It was the Aaron Nola and Edmundo Sosa show on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. The Philadelphia Phillies closed out the month of May as the first team in Major League Baseball to 40-wins thanks in part to Nola and Sosa’s big games.
40-win club.
Population: @Phillies pic.twitter.com/9zZ8BRLrqM
— MLB (@MLB) June 1, 2024
Sosa continued his red-hot play while filling in for injured Phillies’ shortstop Trea Turner. The 28-year-old went 1-for-3 with the one hit being a 439-foot two-run home run to extend the Phillies lead to 3-0. For the month of May, Sosa slashed .304/.377/.565 with two homers, four doubles, four triples, 11 RBI, and a .942 OPS. Sosa has been so impressive in the absence of Turner that local sports radio is already clamoring for the latter to return in the outfield.
Move Trea Turner to the outfield and keep Edmundo Sosa at shortstop. 🤔
What do you think of @JoeGiglioSports’ idea? https://t.co/GRDR5hxMcj pic.twitter.com/MLuylifpwC
— SPORTSRADIO 94WIP (@SportsRadioWIP) May 28, 2024
As for Nola, he allowed two runs on three hits –granted, they were solo home runs– against a St. Louis Cardinals team that had won 12-of-15 games heading into Friday night’s contest. Despite the two solo homers, Nola was cool, calm, and collected on Friday night. He struck out six against two walks and was never in serious trouble against a surging Cardinals club. Including Friday’s win, Nola has allowed two earned runs or less in five of his last six starts. The win improves Nola’s record to 7-2 with a 3.03 ERA in 12 starts this season. Not too bad for arguably the No.3 pitcher in the rotation (wink, wink).
As for the Phillies as a whole, they went 20-7 for the month of May and that was without the bat of the injured Turner. The Fightins averaged 5.78 runs per game in the month of May, an MLB-best for the month. But they also did it on the mound. The Phillies’ pitchers averaged a 3.08 ERA as of Friday, good for second best in MLB behind the New York Yankees.
The Phillies 20-7 May marks the first 20-win month for the club since September 2010 (21-6).
Philadelphia Phillies Record by Month
| Month | Wins | Losses |
| March | 1 | 2 |
| April | 19 | 9 |
| May | 20 | 7 |
Updated Philadelphia Phillies Win Projections
- Pecota: 95.8
- FanGraphs: 95
- TeamRankings: 97.2
- CBS Sports: 103.1
