PHILADELPHIA -- Zack Wheeler knew he needed three strikeouts on Tuesday night to reach 2,000 for his career. He wasted no time.

PHILADELPHIA -- The last time Brandon Marsh homered, it landed in a corn field in Dyersville, Iowa. That was 40 days and 80 at-bats ago.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies continue to say good things about Jesús Luzardo's recovery from left shoulder inflammation, but they stopped short of saying when he might throw off a mound again. Luzardo played catch on Monday and Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park. Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said before Tuesday

NEW YORK -- Jesús Luzardo played catch for 10 minutes in the Citi Field outfield on Sunday morning, and the experience made him smile afterward. “It’s a good day,” he said.

NEW YORK -- Twenty minutes after the final out of the Phillies’ 10-3 blowout loss to the Mets on Saturday night at Citi Field, Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly summoned Orion Kerkering to his office. A few minutes later, Kerkering emerged, visibly shaken. He looked at his phone, then dropped

NEW YORK -- Orion Kerkering sat in front of his locker inside a mostly empty visitors’ clubhouse late Friday night at Citi Field. He had started the sixth inning of a one-run game against the Mets, but five batters later, he surrendered a three-run home run to Juan Soto to

NEW YORK -- Phillies reliever Jonathan Bowlan has a “mild” right groin strain, but he will not be placed on the 15-day injured list. There is a reason for that: If Bowlan is placed on the injured list, he would be ineligible to pitch in the NL Wild Card Series.

NEW YORK -- The Phillies’ late-inning bullpen situation is tenuous at best, and that was before Jonathan Bowlan left Thursday night’s 3-0 victory over the Mets at Citi Field in the eighth inning with tightness in his right groin. Bowlan tweaked his groin on a 1-1 pitch to Francisco Lindor.

NEW YORK -- It’s difficult to imagine a successful Phillies postseason without Jesús Luzardo. He’s been their best pitcher for months.

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki’s Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

ATLANTA -- Phillies rookie Andrew Painter has pitched better than he did on Sunday afternoon at Truist Park, but he showed something. Painter struggled with his command in the heat and humidity, but he left with a one-run lead in the fifth inning in a 9-4 victory over the Braves.

ATLANTA -- Something must have been on Bryce Harper's mind when he circled the bases in the first inning on Saturday night at Truist Park. Maybe he wanted to spark something in a rivalry that has been decidedly one-sided this year. Maybe he just wanted to have some fun. Harper

ATLANTA -- Jesús Luzardo left Truist Park on Friday evening for a last-minute MRI exam on his sore left shoulder. It was a troubling late-season development. Luzardo has been one of baseball’s best pitchers this year, but his shoulder has been bothering him lately.

ATLANTA -- Before Don Mattingly discussed the Phillies’ latest excruciating loss at Truist Park, he led with another one. Phillies left-hander Jesús Luzardo will not pitch on Saturday night because of stiffness in his left shoulder. Luzardo threw a two-hit shutout Monday against the Braves at Citizens Bank Park, but

ATLANTA -- Ronald Acuña Jr. stirred Philadelphia fans last weekend. Bryce Harper will have a chance to do the same to Atlanta fans as the Phillies and Braves spend this weekend playing a three-game series that could go a long way toward determining who will win what has become a

This story was excerpted from Todd Zolecki's Phillies Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PHILADELPHIA -- Don Mattingly was shagging fly balls in the outfield at Citizens Bank Park earlier this week, when a ballpark employee approached him from the stands and offered his opinions about the Phillies’ lineup. He told Mattingly that he needed to drop Kyle Schwarber from leadoff to cleanup.

PHILADELPHIA -- Don Mattingly is right. Most of the time, people don’t notice the little things in baseball games. They focus on the big hit, the big pitch or the big out because those things stand out. But the little things mattered in Tuesday night’s 6-5 loss to the Astros

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies haven’t had a 20-game winner since Roy Halladay won 21 in his National League Cy Young Award season in 2010. In fact, he’s the only Phillies pitcher to hit that mark since Steve Carlton won 23 in 1982.

PHILADELPHIA -- Kyle Schwarber homered, touched home plate, high-fived his teammates and returned his helmet to the bat rack in the Phillies dugout on Monday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park. Seconds later, somebody yelled, “Come on, Zeus!”

PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies fans booed, and Ronald Acuña Jr. smiled. He loved the hate so much on Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park that he hopped out of the visitors’ dugout in the eighth inning to acknowledge them. Acuña’s curtain call followed a game-tying, three-run home run in the Braves’

BALTIMORE -- Last Monday, Bryce Harper pointed to the back of his locker at loanDepot park in Miami. There sat his outfielder’s glove. “Just in case they make a trade,” Harper said.

Don Mattingly heard about it, of course. But asked Sunday morning at Camden Yards about his reaction to the news that Tarik Skubal had been traded to the Dodgers, Mattingly did not miss a beat. “What happened?” he said, straight-faced. His response got a few laughs.

BALTIMORE -- The only thing that matters for the Phillies now is what president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski does before Monday’s 6 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. The Phils beat the Orioles on Sunday afternoon at Camden Yards, 8-0, in a six-inning shortened game that featured two rain delays. But