The Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs enter Monday’s matchup with a shared goal: jump-starting their inconsistent offenses. Philadelphia has plated runs in just three of its past 45 innings, has been shut out twice, and has dropped four of its last five games. Chicago showed signs of life Sunday, erasing an early five-run deficit to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7–6 on a walk-off single by Carson Kelly.
Before that rally, the Cubs had scored only three total runs while losing the first two games of the series and were in danger of suffering their first home sweep by Pittsburgh since 2017. Monday’s series opener in Philadelphia will feature Phillies left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (1–1, 1.65 ERA) against Cubs right-hander Javier Assad (1–0, 0.00 ERA). “Every game matters,” Kelly said. “We just have to keep stacking good days. The season is long.” Chicago first baseman Michael Busch snapped an 0-for-30 slump on Sunday with a game-tying, two-run pinch-hit single in the eighth inning. “No matter the highs or lows, you keep battling,” Busch added.
Philadelphia’s recent scoring drought pushed manager Rob Thomson to shuffle the lineup, sliding Brandon Marsh into the cleanup spot behind Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber, and Bryce Harper, and moving Alec Bohm down to seventh during the weekend set against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Even though Marsh, Turner, Schwarber, and Harper all homered, the Phillies still lost two of three, including Sunday’s 4–3 defeat. “The key is not pressing,” Schwarber said after his homer in Saturday’s win. “We know we have a strong lineup.”
Sanchez heads into Monday’s start following a rough outing in a 6–0 loss at San Francisco, where he allowed four runs (two earned) and a career-high eight two-out hits across five innings. “It was just a bad day, and those happen in a long season,” Sanchez said through an interpreter. “I got ahead but couldn’t finish hitters. I’m not worried — I know what adjustments to make.” The Cubs have handled Sanchez well in previous matchups, tagging him for a 10.38 ERA in two meetings last season.
Assad, meanwhile, will make his second start of the year after delivering 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 9–2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Recalled from Triple-A Iowa after Matthew Boyd went on the injured list and Cade Horton was lost for the year, Assad allowed just an infield single with three strikeouts and two walks. “You always want to be here,” he said of starting the season in the minors. “But that’s out of my control. All I could do was stay ready for my chance.”
Assad is 1–1 with a 5.84 ERA in three career appearances against Philadelphia, including a rough showing on September 25, 2024, when he surrendered eight runs and three home runs one to Turner in a 9–6 loss.
