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The Phillies Just Keep Finding Ways to Win
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Finding different ways to win in professional sports is a trait that not everybody has.
You see football teams strictly rely on the passing game. You see soccer teams try to rely on one or two players for the entire 90 minutes. If the star of a basketball team doesn’t drop 30 points a night, who knows what’s going to happen.
There are so many different ways to win across baseball. The Phillies, for so long, were a boom-or-bust team. It was the Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and Rhys Hoskins show for years, just crushing homers over the wall and hoping that they can sneak out wins.
The 2026 Phillies have found different ways to win since Don Mattingly took over, and it’s going to be a key trait as they make the push for Red October.
The Phillies are 16-games over .500 for the first time this season after Saturday night’s extra-inning victory over the Angels. It wasn’t the home run ball, and quite frankly, it hasn’t been over the last two months. The Phillies are hitting the least amount of home runs that they have over this era of Phillies baseball, yet they continue to find different ways to win ballgames.
Trea Turner hit a 56.6 mph single in the 10th inning that traveled 75 feet before hitting the ground. Ultimately, it led to two runs and gave the Phillies the extra runs needed in the 10th inning. It’s been slap singles, good at-bats, thought-out approaches, bunting, and everything in between that has pushed this Phillies team to success over the last few months.
Right now, it feels like the Phillies are never out of a baseball game, which has not always been the case with them. If the Phillies were trailing heading into the 9th inning of a west coast game a few years ago, that game was all but over. It feels like the Phillies believe that they can win any game.
Edmundo Sosa’s grand slam on Friday night was the Phillies’ 4th go-ahead home run with 2 outs in the 9th inning this season, according to Jayson Stark. No other team across baseball has even hit three.
Don Mattingly’s talk about “having a plan” when you go to the plate seemed to really pay off, because although that probably should’ve been the plan all along, something has obviously clicked. Seven players on the Phillies have an OPS of .772 or higher in the month of August. Alec Bohm and Bryson Stott continue to stay hot at the plate, which has been the key to the Phillies’ offensive success all along. Guys like Bryan De La Cruz and Justin Crawford have been making a serious impact on the diamond every time they step on the field.
Cristopher Sanchez, who has struggled over the last month and a half, tossed a gem on Saturday night, shoving 7 shutout innings, allowing just two hits, one walk, and striking out 9. Jhoan Duran pitched two innings for the first time as a Phillie. The formula is all starting to come together for this Phillies team with a month until postseason baseball begins.
Right now, it feels like the Phillies don’t have a hole in their roster. When is the last time the Phillies went into September with a big majority of the fanbase in full agreement on the 26-man roster? That never happens.
Whether it’s the stars, the rookies, or everyone in between: the Phillies have found ways to win. And for a team that’s relied on one strategy over the last four postseasons, it makes them a scary team to face once October rolls around.
Luke Arcaini has been writing about the Phillies for 6 seasons, and is now in his 2nd year covering for Phillies down at Citizens Bank Park for Crossing Broad. Follow him on Twitter @ArcainiLuke