MLB
What is the Philadelphia Phillies best start in franchise history?
The month of April was one of the most successful, considering the league wins, in the 140-year-old history of the Philadelphia baseball organization.
The Phillies franchise has won two World Series championships (against the Kansas City Royals in 1980 and the Tampa Bay Rays in 2008), eight National League pennants (the first of which came in 1915), and 15 playoff appearances. At the end of the 2023 season, the Phillies had played 21,486 games, with a regular season record of 10,112–11,259–115 (.473), and what is interesting is that they never won more than 18 games during the opening month of the new baseball season, until this one.
Obviously, the Phillies are the first sports organization from Philadelphia that wants to turn things around since the debacle. The Phillies’ game six loss against the Astros came shortly after the Philadelphia Union fell in the championship game of the MLS Cup last year, making Philadelphia the first American city to lose two major professional sports championship title games in the same day.
April team record
On Sunday, the Philadelphia Phillies added another win to their impressive recent run, beating the San Diego Padres 8-6 and thus completing a successful three-game sweep at Petco Park. This victory marked the Phillies’ fourth consecutive win and their eleventh in their last thirteen games, bringing their record to 19-10. This is a remarkable achievement, especially considering the Phillies started the season slowly, going 5-6 over their first eleven games. What’s more impressive is that the 19 victories are a franchise record for most wins in the first month of the season, and there are still two games left to play in April. The team’s success can be attributed to their strong performance in all aspects of the game, including pitching, hitting, and defense.
Furthermore, the Phillies have not lost a series since their defeat to the Cincinnati Reds at the beginning of April. This series win streak includes sweeps of the Colorado Rockies, the Chicago White Sox, and, most recently, the Padres. During the seven-game win streak, the Phillies secured consecutive series sweeps, indicating their consistency and authority.
Other individual records from the month of April
In April, the Philadelphia Phillies experienced a highly successful period of games, with their pitching staff delivering an outstanding performance. The team pitched five shutouts during this period, an impressive feat in modern baseball, and they only got shut out once, on the opposite side.
One of the standout players during this period was Ranger Suárez, who had a remarkable 32-inning scoreless streak. This is the longest scoreless streak for a Phillies pitcher since 2011, when Cliff Lee achieved an even more impressive 34 innings without allowing a run.
Suárez and Lee are also part of a very exclusive group of Phillies pitchers since 1900. They are the only two players to have had a month with at least five starts and go 5-0 with an ERA of 0.75 or better.