Phillies pitching staff leads baseball in shutouts, strikeouts

The Phillies record, 16-11 with a minus-22 run differential (through Wednesday afternoon) is impressive. And implies that despite having scored the second-fewest runs in all of baseball, they must be pitching out of their minds.

And they are. The Philslead the majors with 272 strikeouts, the most by more than 20 and also boast an MLB best 6 shutouts after Aaron Nola’s effort Tuesday night in St. Louis.

The Phillies also have two of the best four opponent batting averages in baseball, with Vincent Velasquez’ .146 second only to Jake Arrieta’s.142 (and Nola in fourth at .176).

Nola, following seven scorelessinnings against the Cardinals, has thelongest streak (20 innings) by a Phillies pitcher since Cole Hamels threw 22⅔ scoreless in June 2014.

“Everytime he does it, it’s awesome,” catcher Cameron Rupp told the media Tuesday night. “All of these guys come out, and when they do it, it’s fun for me. It will never get old. The way they pitch and the demeanor they have out there, it’s awesome to be a part of.”