PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES NOTES:
GAME #78 RECAP: The Phillies defeated the Chicago Cubs, 5-1, at Wrigley Field … Starter Ranger Suarez (W, 2-2) went 7.1 innings and allowed only 1 run on 4 hits with 1 walk and 8 strikeouts … Brandon Marsh homered twice for the Phillies and Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel combined to strike out four of the seven batters they faced in 1.2 scoreless innings in relief of Suarez.
THE VIBES ARE BACK: This season, the Phillies were seven games under .500 at 25-32 (.439 win %) when they entered play on June 3, which was also the one-year anniversary of Rob Thomson’s first game as Phillies manager … Since then, they have gone 16-5 (.762 win %) with a +34-run differential (105-71) and sit four games over .500 at 41-37 … When Thomson took over last year on June 3, the Phillies were also seven games under .500 at 22-29 (.431 win %), and in their first 21 games with him as manager (6/3- 24/22), they went 15-6 (.714 win %) with a +29-run differential (110-81) … Since Thomson was hired on June 3, 2022, the Phillies are 106-83 and their .561 winning percentage is 3rd-best in the National League, behind only ATL (.677) and LAD (.640) and T-6th-best in MLB (with SEA).
ROADWORK: The Phillies have won nine of their last 10 on the road (since 6/3) and seven straight (6/13- current), which is their longest winning streak away from Philly since last season when they had two separate seven-game winning streaks (6/7-18 & 7/15-31) … During this seven-game streak, Philadelphia’s pitching has combined to post a 2.01 ERA (15 ER, 67.0 IP) which includes a 1.40 ERA by the starting staff (7 ER, 45.0 IP) … A win tonight would mark their longest winning streak on the road since an eight-game streak, July 19-Aug. 6, 2011 and would give the Phillies 10 wins in an 11-game span on the road for the first time since August of 2011 (also 10 of 11) … The longest road winning streak in franchise history is 13 games, set in 1976.
GO NOLES: Aaron Nola, who enters tonight’s game with an active 9.2-inning scoreless streak, has gone at least 6.0 innings in each of his last 13 starts (since 4/16, 85.1 IP total) and overall in 14 of his 16 starts this season … Nola’s current 6.0 inning streak is the longest active streak in the majors (next: Ranger Suarez, 6 G) and is the second-longest of his career, shy of only a 14-game streak last season (5/26-8/13/22) … Among NL starters, Nola ranks 5th in innings pitched this season at 100.2 (most: Logan Webb, 105.1) – since 2018, Nola ranks 1st among MLB starters in innings at 972.1 (next: Gerrit Cole, 971.1) … Since the start of last season, Nola leads the National League in fWAR among pitchers at 8.2 and ranks 2nd in MLB behind only Kevin Gausman (9.2) … Tonight will be Nola’s 220th career start (all with the Phillies) and will move him into a tie for 8th place in franchise history with Larry Christenson – Curt Schilling ranks 7th in franchise history with 226 starts.
I’M GIVING IT MY ALL: The Phillies have won six of their last seven series (since 6/3: 2-1 at WSH, 3-0 vs DET, 2-1 vs LAD, 3-1 at ARI, 3-0 at OAK, 0-2 vs ATL, 2-1 vs NYM) … Over the last three seasons (2021- 23), the Phillies are 47-27 in the month of June and their .635 winning percentage ranks 2nd among all MLB clubs, behind only ATL (.679) … Over the last two seasons (since 2022), the Phillies are 35-15 in June and their .700 winning % ranks 2nd in MLB, trailing only ATL (.800).
STAFF NOTES: Over the last 21 games, the Phillies are 16-5, thanks in part to a starting staff that has combined to post a 2.04 ERA (28 ER, 123.2 IP) with 130 strikeouts to 30 walks (4.33 SO/BB ratio) … The rotation has faced 483 batters in this stretch and limited them to a .189 AVG and .536 OPS … Phillies starters have gone at least 7.0 innings in seven of those 21 games and at least 6.0 innings in 15 of 21 … Philadelphia’s 2.04 rotation ERA is their lowest in a 21-game span since May 5-29, 2018 (1.98 ERA) and the lowest by a MLB team in a 21-game span since Seattle last season (1.98 ERA, 8/23-9/16) … The Phils rotation leads MLB in fWAR this season at 9.3 (next: MIN, 8.9).
SAVING GRACE: Right-hander Craig Kimbrel is 11-for-11 in save opportunities this season and he has struck out 52 of the 130 batters he has faced (40.0%) … Kimbrel (1,150 SO) is in sole possession of 8th place in strikeouts among relievers since at least 1893 – Next up is Lindy McDaniel who is in 7th place with 1,164 … On May 26, Kimbrel earned the 400th save of his ML career and became only the eighth player in the history of MLB to reach 400 saves.
TONIGHT’S STARTER – AARON NOLA RHP #27
2023: 6-5, 4.38 ERA Career: 84-67, 3.66 ERA
LAST START: 6/22 vs ATL: ND, 6.0 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 5 SO (103 p,
66 s) … Nola vs Elder … The Phillies fell to the Braves in 10 innings, 5-
1 … Nola turned in his 1st scoreless start of the season … Neither team
scored through 9.0 innings … Was Nola’s 2nd outing this year of 6.0+
innings with 2 or fewer hits allowed … Nola’s scoreless outing snapped
his streak of 11 straight starts with a HR allowed.
TONIGHT’S START:
Gone Streaking: Nola enters tonight’s start in Chicago having worked 6.0 or more innings in each of his last 13 starts which is the longest active streak in the majors (it’s also the longest streak overall in 2023) … In Nola’s last 13 starts, he has gone 6- 3, 3.90 ERA (37 ER, 85.1 IP) with 23 BB, 83 SO and a 1.00 WHIP … For his career, Nola’s longest streak of 6.0+ inning starts is 14, set last season
upticK: Over his last 7 starts since May 20 (45.0 IP), Nola has posted a 30.3% whiff rate and a 30.7% SO rate (55 SO, 179 BF) … Over his first 9 outings of the season (55.2 IP), Nola had a 21.4% whiff rate with a 19.2 SO rate (43 SO, 224 BF)
Movin’ On Up: Tonight’s start will be the 220th of Nola’s career which will move him into a tie with Larry Christenson for 8th place on the Phillies’ all-time list … Curt Schilling holds 7th place with 226 starts
2023 SEASON:
2023 NL Ranks: IP (5th; 100.2), opp. OBP (3rd; .271), BABIP (4th; .256), WHIP (4th, 1.07), hits/9.0 IP (9th; 7.33), AVG (9th, .220), SO/BB ratio (10th; 3.77), and SO (T-12th; 98)
Innings Eater: Since the start of the 2018 season, Nola’s 972.1 innings pitched are the most in the majors (G. Cole is 2nd – 971.1) … This season, Nola ranks 5th among NL pitchers in IP (100.2; 9th in MLB) and has gone at least 6.0 IP in 14 of his 16 starts in 2023 (88%) … His 14 instances of 6.0 innings are tied for the most in the majors with CHI’s Marcus Stroman and SF’s Logan Webb
Philly Value: Since 2018, Nola is the only pitcher in baseball to accrue more than 20.0 fWAR (23.5) and pitch for only one team … In that span, he ranks 5th overall in fWAR behind only Jacob deGrom (27.1), Max Scherzer (26.6), Gerrit Cole (25.4) and Zack Wheeler (25.3) … His 31.8 fWAR as a Phillie is 7th most in franchise history trailing Curt Simmons (33.5) for 6th place
Additionally, since the start of the 2022 season, Nola’s 8.2 fWAR is the best among all NL starters with MIA’s Sandy Alcantara (7.6) and ARI’s Zac Gallen (7.6) trailing
Road Scholar: Since the start of the 2022 season, among all ML pitchers in road games, Nola has recorded the most SO (173) and ranks 2nd in IP (163.2) and SO/BB ratio (6.92), while his 1.02 WHIP is 9th … Nola’s 25 starts on the road in that span are T-7th most
Caught Lookin’: Entering play today, Nola ranks 3rd among all NL pitchers this year in called strikeouts with 30 … Since the start of the 2018 season, Nola’s 328 backwards K’s are the 2nd most for any pitcher in baseball behind NYY’s Gerrit Cole (331)
Phils’ Ranks: Recorded the 29th double-digit SO game of his career and 2nd of 2023 on 6/5 vs DET … Is now tied with Cole Hamels (29) for the 3rd most in club history (Curt Schilling is 2nd with 48)
Made his 6th straight Opening Day start, extending his MLB-best active streak of Opening Day starts … Was the 1st pitcher in MLB to make 6 straight Opening Day starts since Julio Teheran in made his 6th consecutive for ATL in 2019, and joins Robin Roberts (12) & Steve Carlton (10) as the only Phillies to do so
Pitch Usage: Curveball (31.2%), 4-seam fastball (28.1%), sinker (18.1%), Changeup (12.8%), cutter (9.9%)
vs NL Central: 24-10, 3.29 ERA (101 ER, 276.1 IP) in 44 starts
ROAD:
2023: 3-3, 5.17 ERA (32 ER, 55.2 IP) in 9 starts
Career: 37-41, 4.14 ERA (302 ER, 656.1 IP) in 111 starts
Wrigley Field: 3-1, 5.23 ERA (18 ER, 31.0 IP) in 5 starts
CHICAGO CUBS NOTES:
Cubs vs. Phillies
The Cubs and Phillies face each other in six games this season … Chicago dropped two of three in Philadelphia May 19-21 … Chicago last year picked up the season sweep of the Phillies for the first time in franchise history … the Cubs have won four of the previous five season series against Philadelphia.
CUBS AIM TO REBOUND: The Chicago Cubs tonight play the second of three games against the Philadelphia Phillies after dropping last night’s series opener 5-1 … Chicago has dropped two-straight games following a four-game winning streak – it’s the first time the team has lost consecutive games since dropping four-straight games on the west coast at San Diego (0-1) and Anaheim (0-3) June 5-8.
This is the second contest (0-1) of 13-straight gamedays leading into the AllStar break … following this Phillies series, the Cubs host Cleveland for three games starting Friday … the team then departs on a seven-game trip with four contests at the Brewers and three at the Yankees.
Despite dropping their last two contests, the Cubs are 11-4 in their last 15 games since June 9 and find themselves 3.5-games back of the N.L. Central Division-leading Reds (42-38) … Chicago was 7.5-games back following June 8’s loss at the Angels.
Chicago is five-games over .500 (15-10) in its last 25 games starting May 29.
The Cubs are the only N.L. Central Division club with a positive run differential (+28) … Pittsburgh is at -39, Milwaukee -25, Cincinnati -20 and St. Louis -14.
OBSERVATIONS OF THE OFFENSIVE VARIETY: Nick Madrigal has reached safely in each of his last 12 games since June 11, hitting .361 (13-for-36) with three doubles, five runs scored, five RBI and a .452 on-base percentage … he also have five stolen bases in this stretch … his season average has gone up 34 points in his last 12 contests, from .235 to his current .269 mark.
Cubs hitters have coaxed at least one walk in each of the team’s last 53 games since April 28 … the last time Chicago had a longer such streak was a 106- game run that spanned from July 22, 2019-Sept. 8, 2020.
Dansby Swanson has hit .345 (10-for-29) with a homer and four RBI, hitting safely in each of his last seven games at Wrigley Field since June 13 … he’s recorded a hit in his last six contests against N.L. East opponents dating to May 20 in Philadelphia.
SERIES STUFF: The Cubs are unbeaten in their last five series, going 4-0-1 in that span starting June 9 at San Francisco (2-1), vs. Pittsburgh (3-0), vs. Baltimore (2-1) at the Pirates (3-0) against the Cardinals in London (1-1) … the four-series winning streak prior to London matched the team’s season-high series winning streak, done April 7-19 vs. Texas (2-1), vs. Seattle (2-1), at Dodgers (2-1) and at Oakland (3-0).
NICO AT THE DISH: Nico Hoerner is batting .297 (19-for-64) with four doubles, two triples, one homer, 14 RBI and three stolen bases in his last 15 games since June 9 … he’s hit safely in each of his last six games, scoring runs in four of those contests.
Hoerner leads the Cubs with 40 RBI this season, tied for sixth-most among major league second basemen … the last time a primary second baseman finished the season leading the Cubs in RBI was in 2018 when Javier Baéz drove in 111 RBI.
RUN PREVENTION: Saturday’s 9-1 victory over St. Louis marked the Cubs 32nd game in which they allowed two or fewer runs – those are tied for second-most in the majors behind only Tampa Bay (35) … Chicago’s 29 victories while allowing two or fewer runs are tied for second-most in the majors behind only Toronto (31).
HE’S A WINNER!: Dansby Swanson’s 2.9 WAR is the most among N.L. shortstops and third among all shortstops, according to Fangraphs … Tampa Bay’s Wander Franco has a 3.5 WAR while Toronto’s Bo Bichette has a 3.1 WAR.
Swanson is hitting .299 (44-for-147) with a .364 OBP in 37 games at Wrigley Field … he has hit .272 (22-for-81) in June after batting .248 (28-for-113) in May … Swanson has hit .328 (21-for-64) with runners in scoring position along with a .950 OPS in that situation.
STARTING STUFF: Cubs starting pitchers have posted a 3.84 ERA (175 ER/410.1 IP) this season, the top mark among N.L. starting rotations and fifth-best in the majors … the rotation’s 1.21 WHIP is eighth among major league teams.
Marcus Stroman is second in the N.L. with a 2.47 ERA while Justin Steele’s 2.62 ERA ranks fourth.
Chicago has received 35 quality starts, tied for the most in the N.L. with San Diego and Pittsburgh, and tied for sixth-most in baseball.
BULLPEN BITS: Adbert Alzolay has posted a 0.93 ERA (2 ER/19.1 IP) in his last 16 games since May 6, walking three, striking out 18 and posting a 0.78 WHIP … Julian Merryweather since April 17 has pitched to a 0.98 ERA (3 ER/27.2 IP) with one win and allowed 22 hits and 14 walks with 41 strikeouts in 28 appearances.
Mark Leiter Jr. has averaged 13.22 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (48 SO/32.2 IP), the sixth-best mark among N.L. relievers (min. 25 appearances).
Michael Fulmer has allowed one earned run in his last 13 appearances since May 28, tossing 13.2 innings with a 0.95 WHIP (0.66 ERA) … he has walked six and struck out 15 in the span.
UP THE MIDDLE: Cubs Media Relations part-timer Hunter Hippel came up with a good one … the Cubs are only team in baseball that ranks in the top-six of bWAR generated from each of the starting pitchers (5th, 6.6), shortstops (4th, 3.2), second basemen (4th, 2.4) and center field (5th, 2.4) positions.
MULTIPLICITY: Ian Happ on Saturday recorded his 11th career multi-homer effort and extended his franchise mark of most home runs by a switch-hitter, reaching 111 career blasts since making his major league debut with Chicago in 2017.
Prior to going deep in his first two plate appearances Saturday, Happ had one homer in his previous 42 games spanning 150 at-bats (June 13 vs. Pittsburgh).
Starting Pitcher – #11 LHP Drew Smyly (7-4, 3.38)
Last Time Out
Drew earned his second consecutive win by tossing 5.0 shutout innings June 19 in Pittsburgh in the Cubs’ 8-0 victory … was his third outing of the year allowing zero earned runs … walked a career-high-tying five batters for the second time (also May 19, 2014 at Cleveland) … has recorded four strikeouts in four-straight outings … snapped his streak of allowing seven-or-more hits in four-straight starts .
Date Opp. Result IP H R ER BB SO PC-S Left
6/19 @ PIT W, 8-0 5.0 3 0 0 5 4 94-52 3-0
2023 Splits and Season Notes
W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER BB SO
Home 3-1 4.17 7 7 36.2 30 17 17 10 36
Road 4-3 2.74 8 8 46.0 45 18 14 16 32
AVG vs. LHB: .299 (20-for-67) / AVG vs. RHB: .224 (55-for-246)
Drew is scheduled to make his 16th start of the season today, his eighth at Wrigley Field … has won two-straight outings following a three-game losing streak from
May 28-June 8 … opposing batters are hitting .183 (30-for-164) with 51 strikeouts against his curveball.
Completed his 1000th career inning in the first inning May 28 vs. Cincinnati.
Allowed two-or-fewer runs in nine-straight starts from April 10-May 27, posting a 2.13 ERA (12 ER/50.2 IP) during the run, the fourth-lowest ERA in the majors (min. 9 GS).
April 21 vs. Los Angeles (N.L.) retired the first 21 batters of the game, becoming the first Cub to take a perfect game bid into the eighth inning since José Guzmán (April 6, 1993 vs. Atlanta) … was the first Cub to record a start of 7.0-plus innings with one hit, no runs, no walks and at least 10 strikeouts since Kerry Wood’s 20-strikeout game (May 6, 1998 vs. Houston).
Went 0-2 with a 6.06 ERA (11 ER/16.1 IP) with a 13:2 SO:BB ratio during Cactus League play
