Phillies Dominated Mariners in Historic Fashion During Three-Game Series

The Philadelphia Phillies dominated the Seattle Mariners during their recent series.

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The Philadelphia Phillies welcomed the Seattle Mariners to Citizens Bank Park for a rare visit from the American League West squad.

Then the Phillies provided them with about as rude a welcome to the City of Brotherly Love as possible. Philadelphia continued the woes the Mariners have endured during their East Coast trip that began with a visit to the Baltimore Orioles. Against the AL East disappointments, Seattle went 1-2, winning Game 1 before dropping the last two.

It was the same pattern against the Phillies' rivals from the National League East, the New York Mets. The Mariners won the opener but couldn’t get the job done in the last two games. Philadelphia didn’t even allow them to win one game, sweeping the three-game set and sending Seattle back home with an ugly 2-7 road trip record.

Phillies Make Strikeout History Dominating Mariners

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The biggest difference in the series was starting pitching. Both teams could stake a legitimate claim to having the best rotation in baseball. But, after going head-to-head for three games this week, it would be hard to argue against the Phillies having the edge in that department.

It led to a historic performance from Philadelphia in terms of strikeouts recorded by their pitching staff and how many times their batters went down by strikes. As shared by OptaSTATS, the Phillies had a strikeout differential of +31, with 46 while pitching and only 15 while hitting. That is the second-largest differential in the Modern Era. 

The @Phillies had a K differential of +31 against the Mariners this week (46 pitching, 15 batting).

That's the second-largest K differential in any three-game series by an MLB team in the modern era, bested by the Phillies, themselves, vs. the Cubs August 17-19, 1964 (+32). pic.twitter.com/zm6i3gebQW

— OptaSTATS (@OptaSTATS) August 20, 2025

They fell one short of the record, which was set by Philadelphia 61 years ago. Almost to the day, in a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies had a +32 differential from Aug. 17-19. That team went 2-1 in the series, losing the middle game 4-3 in 16 innings.

Each of their starters who took the mound had a dominant performance. In Game 1, it was Ranger Suarez who got back on track with 6.2 innings of two-run ball. He allowed only four hits and didn’t issue a walk while striking out 10 batters. 

All of the damage done against him came in the top of the seventh inning. He allowed a solo home run to Mitch Garver. After hitting Dominic Canzone with a pitch, he was lifted from the game in favor of Jordan Romano. The right-handed reliever served up a three-run homer later in the inning, with one of the runs being charged to Suarez.

Cristopher Sanchez, Jesus Luzardo Match Career Highs in Historic Series

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In Game 2, Cristopher Sanchez was on the mound. Pressure is on him to keep up his stellar performance with Zack Wheeler sidelined because of a blood clot issue as the clear-cut ace of the staff. He certainly lived up to expectations against the Mariners, throwing 6.1 innings. He allowed six hits and two walks, resulting in two earned runs being charged to him. Sanchez struck out 12 batters, which matches a single-game career high.

For the series finale, it was Jesus Luzardo toeing the rubber. Like his teammates before him, he mowed through the Seattle lineup. In six innings, he allowed only three hits and didn’t issue a walk, giving up one earned run and striking out 12. Like Sanchez, that matches a career high for a single game.

When the Phillies starting pitchers are performing to this level, they are an incredibly difficult team to beat.