The Phillies needed to get back home after a 10-game rollercoaster of a road trip, and they needed to come back to the Citizens Bank Park crowd with a performance like this week's.

The bats hit all over the field and into the seats; the starting pitchers, in the face of losing Zack Wheeler indefinitely as their ace at the top , held strong; and though the bullpen still proved shaky overall, so long as they can get to the ninth, their newest closer can and will shut it down.

The Phillies swept the visiting – and contending – Seattle Mariners in a three-game series and the first leg of a six-game homestand for the club in South Philadelphia, capping the set off with an 11-2 win on Wednesday backed by 12 strikeouts and six excellent innings from Jesús Luzardo .

The Phillies are 74-5

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