After an abysmal home stand to kick off the second half of the season, the Philadelphia Phillies will take their troubles to South Beach for a three-game series against the Miami Marlins.
The Phillies (57-49) sit 5.5 games behind the Atlanta Braces (62-43) in the race for the National League East. The Marlins (52-54), meanwhile, have cooled off slightly and sit 10.5 games back.
In spite of issues with the bullpen, lack of back end starting pitching depth, and a need for a right-handed bat, the Phillies have managed to keep a winning pace going since the firing of Rob Thomson. Now, Don Mattingly is commanding the Phillies in the midst of a 3-6 start to the second half.
The Phillies hosted three strong teams out of the gate to start the second half, dropping three straight home series to the New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees.
Over the weekend, the Yankees took the first two games with ease, only allowing one run across the two contests. Sunday night, the offense woke up, scoring 11 runs to rout the Yankees 11-4 to avoid getting swept at home.
Now, the Phillies will look to build upon their success under the Sunday night lights against a team they are 5-2 against this season.
The Phillies will pitch Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Jesús Luzardo on the series. Luzardo will make his fourth start in Miami since the Phillies acquired him from his hometown team in 2024.
Wheeler comes into Miami continuing his campaign to show Major League Baseball the type of pitcher he is. A 2.16 ERA in 100 IP, Wheeler most recently pitched 7.0 innings while allowing just two runs against the Dodgers, striking out nine on Tuesday. Pitching against Wheeler will be Tyler Phillips. The 3.52 ERA had a blowup outing the last time he saw the Phillies in June, allowing eight runs in 4.0 innings.
Nola continues to take one step forward followed by two steps back. He has a 5.73 ERA on the season and allowed a combined eight runs in his past two outings against the Dodgers and Mets.
Nola will face a player who has been connected to the Phillies as a potential trade target: Sandy Alcantara. Alcantara owns a 4.01 ERA on the year and has struck out 110 batters in 143.2 innings. A workhorse, Alcantara might be able to provide the quality innings the Phillies need down the stretch.
Back in his hometown, Luzardo will look to close out what has been a strong month of July. Having not allowed more than one earned run in a start since June 16, Luzardo owns a 3.31 ERA and has struck out 152 batters on the year. The Marlins have yet to announce a starter for Wednesday’s matchup at the time of publishing.
Game one between Wheeler and Phillips is scheduled to get going at 6:40 p.m. on Monday at loanDepot park. Nola and Alcantara will then follow suit on Tuesday before Luzardo gets the getaway day game start on Wednesday, a 12:10 p.m. start time.
