Phillies sweep A’s for sixth consecutive win, brace for NL East test this week

OAKLAND, Calif. — A few weeks ago, after slogging through seven games in Atlanta and New York and winning only twice, several of the more prominent Phillies players vowed they were better than they looked against their chief division rivals.

Well, duh.

With a club-record payroll approaching $250 million and a 2022 National League pennant flying at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies were bound to start playing better. And they have. They won their sixth game in a row Sunday, eking out a 3-2 victory over the Athletics, and are 13-2 in the last two weeks to go from 25-32 on June 2 to 38-34.

But how good are they? This week, as the Braves and Mets come to town, may be a barometer.

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“It’ll be nice to go back home and get some divisional games back at the Bank,” said Kyle Schwarber, who continued his annual June metamorphosis into Babe Ruth with a leadoff homer and an RBI single. “I’m sure it’s going to be a fun week. We’re looking forward to it.”

And it couldn’t be happening at a more perfect time, at least for the Phillies, who have reeled off five consecutive series victories because, well, absolutely everything is going well.

“We would’ve liked it to happen a little bit earlier,” Zack Wheeler said. “But it’s happening.”

Wheeler overcame a dip in fastball velocity and command to blank the 19-55 A’s for six innings, the latest gem in a two-week roll for the rotation. Yunior Marte struck out the side in the ninth inning to become the fifth Phillies reliever in six games to record a save.

Heck, Schwarber even drove in a run without hitting a homer. He flared a single into right field in the fifth inning, an overdue bit of luck for the hitter with the lowest batting average on balls in play (.178) in the majors going into the day.

“We just needed to start swinging the bats a little better,” manager Rob Thomson said of a turnaround that mirrors last season at the same time. “Because our starting pitching was coming around, our bullpen’s been good pretty much all year. And that’s what we’ve done. We’ve started putting good at-bats together.”

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As ever, it begins with Schwarber, who reentered the leadoff spot on June 2 and has gone 17-for-63 with seven homers and 13 walks.

“There’s a fear factor there when he steps to the plate as the first batter of the game,” Thomson said. “It puts the other team on guard. He’s obviously a big part of this.”

Trea Turner has been Schwarber’s top-of-the-order running mate. After a well-documented dismal start, he’s batting .286 with a .779 on-base plus slugging percentage in June.

And with an announced Oakland Coliseum crowd of 24,326 fans chanting “Sell The Team” at varying intervals on a gorgeous Father’s Day, Turner drove in the deciding run with a one-out single in the seventh inning. It scored Cristian Pache, who provided a spark in his return this weekend after knee surgery last month.

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“My main goals are to take good at-bats and get on base,” Pache said through a team interpreter after picking up two hits. “Because I know that if I’m able to do that, the guys hitting behind me are going to produce.”

And now, after a day off Monday, here come the Braves and Mets.

Are you ready for an NL East rumble?

“I am,” Thomson said. “I’m sure that place will be jumping. It’s going to be really good to get home.”

It was more of a grind than expected, but in completing six innings for the third start in a row — and the seventh time in eight starts — Wheeler showed off the diversification of his repertoire.

Although Wheeler generated only nine swings and misses, he recorded at least one with five different pitches. He blew a heater by Shea Langeliers to strand two runners in the fourth inning and snapped a curveball to outlast Seth Brown on a nine-pitch at-bat and end the fifth.

“I didn’t have the best command of the fastball,” Wheeler said. “It wasn’t what it usually is, so I had to spin it a little more today. Luckily that worked.”

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The Phillies sent Wheeler out for the sixth inning at 99 pitches, and after allowing a one-out hit to Ramón Laureano, he got Tony Kemp to roll over a curveball for a double play.

Wheeler continued a run of dominance for Phillies starters. In the last 15 games, they have worked 88 innings and allowed a total of 17 earned runs for a 1.74 ERA. For his part, Wheeler has given up one earned run in 19⅓ innings over his last three starts to slice his ERA to 3.48.

In going 6-1 on the swing through Arizona and Oakland, Luis Ortiz (Tuesday), José Alvarado (Wednesday), Craig Kimbrel (Thursday), Jeff Hoffman (Saturday), and Marte (Sunday) each picked up saves.

“That’s pretty neat,” Thomson said.

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With Nick Castellanos (stomach virus) missing a second game in a row and Schwarber DHing to give Bryce Harper a breather, the Phillies turned to natural infielder Josh Harrison in right field.

It was an adventure, though it didn’t end up costing any runs.

Kemp’s drive to the alley in right-center went off Harrison’s glove for a two-out double in the second inning. In the fifth, Harrison bobbled Ryan Noda’s one-out hit but kept the ball from getting away to hold him to a single.