Phamiliar territory: With rotation 'hitting stride,' Phils' offense must keep up

PHILADELPHIA -- Just a few weeks ago, it seemed like a legitimate question to wonder if the Phillies could even play their way back into the postseason picture.

Now, the question might be, would any team want to face this rotation in a possible playoff series?

Though Jesús Luzardo is still seeking the consistency he had in his breakout 2025 season, he was mostly solid in the Phillies' 4-1 loss against the Reds on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. The lefty tossed six innings of two-run ball -- and both runs could have been prevented. (Cincinnati’s two-run fourth started with an Elly De La Cruz triple that glanced off Justin Crawford’s glove after a long run, followed by a Spencer Steer infield single on which nobody covered first on a high chopper over the mound.)

“If we kind of do what we're supposed to do, you can say maybe one [run] -- or maybe none,” interim manager Don Mattingly said.

Even with that tough-luck inning, it's been quite the run of late for the top of the Phillies' rotation.

Over the past two turns through the rotation, Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Luzardo have combined to allow just three runs over 42 1/3 innings. That's good for a 0.64 ERA.

They've racked up 41 strikeouts to just four walks during that span.

“That's the key, right?” Mattingly said. “Those guys being able to keep doing that.”

It's no secret that the Phillies were always going to lean heavily on their starting rotation to get where they wanted to go this season.

It's why this spring they signed Luzardo to a five-year, $135 million extension, then -- just two weeks later -- gave Sánchez a new six-year contract that guarantees him $107 million. Toss in the existing contracts for Wheeler (three years, $126 million) and Aaron Nola (seven years, $172 million), and the Phils have $540 million committed to that quartet alone.

Needless to say, they would welcome the recent production from that trio over the course of a postseason series.

It's never that simple, though.

With Wheeler unavailable last postseason after undergoing season-ending surgery in September, Sánchez and Luzardo posted a combined 2.29 ERA while starting three of the four NLDS games against the Dodgers.

Held in check offensively, however, the Phillies went 0-3 in those starts.

Without Kyle Schwarber for a second straight night, that was also the case on Tuesday, when Reds starter Chase Burns racked up nine strikeouts while holding the Phillies to just one run over six innings. Overall, the Phils tallied just three hits while striking out 14 times.

This is the 11th time this season the Phillies have scored no more than one run. Only the Giants (14 times), Red Sox (13) and Mets (12) have more such games.

“He's good, man. He's got two really, really good pitches,” Trea Turner said of Burns. “Seems like he's a competitor out there. Feels like if you miss that mistake, then the at-bat gets a lot tougher. I think I saw 101 [mph] in maybe the fourth or fifth [inning]. So great arm, and seems to be a good competitor.”

To Turner’s point, Burns improved to 6-1 with a 1.83 ERA in his 10 starts this season. He has a 1.27 ERA in his past seven outings.

But the Phillies will face plenty of pitchers like that if they do indeed battle their way back to the postseason for a fifth straight year.

They know they’ll need to put up some offense against those guys -- but they’ll also need their pitching staff to carry the load.

Since Wheeler made his return to the rotation on April 25, the Phillies' starting rotation has a 3.22 ERA and is holding opponents to a .232 average. Prior to his season debut, Philadelphia's starters had a 5.68 ERA and were allowing opponents to hit a Major League-worst .310.

“I think that we're executing better, keeping us in the fight as long as we can,” Luzardo said. “I think Wheeler coming back kind of gave us a nice little jolt of energy and got us back on track.

“And I think, now, we're hitting our stride.”