Philly Leader

PHILADELPHIA -- Not long ago, the Phillies swept the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies not only stifled Shohei Ohtani and his teammates in the July 9-11 series, but they had Dodgers manager Dave Roberts saying afterward how Philadelphia was “clearly a better team than we are right now.”

The Phils were 61-32 at the time and on pace to win 106 games. However, following a loss to the A’s on July 12, their performance has declined. They have lost nine of 13 games since that Dodgers series, including Monday night’s 14-4 loss to the Yankees at Citizens Bank Park. During this game, Yankees fans took over the ballpark with “M-V-P!” chants for Aaron Judge in the eighth inning.

“This was the first time that I’ve seen an opposing fanbase take over the stadium,” Phillies right fielder Nick Castellanos said.

Ace Zack Wheeler allowed seven hits, seven runs, three walks and three home runs in just five innings. The offense scattered eight hits on Monday and is batting just .225 with a .702 OPS in this 4-9 stretch compared to hitting .260 with a .755 OPS before.

“Every team goes through ups and downs over the course of a season,” Castellanos said. “I don’t know, I feel like the energy in the clubhouse has been different since the Dodgers series. I don’t know the rhyme or reason, but it has felt different."

They need to regain their winning momentum.

“It’s just continuing to play baseball,” Castellanos said. “What I’ve noticed is like, you can’t be lackadaisical and just wait for it to show up... Prepare the best you can and focus on competing as best you can.”

Good teams experience stretches like this. Sixteen Phillies teams have made it to postseason; fourteen of those had similar slumps: 1915, 1950, 1976, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1983, 2007-2011 and recently in both years of '22-'23.

This year's group started strong with a record of 45-20 (.692) after splitting a two-game series against Mets in London but are now at 20-21 (.488). They still hold an impressive record overall and lead by an eight-and-a-half game margin over Braves in NL East.

“Well, we’ve put ourselves in a good position,” Wheeler said. “We’re up pretty good right now [in standings]. We’ve just got to figure it out... We’ll go through these stretches throughout season... It’s part of game."

Manager Rob Thomson expressed confidence: "Support them and remind them who they are... I truly believe we’re going come out because we’re too talented.”