Phillies Record Against Elite Competition Should Cause Concern for Fans

The Philadelphia Phillies split their doubleheader against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday, winning 5-4 in the afternoon and falling 9-3 in the evening.

The Braves used six pitchers in the first game, with starter AJ Smith-Shawver going only 2.2 innings before he suffered an apparent elbow injury that put him on the injured list.

It gave the Phillies a unique opportunity to fatigue the opposing staff, and they capitalized.

Cristopher Sanchez had a good outing of 5.2 innings with five strikeouts. Matt Strahm had a three-hit, two-run hiccup in the eighth inning, but Philadelphia stood pat and secured the victory.

Round two was not kind to Zack Wheeler, who had one of his only real blemishes on his 2025 campaign when he allowed two home runs on four hits for six earned runs in 5.1 innings.

Austin Riley hit the dagger two-run seat shot in the seventh inning off Joe Ross.

The Phillies came away from the series winning two out of three, which is important since every win against National League East opponents counts when trying to keep their lead over the New York Mets.

Thus far, Philadelphia is 9-9 in division games, but there's a more concerning stat fans should be worried about.

Against teams .500 or better, the Phillies are 13-13.

Against teams below .500, they're 23-7.

Philadelphia has had some decent scheduling breaks this deep into the season with two series against the Colorado Rockies, two against the Washington Nationals, one against the Pittsburgh Pirates, one against the Miami Marlins and one against the Athletics after they cooled off from their hot start.

June should be a testing month for the Phillies to see if they can consistently hang with the best of the best.

They'll have series against the red-hot Chicago Cubs, Toronto Blue Jays, New York Mets, Houston Astros and San Diego Padres.

Philadelphia has a 19-9 home record this year for a 67.9% win rate, the seventh-best percentage in baseball. Winning the NL East to secure as much of a home-field advantage as possible is going to be essential for a deep playoff run.

But to get there, they have to beat the teams they are facing in the regular season.

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