league baseball at .577.

Bohm is back in the cleanup spot on Friday night against the Pirates. With runners at the corners with one away, Bohm hit into an inning-ending double play in his first at-bat in the first inning.

Right fielder Adolís García, who has taken down most of the cleanup at-bats recently, is not starting Friday. He is hitless in his last 17 at-bats and has looked off mechanically at the plate in recent days.

“He swung the bat really good at home, but looked a little rough in the first part of this trip,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Just giving him a day.”

Rookie Felix Reyes has even taken down four starts as the cleanup hitter. In the absence of left-handed relievers in the opposing bullpen, Brandon Marsh, the club’s third-most productive hitter this season behind Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper, has also hit cleanup.

Trea Turner has also struggled out of the leadoff spot. He is 1-for-10 on the road trip and has a .622 OPS this season.

Finding offense from the right-hand side is an issue for the Phillies. Miller appears unlikely to be a solution anytime soon.

Kyle Schwarber’s two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning helped lift the Phillies to a 3-1 win over the Red Sox on Thursday at Fenway Park. Schwarber’s homer was his MLB-leading 18th of the season and sixth in his last seven games.

After a Trea Turner leadoff single, Schwarber found himself in a 3-1 count against left-handed reliever Tyler Samaniego, who hadn’t allowed a run this year. The Phillies designated hitter did not miss the 3-1 pitch, a cutter, from Samaniego and pulled it beyond the right-field wall for the lead.

Schwarber broke a lengthy scoreless drought for the Phillies. They hadn’t scored since the top of the third inning of Wednesday’s game; they’d scored just three runs in the first two games of the series before Schwarber went yard.

Turner’s single was his first hit of the night but was not his first important moment. With Jesús Luzardo in jams in the fifth and sixth innings, Turner used his glove to help out his starting pitcher.

Luzardo hit a batter and walked the next with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning to bring up the top of the Red Sox batting order. He got leadoff hitter Jarren Duran to fly a ball into shallow left field, and it was tracked down by Turner to end the inning.

An inning later, with one out and Andrew Monasterio on third base, Willson Contreras sharply grounded a 3-2 changeup from Luzardo to the left side of the infield. Turner dove to his right, gloved the ball, looked at a halted Monasterio and threw the ball to first base for the second out of the inning. A routine groundout to Turner off the bat of Ceddanne Rafaela ended the sixth.

Luzardo’s night was done after that. It was a nice bounce-back performance — six scoreless innings — after his last start: three innings and six runs against the Rockies.

A successful challenge by interim manager Don Mattingly netted the Phillies their third run in the eighth. Bryson Stott was originally called out at first base after hitting a ground ball with two outs and the bases loaded. The review showed Stott beat the throw from third baseman Caleb Durbin, who held on to the ball for a split second before throwing to first because nobody was covering the bag at second base. Durbin had drifted toward where the shortstop usually plays to field the grounder by Stott. Throwing to second would’ve been the simpler play.

José Alvarado allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth, but Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless, three-strikeout ninth to secure the win. It also secured Duran’s second save of the series.

The Phillies (21-23) have won all five series under Mattingly. They’ll now head to Pittsburgh for a three-game series this weekend against the Pirates.

Rookie starter Andrew Painter had a nice bounce back start against the Red Sox, but the Phillies were unable to win another low-scoring game at Fenway Park. They dropped the second game of the series to Boston by a final score of 3-1. 

Across five innings, Painter allowed just one run on four hits, walking none and striking out four. He threw 62 pitches, 46 of them for strikes. It was an encouraging start for the 23-year-old right-hander, who bounced back well from his previous start in which he allowed eight runs against the Athletics.

The Red Sox struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Shortstop Trevor Story hit a fastball from Painter over the Green Monster in left to put the Sox up, 1-0.  

In the top of the third, Justin Crawford tied things back up for the Phillies with a solo home run to straightaway center field. It was Crawford’s second home run of the season, and the only hit the Phillies would have through the game’s first five innings.

Red Sox starter Sonny Gray shut the Phillies lineup for six innings. Gray allowed just the one run on two hits, walking one and striking out six.

Painter, meanwhile, still struggled to miss bats with his fastball, but he limited the damage early and improved as the game went on. His slider in particular was a weapon against righties, getting three of his four strikeouts on the pitch. He retired the last seven batters he faced, including striking out the side in the fifth to end his night. 

The 1-1 tie held until the sixth inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Orion Kerkering entered in relief of Tanner Barks to face the right-handed hitting Ceddanne Rafaela, pinch-hitting for Masataka Yoshida. Rafaela turned on a 1-2 fastball from Kerkering, sending into the Green Monster bleachers for a go-ahead, two-run homer.

The Phillies were unable to come back from this 3-1 deficit. With the exception of a two-out Alec Bohm single in the seventh, Phillies hitters did not record a hit against the Boston bullpen. They made things interesting in the ninth, as Kyle Schwarber and the pinch-hitting Trea Turner worked walks against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, before completing a successful double steal to put the tying runs in scoring position with two outs. But Chapman then struck out Bohm, sealing the 3-1 loss.

The Phillies have scored just three runs through the first two games of this series. The Red Sox have scored four. The two teams will play the series rubber match Thursday night at Fenway.

Ranger Suárez gets the ball for Boston against his former team Thursday, while Jesús Luzardo starts for Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET.

The Phillies’ bullpen entered Tuesday night extremely well-rested from an off day on Monday following a blowout on Sunday. From the jump, Zack Wheeler seemed intent on giving the group another night off.

Wheeler fired 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball to lead the Phillies to a 2-1 win over the Red Sox. He pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this year, even after a high-stress 26-pitch seventh.

That was possible because of what Wheeler did about an hour and a half before. Wheeler threw 16 pitches across the first three innings of the game. It was the fewest pitches a starter has thrown across a game’s first three innings since at least the turn of the century.

Further aided by an eight-toss fifth inning, Wheeler threw 87 pitches in total, allowing six hits, a run and no walks while striking out four. He has looked every bit like himself since returning from thoracic outlet syndrome, but Tuesday was arguably his best work yet.

The historic Fenway Park was the site of a little history for Kyle Schwarber, too. His first-inning solo homer, a 386-footer that just barely found its way into the bullpen beyond right field, gave him a five-game home run streak, tying seven players for the longest in Phillies history.

Brandon Marsh, MLB’s batting average leader, added to that figure (and his historically high BABIP) with a second-inning leadoff single, with Bryson Stott later doubling him home.

Wheeler induced double plays in the second and third innings and retired the Sox in order in the first, fifth and sixth. The seventh was where his night turned from ridiculously economical to just very economical. Ceddanne Rafaela blooped an RBI single to right with two outs, moving the tying run to third base. But a nice play by Trea Turner on a sharp Marcelo Mayer grounder kept him there.

The Red Sox again put the tying run 90 feet away in the eighth but again couldn’t cash in, this time against a seemingly revitalized José Alvarado. After working through a one-on, one-out situation on Tuesday, he’s allowed one hit and no runs on six strikeouts in his last 3 1/3 innings.

Jhoan Duran earned the save in his first high-leverage situation since returning from the injured list. Like the previous two innings, it wasn’t easy: The Red Sox put the tying run on second and the winning run at first with one out. But Duran struck out Rafaela and retired Mayer to end it.

It’s the Phillies’ 11th win in 14 games, their ninth win in 13 one-run games this year and Don Mattingly’s 900th win as a manager.

Outfielder Dylan Carlson is signing a minor league deal with the Phillies, per the club’s transaction log. He will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Carlson, a switch-hitting corner outfielder, was released by the Chicago Cubs on May 4. His best season was in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals, when he finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting. That season, he batted .266 with a .780 OPS.

He has struggled since leaving St. Louis. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2024 deadline and spent some time in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles in 2025. He made the Cubs Opening Day roster this year.

Outfield depth is thin in the Phillies organization. Óscar Mercado was recently released, opening a spot for Carlson on the IronPigs’ roster. Infielder Christian Cairo has spent some time in left field. He is on the 40-man roster and could be a potential big league call-up. Steward Berroa, another switch-hitting outfielder, could be the next man up if there is an injury in center field. He is also on the 40-man roster and has played exclusively in center field during his time with the IronPigs.

Lehigh Valley announced a slew of roster moves today, including the signing of Carlson, Mercado’s release and right-handed pitcher Jean Cabrera’s demotion to Double-A Reading. IronPigs infielder Keaton Anthony is also beginning a rehab assignment on Tuesday with Clearwater. Anthony broke a bone in his foot during a Grapefruit League game in March.

PHILADELPHIA – Slowing down has helped Orion Kerkering get off to a fast start this season.

The Phillies bullpen isn’t getting the credit, but they have been a big part of the club’s 10-3 turnaround under interim manager Don Mattingly. The unit has shouldered a big burden with some starters in the rotation struggling to go deep into games. 

The bullpen has kept the Phillies in games. After Jesús Luzardo failed to get any of the first seven batters he faced in the third inning on Friday out, the bullpen came in and allowed only two hits from innings three through 10. 

Two scoreless innings each from Jonathan Bowlan and Tim Mayza paved the way for a five-run bottom of the eighth inning for the Phillies that forced extra innings. Kerkering came in to pitch with the ghost runner on second. He worked around a single and struck out Willi Castro on a well-executed sweeper in the zone. Kerkering was fired up after leaving the mound.

The next day, Kerkering finished off another strong collective effort from the bullpen after a short Aaron Nola start on Saturday. Mayza, Tanner Banks, Chase Shugart and Kerkering combined for 4 1/3 innings of no-hit ball and seven strikeouts in a 9-3 win over the Rockies. 

Kerkering’s run of clean outings stretches beyond the managerial change. After allowing two runs in his first game back from a hamstring strain, Kerkering has allowed only one earned run in his last 15 games. His last 11 appearances have been scoreless. 

The way he has done it is interesting. He’s not missing a ton of bats, but he has continued to limit hard contact at an elite rate. His hard hit rate of 18.5% is second in baseball behind Padres star closer Mason Miller’s 16%. He’s carrying only a 17.7% strikeout rate, but opposing batters are hitting .182 against him. 

Kerkering made mechanical adjustments heading into the Braves series against Atlanta in April, he said recently. Chief among them: Not rushing his pitching motion. It’s hard not to get sped up, especially when you’re a fast worker like Kerkering. But he believes he has found the right pace.  

“Just seeing that I was rushing a little bit last year and kind of learning those mechanics off,” Kerkering said. “Not tipping as much either, I think that helps too. So I think just mechanically, fixing a lot of it.” 

Kerkering has also added a fourth pitch, a splitter, to play off of his signature sweeper. He’s thrown it only six percent of the time, but it has its uses. On Friday against the Rockies, Kerkering threw one of his better splitters to the left-handed hitting Mickey Moniak.

Down in the count 2-1, Moniak was looking to barrel up something inside. Recognizing that, catcher J.T. Realmuto called for a splitter to break towards third base. Moniak chipped his bat while fouling off the pitch. He followed it up with a sinker in a similar spot for a fly out to shallow left field that kept the runner at third from scoring. 

If the sweeper is at the right velocity (87-88 mph), the splitter can tunnel well with it. Both pitches are meant to look the same coming out of Kerkering’s hand, with the sweeper moving towards the left-handed batters box and the splitter heading the opposite way. 

“If (the splitter) is 92 in between the sweeper going left and right, then it’s really hard to differentiate the two,” Kerkering said. “So I think that’s what helps a lot.” 

Still only 25, Kerkering is entering his third full season as a major league relief pitcher. Drafted in 2022, Kerkering quickly rose through the Phillies’ minor league system, debuting at the end of 2023 and contributing to the Phillies’ playoff run that year. With Jose Alvarado scheduled to become a free agent after this year, it’s possible Kerkering enters 2027 as the longest-tenured Phillies reliever. 

With any reliever, a good stretch run is typically followed by a humbling outing or two. There will be struggles and more adjustments to make. 

He’s already seen – and been through a lot – in his time with the Phillies. He’s been under a lot of scrutiny for the way last year ended, but so far, he’s having success as a big part of the revamped Phillies bullpen.

The Phillies begin a six-game road trip with three against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, where they will match up against a familiar face.

Ranger Suárez, the longtime Phillies pitcher who signed with Boston for five years, $130 million in the offseason, will get the ball for the Sox on Thursday against his former team.

Suárez is 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA in seven starts this season. His start in the series finale Thursday will be his first since he left a May 3 start with hamstring tightness. 

The Red Sox as a team this year had a similarly rough start to the Phillies. Despite high expectations following a postseason berth last season, Boston started the year 10-17, resulting in the firing of manager Alex Cora and five coaches. Since then, they have gone 7-6 under interim manager Chad Tracy, good for a 17-23 record overall. They currently sit in last place in the AL East. 

The Phillies, meanwhile, are 19-22, coming off a homestand in which they went 4-2 against the A’s and Rockies. They are currently in a three-way tie for second in the NL East, alongside Miami and Washington, and are nine games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves. 

When the two teams last faced each other in July 2025 at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies took two out of three from Boston. Two games in that series went extra innings, including a 10-inning Phillies win and an 11-inning Red Sox victory.

All three night games will be broadcast locally. John Kruk will be in the television booth alongside play-by-play man Tom McCarthy.

Here’s when and where you can watch the series on TV:

• Tuesday, May 12 at 6:45 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Wednesday, May 13 at 6:45 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Thursday, May 14 at 6:45 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — As the rippling effects of Rob Thomson’s firing continue to settle in, a familiar face is embracing his new spot at the helm of Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs have found their new guy.

Chris “Tank” Adamson, who previously served as the IronPigs’ bench coach since 2024,  was given the keys to the squad on April 28 after former manager Anthony Contreras was elevated to the Phillies’ staff as their new third-base coach. With the Phillies deploying plenty of adjustments elsewhere, promoting someone who already knew the cadence of the clubhouse and players coming in and out allowed for an easy transition.

“It’s been great. It helps having some familiarity with the processes and the people that are already here,” Adamson said. “So I’ve made that transition fairly as easy as could be. Just very lucky for the people around.”

Adamson, 38, is in the midst of his sixth season with the Phillies organization. He previously managed High-A Jersey Shore in 2021 and the FCL Phillies in 2022 before returning as BlueClaws bench coach in 2023. Alongside his tenure with the Phillies, the Sydney, Australia, native has spent his minor league offseasons as manager of the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League since 2017, leading the team to three ABL championships in the past four years.

Nicknamed “Tank” for his lack of speed running the bases at 8 years old, Adamson has stuck with the moniker ever since. He shone at catcher for Division II Angelo State University from 2008 to 2010, receiving a Lone Star Conference all-tournament nod in his final season with the Rams. Adamson then returned to his native country in 2011, where he spent five years behind the dish and sparingly in the infield and outfield for Adelaide, then named the Bite. 

Adamson’s versatility from his playing years carried right into his role as IronPigs bench coach, as he found himself at the forefront of catching, outfield and infield drills, as well as throwing batting practice. Having a history at several different positions allowed Adamson to get a feel for managerial responsibilities before he even took the job. 

“Continue to develop guys individually and as a collective group, continue to grow,” Adamson said about his goals for the 2026 IronPigs. 

Lehigh Valley is 3-9 since Adamson took over, dropping series to both the Syracuse Mets and Buffalo Bisons. Over the 12-game stretch, the IronPigs’ offense went cold, slashing .206/.314/.609, and the team’s pitching staff sat at the bottom of the International League with a 7.46 ERA. It’s difficult to find long-term stability within position groups with multiple players making regular jumps between the minors and majors, but Adamson is more focused on getting his players ready for their opportunity in the big leagues.

“There’s always some additions and subtractions as you go on a season, particularly at this level,” he said. “But just continue to make sure that all of the guys know themselves intrinsically and they’re ready when their name’s called to go up to the big leagues.”

Contreras, on the other hand, leaves his chapter with the IronPigs as their longest-tenured manager, serving for five seasons with a record of 327-288, a .593 winning percentage. With the winningest manager in Lehigh Valley history heading to Philadelphia, Adamson has big shoes to fill, but he’s studied Contreras enough to know how to replicate his formula. 

“He’s a consummate professional in just the way he prepares on a daily basis,” Adamson said of Contreras. “I’ve learned a lot from him over the years. And you know, there’s not going to be too much change from what you see on the field. He set a really good foundation here, and we’re just going to continue to build.”

READING, Pa. — Right-hander Aaron Combs, a 24-year-old reliever, pitched for two Florida high schools, Inspiration Academy and IMG Academy, before graduating in 2020. He attended three colleges, medically redshirting as a freshman at Coastal Carolina before helping lead the College of Central Florida to the 2022 Junior College World Series and ultimately transferring to Tennessee for two years.

He’s now played for four minor-league affiliates of two big-league organizations since he was drafted in 2024. Combs is used to bouncing around, and that experience seems to be helping him on the mound in the minors.

“I think that definitely helps with all the unexpected,” Combs said last month. “I kind of just expect the unexpected.”

On New Year’s Day in 2025, Combs answered a phone call from a member of the White Sox organization. Less than six months prior, Chicago selected Combs in the eighth round of the amateur draft. The pitcher could not have predicted the message he received.

“It was a pretty normal call,” Combs said, “until he’s just like, ‘Yeah, we traded you.’ I mean, it was pretty crazy.”

The White Sox dealt Combs to the Phillies in exchange for veteran left-hander Tyler Gilbert after he was designated for assignment by Philadelphia. A starter in junior college but a reliever at Tennesse, Combs was placed in the rotation at High-A Jersey Shore last season. He missed time with a shoulder impingement and struggled with the role, attempting to “go six innings in the first inning, and that’s just not possible.”

“I had a lot of changes put on me last year,” Combs said. “Obviously, getting traded, like, almost immediately is not really expected for anybody. But I was super excited to get traded to the Phillies. And then being a starter, I was excited for that, too.”

The Phillies moved Combs back to the bullpen for 2026, and the results quickly followed. He posted three scoreless outings with the BlueClaws to start the year.

“I think it really helped me a lot,” Combs said. “Just comfortability, getting back to who I really am and knowing I can dominate as a reliever.”

Combs was promoted to Double-A Reading on April 21, much earlier than he would have expected. It was the latest stop on the whirlwind. Combs surrendered two runs in 1 2/3 innings in his first outing at the new level, but he’s made four shutout appearances since. Combs has a 1.86 ERA across 9 2/3 innings in eight total minor-league games.

He’s on board with being used in just about any relief situation, which is valuable for a young pitcher looking to climb the ranks. He can record more than three outs on a given night, or he can take down the ninth inning in a save situation. He’s done both roles dating back to college.

During the 2024 NCAA College World Series, Combs threw four scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Tennesse in a Game 2 victory over Texas A&M. The next day, he pitched the ninth inning of the deciding Game 3. Combs allowed two runs, but he held on to win the championship.

“I think that’s what makes me so good in the ‘pen, too, is knowing I have that experience and knowing that I can throw in front of 30,000 people,” Combs said. “I’m going to mess up. I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen the inning. It wasn’t exactly a clean inning. So I’ve had plenty of saves where it’s not a clean inning, but I know I can get through it no matter what happens.”

With so much change around him in the past few years, Combs has made it a point to not look too far ahead. He knows that being in Double-A feels “a lot closer” to the major leagues, but he doesn’t really want to think about it or talk about it. When things could be different at any second, it’s important to be present in the moment.

“I try to just be where my feet are and try to take care of business where I’m at,” Combs said, “because if I’m taking care of business where I’m at then that means I’ll hopefully get moved or whatever it is. So I’m just dealing with what I got in front of me.”