It is very likely that, for the rest of your life, no matter how long you may live, you will never see a week of Phillies baseball like the one you witnessed over the last seven days.

There was a cycle. A three-home run game. Three legendary comebacks never before pulled off in the history of the sport.

Were these things to happen during an entire season, it would be a curiosity. For them all to happen in the same week?

Bonkers.

Let’s recap a memory-making week by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Saturday, June 20: Phillies 15, Mets 3

Back in early May, the idea of the Phillies scoring 15 runs in a week, let alone a single game, seemed ludicrous.

But the offense has been much better since the start of June. Their 129 runs scored entering this weekend’s series against in New York, are tied for 2nd-most in MLB. Their 35 home runs are tied for 4th, their .266 batting average is tied for 6th, and their .787 OPS is 8th.

However, the Phils are suddenly excelling in an area that has historically been their biggest bugaboo — hitting with runners in scoring position. In June, their .337 average and 1.030 OPS are 1st in baseball. They’ve hit 10 homers with RISP, which is tied for 3rd.

And while most of that damage wasn’t necessarily done last Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, a healthy chunk of it was.

Kyle Schwarber hit three home runs, including two in the same inning, both of which went 450+ feet.

It was the fifth time in his career he’s hit at least three dingers in a game, tied for the 2nd-most games with at least three bombs in MLB history.

If that had been the only storyline, that would have been enough. But, oh no, there was more.

Bryce Harper also made history by becoming the 11th player in Phillies history to hit for the cycle.

Oh, and he had it all wrapped up by the end of the 5th inning.

How often does a player hit for the cycle and his teammate hit three blasts in the same game? Not too often!

It was one of those games that 200,000 people will say they attended over the course of their lives. A generational game.

Sunday, June 21: Phillies 6, Dodgers 2

There’s always a little juice when your team is playing on Sunday Night Baseball, especially at Citizens Bank Park.

Zack Wheeler continued his remarkable recovery from thoracic outlet syndrome with a stellar start against the flailing Mets: 5.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. His ERA fell to 2.11.

Harper, swinging the same 35-ounce bat that helped him slug for the cycle the night before, piled up three more hits, including another homer, and finished a triple shy of a second straight cycle.

How often has a player hit for the cycle and then come within one hit of a second straight cycle the following game? Not often!

Oh, and Schwarber went deep again, his league-leading 29th of the season.

Things haven’t even begun to get weird yet.

Monday, June 22: Nationals 4, Phillies 1

There wasn’t much to write home about in this “scheduled” loss, as the Phils started lefty reliever Tim Mayza and followed up with new No. 5 starter Alan Rangel.

Rangel was actually pretty good: 5 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 4 Ks. You’ll take that every time.

Brandon Marsh hit a solo home run, a portent of more to come in what would be a ridiculous series for the Phils’ outfielder.

Let’s just consider this game the “eye” of the storm.

Tuesday, June 23: Phillies 14, Nationals 9

In what will likely go down as their craziest win of the season, the Phils fell behind 5-0 after Jesus Luzardo got dinked and dunked in the early innings. Although he compiled 13 strikeouts and didn’t give up an extra base hit, he did allow five runs in his first four innings.

But the Phillies started to chip away.

Edmundo Sosa, inserted into the DH spot minutes before first pitch after Schwarber announced he was dealing with lower back stiffness, hit a two-run shot in the 5th to get the Phillies on the board. He followed that up with an RBI fielder’s choice in the 7th to make it 5-3.

In the 8th, J.T. Realmuto, who was hitting just above .200 when he came to the plate, smacked a liner to right field with the bases loaded.

Wood came as close to catching that ball as a human can without actually catching it, didn’t he? Suddenly, the Phils had a 6-5 lead. It felt like it was going to be a garden variety late-game comeback victory!

But Nats second baseman Jorbit Vivas shocked Orion Kerkering with a three-run blast just moments later to suddenly put the Nationals back on top 8-6.

In the 9th, the Sosa and Justin Crawford both struck out. With two outs and no one on, Trea Turner was down to his final strike before lining a single to left-center field. Then, Brandon Marsh shocked the world.

A shell-shocked Brad Lord then completely fell apart. Two more Phils reached base before Bryson Stott blew everyone’s mind with this three-run blast that somehow stayed inside the right field foul pole.

The Phillies still were not done. In all, the Phils would score 8 runs in the 9th inning, and it all started with no one on base, two outs, and two strikes on Turner.

Oh, but the Phillies were not done.

Wednesday, June 24: Phillies 5, Nationals 4

You never seek a folk hero coming.

Matt Stairs became a Phillies legend because no one in their right minds every would have thought he would author one of the biggest postseason home runs in franchise history.

While newly acquired outfielder Derek Hill clearly hasn’t reached that level of notoriety, his heroics in the 9th inning of Wednesday night’s game at the very least earned him a prominent spot in the team’s video yearbook.

Trailing 4-3 in the 9th inning, the first two batters to come to the plate failed to reach base. Schwarber, who did not start for the second straight game due to his stiff back, felt well enough to pinch hit in the 9th and worked a 9-pitch walk to put the tying run on first.

Hill had not made much of an impression in his four weeks with the team, good or bad. But once again, down to their final out, a Phillie hit a go-ahead home run in the 9th inning, this time an improbable opposite-field dinger off the bat of Hill.

How unusual is it for a team to start a 9th inning trailing, have their first two hitters make outs and come within one strike of losing and still win the game? Glad you asked.

And yet… there would be more.

Thursday, June 25: Phillies 10, Nationals 5

For the second time in this four-game series, the Phils trailed the Nationals 5-0, this time after the third inning. Cristopher Sanchez uncharacteristically just didn’t have it at the start of this one, and it felt like the Nats were finally going to pull out a victory.

Honestly, they should have been on the verge of a four-game sweep. Unfortunately, bullpens are still a real and important need for every baseball team, and they don’t have one.

Once again, the Phils started chipping away. Marsh hit another homer, this time a two-run shot in the 6th to make it 5-2. The Nats’ ‘pen melted down in the 7th, walking in two runs and allowing the Phils to tie the score 5-5.

Enter, the 9th inning. No, the Phillies weren’t trailing this time, nor were they down to their final strike. Instead, the former National, Harper, who had been listening to taunts from fans all game, stamped an exclamation point on this improbable week of baseball.

The Phils tacked on three more runs for insurance, including another home run by Hill, his second in as many nights.

It’s hard to believe. Three straight games. Three straight 9th inning, go-ahead home runs by the Phillies.

Had this every been done before? You already know the answer, don’t you?

In all, this will go down as one of the most bonkers series in franchise history.

The Phils enter their weekend series against a Mets team that fired manager Carlos Mendoza on Friday trailing the Atlanta Braves by just four games in the NL East.

What an insanely fun week, the likes of which we will never see again.

An old friend’s making good in a division rival is usually the start of a tenuous relationship, but especially given the sizeable gap between the Dodgers and Padres, and more importantly, all that Walker Buehler did for the Dodgers, one can’t help but feel glad, even excited, for Walker Buehler’s 2026 rebound campaign. The right-hander who’ll face his former club for the second time in his career is simply not the pitcher he once was, which hasn’t stopped him from being damn near one of the more consistent starters for the Padres this season—that probably tells you a lot about why they haven’t been able to keep pace in the race for the NL West.

Buehler’s 3.28 FIP is the best mark among Padres’ starters this season, a result of keeping the ball in the park. Through his last six starts, Buehler has allowed just one home run, and if we take the Dodgers’ starter on this Friday night matchup, for instance, Rok Saaki has an HR/9 of 1.7, which is more than double that of Buehler’s (0.6). Any assessment of Sasaki has to take into account the ups and downs of his 2026 campaign, although that particular difference is the reason Sasaki has been more heavily punished in his worst outings than Buehler.

Focusing on Sasaki, the young right-hander has another crack at carrying the improvements he’s shown at home on the road this season. As evidenced by his last start away from Dodger Stadium, allowing seven earned runs against the White Sox, Sasaki has been lit up on the road this season, owning a 6.19 ERA across 32 innings.

Friday’s game info

• Teams: Dodgers at Padres
• Ballpark: Petco Park, San Diego
• Start time: 6:45 p.m. PT
• TV: Apple TV
• Radio: AM 570 (English), KTNQ 1020 AM (Spanish)

Angels fans are no strangers to needing to drown their sorrows.

The team finds itself in the AL West basement at 34-48 heading into Friday’s home game against the Athletics.

This franchise has spent a lot of time looking up at its AL West opponents during the past few decades, so this is a familiar feeling for the Angels’ faithful.

And it appears that this persistent mediocrity has driven Angels fans to alcohol more than nearly any other MLB franchise. Action Network analyzed a survey from nearly 3,500 U.S. MLB fans to find out which fan bases drink the most before and during games, and Angels fans had the third-highest heavy in-game drinking rate in MLB.

The survey found that 15.8% of Angels fans consume five or more drinks during a game, behind only White Sox fans (18.5%) and Nationals fans (16%).

Angels fans also average 2.3 drinks per game, third most in MLB, and 71% of Angels fans have at least one drink while at their games.

It isn’t just alcohol that Angels fans are indulging in during games. The study found that they consume 1.7 hot dogs per game, tied for third most.

And Angels fans are known to be prolific pre-gamers. The 1.5 drinks they consume before games begin is tied for second most in MLB, and the study found that 45% of fans have at least one drink before games. The study reported 11.10% of fans have at least five drinks before first pitch.

Perhaps the Angels will turn things around this season, and fans are drinking to celebrate rather than to commiserate. Perhaps not.

Two teams hanging around .500 and the top of their respective divisions meet at Progressive Field tonight.

The Mariners are 41-41 with a +4 run differential, 16th in wRC+ at 101, 26th in Baserunning runs above average at -3.7, last in Defense at -31.4, sixth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.78 (3.56 FIP) and eighth in bullpen ERA at 3.59 (3.54 FIP).

The Guardians are 42-39 with -8 run differential, 24th in wRC+ at 92, 14th in baserunning runs above average at 1, 11th in Defense at -5, fifth in starting pitcher ERA at 3.73 (4.07 FIP) and 14th in bullpen ERA at 3.88 (3.82 FIP).

Put the ball in play! That’s my advice.

MATCHUPS:

Game One, Friday 7:10PM ET Luis Castillo, RHP 5.22 ERA vs. Joey Cantillo, LHP 4.05 ERA

Game Two, Saturday 7:10PM ET Logan Gilbert, RHP 3.29 ERA vs. Slade Cecconi, RHP 4.48 ERA

Game Three, Sunday, 1:40PM ET George Kirby, RHP 3.94 ERA vs. Gavin Williams, RHP 3.82 ERA

Watch out for Dominic Canzone 154 wRC+, Randy Arozarena 134 wRC+, Luke Raley 122 wRC+ and J.P. Crawford 115 wRC+ from the Mariners.

It’s approaching the halfway point of the season, and we have a pretty good idea of who these Yankees are. Their starting rotation is a top-five group in Major League Baseball, possessing both elite talent at the front and enviable depth at the back. The offense is a bit more top-heavy, but still plenty powerful, and the fact that they’ve managed to stay afloat despite missing Aaron Judge says plenty about the overall quality of the lineup. Comparatively speaking, it’s clear that the bullpen is the weakest link on the team.

However, when you step back and compare them with other bullpens around the league, the Yankees’ relief corps haven’t been all that bad. Through Tuesday’s action, they own a collective 3.39 ERA, the fifth-best mark in the majors. That ERA isn’t all smoke and mirrors, either, as their 3.69 FIP places them eighth in MLB. By fWAR they slip to ninth, but that’s mostly due to their low innings total, which is in turn a byproduct of the starting pitching holding up their end of the bargain. Just looking at the stats, it could be argued that the Yankees have a top-10 bullpen.

Reader, I know you put your phone down just now. How could this Yankees bullpen, who makes your blood boil and your stomach churn on a near-nightly basis, be a top-10 unit? Believe me, I know how you feel. This bullpen doesn’t inspire me with confidence, either. But that doesn’t mean we should dismiss data pointing to the contrary. In fact, a closer look reveals that two things can be true at the same time: There are concrete reasons why this bullpen doesn’t feel dominant, but at the same time, they do enough things well to be effective.

First, about the optics of this bullpen. My hypothesis is that it feels unreliable mainly because they lack strikeouts. Their K rate is a lackluster 22.5 percent, 15th out of 30 teams, and basically the same as the league average for relief pitchers (22.4 percent). Fernando Cruz leads the team with a 30.2-percent strikeout rate, which is certainly a robust mark; however, it’s only the 18th-best figure in MLB this year. No other Yankees reliever sniffs the top 30. There’s no sugarcoating it; this bullpen is pedestrian at generating strikeouts.

I can’t speak for everyone, for me, the less punchout-heavy a bullpen is, the more stressful the watching experience becomes. This isn’t to say that it’s always fun to watch high-strikeout relievers–most of them have a tendency to lose the zone and start walking dudes by the dozen–but there’s a certain reassurance that comes with knowing that the guy on the mound has a 40-percent chance of striking out any given batter. No contact, nothing left up to the vagaries of the BABIP gods, just pure outs. The Yankees, as currently constructed, don’t have a single guy like that. No wonder they feel a little shaky.

Fortunately, the bullpen does enough things well to make up for their lack of strikeouts. They don’t walk guys; their 8.8-percent walk rate is sixth-best in the majors. They manage contact well; their 18.4-percent soft contact rate ranks third, and their 28.3-percent hard contact rate is the best in MLB. They keep the ball in the yard; their HR/9 is a stingy 0.85, fourth-best among all teams. Put that all together, and you have a highly effective unit that succeeds without a ton of strikeouts.

This doesn’t mean that Brian Cashman should forgo upgrading the bullpen at the Trade Deadline. It’s not an especially deep group, as new additions Camilo Doval and Jake Bird have struggled, and Tim Hill appears to have lost his magic. Paul Blackburn has had his moments here and there, but his track record only inspires so much confidence and it’s telling only long man Ryan Yarbrough has a lower Leverage Index among the regular relievers than Blackburn. Right now, I count three relievers who are firmly within the Circle of Trust: David Bednar, Brent Headrick, and Fernando Cruz. With Bednar firmly entrenched in the closer role, that leaves Aaron Boone with just two reliable options to turn to in the middle-to-late innings. Adding a high-strikeout fireman would do wonders for this bullpen (and my blood pressure).

That being said, it’s important to recognize the solid work that the existing group has put in so far. Though they may not seem like it, or be easy to watch, this Yankees bullpen has been quite effective. The fact that they’re still the weakest link on this team doesn’t reflect poorly on their performance; it just goes to show you how good this team is.