Trio of walkoffs helps Phillies move above .500

On the surface, not much has changed in Philadelphia. The Phillies are hovering around .500 — the same place they've been for several years now.

This past week provided a little more hope, however.

The Phillies won three straight games in walkoff fashion, part of a four-game winning streak that has left Philadelphia at 32-31 on the season. The Phillies are still six games behind the NL East-leading New York Mets in the loss column, but they're in second place in the division and are 7-2 in June.

Luke Williams beat Atlanta 2-1 on Wednesday with a two-run homer in the ninth inning — his first big league home run. The next day, Jean Segura drove in two runs with a 10th-inning single for a 4-3 win over the Braves.

Then Segura came through again against the New York Yankees on Saturday, hitting an RBI infield single to end an 8-7, 10-inning victory. The Phillies didn't need any late-game dramatics in their most recent game, a 7-0 win over New York on Sunday.

In 2018, Philadelphia went 80-82. The Phillies added Bryce Harper after that season but still finished 81-81 in their first year with him. They were 28-32 last season. Philadelphia hasn't made the playoffs since 2011 — a year before Harper made his big league debut and the same year Andrew McCutchen, now a Phillies outfielder, received All-Star honors for the first time with Pittsburgh.

So the Phillies have a lot to prove even after this exciting week. If they start to play consistently well, this would be a good time. Philadelphia begins a western swing Monday that includes matchups with the Dodgers and Giants. Then the Phillies host two games against Washington before what could be a key four-game series in New York against the Mets.

COMPARISON

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source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Trio-of-walkoffs-helps-Phillies-move-above-500-16245572.php