The Phillies stole the opener on Schwarber's record-tying 5th-straight homer game, the Red Sox punched back Wednesday when Ceddanne Rafaela cleared the Monster as a pinch-hitter, and now we get the rubber match. Schwarber's streak is dead, but at 17 homers he is still leading the majors and dragging a 20-23 Philly club along with him.
Boston is 18-24 and somehow that feels generous given the state of their rotation. Crochet, Houck, Crawford, Sandoval and Oviedo are all parked on the IL. Whoever takes the ball for the Sox is doing it inside a staff being held together with tape.
- Day-To-DayTrea Turner SS — Turner is not in the lineup for Wednesday's contest versus the Red Sox.
- Day-To-DayKeaton Anthony 1B — Anthony suffered a fractured toe after fouling a ball off his foot during Monday's Grapefruit League game versus the Red Sox, Lochlahn March of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
- Day-To-DayRene Pinto C — Pinto (undisclosed) began a rehab assignment Monday, Kristie Ackert of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
- Day-To-DayDaniel Robert RP — Robert suffered a cardiac incident Sunday while preparing to throw a bullpen session and was taken to a local hospital, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.
- Day-To-DayAndrew Bechtold 3B — Bechtold signed a minor-league contract with the Blue Jays on Dec. 1.
- Day-To-DayMark Kolozsvary C — Kolozsvary (undisclosed) agreed to a minor-league contract with the Phillies on Friday that includes an invitation to spring training, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.
- 15-Day-ILKyle Backhus RP — Backhus (elbow) played catch Wednesday, MLB.com reports.
- 15-Day-ILZach Pop RP — Pop (calf) began a rehab assignment Saturday, throwing a clean inning for Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
- Day-To-DayConnor Wong C — Wong is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Yankees, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
- Day-To-DayHobie Harris RP — Harris was optioned to Triple-A Rochester on Saturday, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.
- 10-Day-ILRoman Anthony LF — Anthony (wrist) has yet to resume baseball activities, Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic reports.
- 15-Day-ILGarrett Crochet SP — Crochet (shoulder) will throw a 20-pitch bullpen session Wednesday, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.
- 15-Day-ILDanny Coulombe RP — The Red Sox placed Coulombe on the 15-day injured list Monday with cervical spasms.
- 15-Day-ILKutter Crawford SP — Crawford has been diagnosed with inflammation in his right elbow following an MRI, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
- 60-Day-ILTriston Casas 1B — The Red Sox transferred Casas (abdomen/knee) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Wednesday.
- 60-Day-ILRomy Gonzalez 1B — The Red Sox placed Gonzalez (shoulder) on the 60-day injured list Thursday, Christopher Smith of MassLive.com reports.
The Phillies are leaning on Jesús Luzardo, who is the walking definition of a mixed bag in 2026. He opened the year 1-3 with a 7.94 ERA, then quietly stacked two strong outings under new interim skipper Don Mattingly, including the first 7-inning start any Phillies starter had managed all season. The 5.77 mark still tells you the leash should be short.
The market does not love this one. Pinnacle has the moneyline basically a coin flip (-105/-103) while DraftKings is sitting on Boston -131, and every EV number on the board is negative. The bigger tell is the totals split: Pinnacle at 7.5, DK at 9.0. That is a full run and a half of disagreement on how this game scores, which is what happens when you mix a shaky lefty with a banged-up Boston lineup missing Roman Anthony and Triston Casas.
Trea Turner being a late scratch Wednesday is the one to monitor — if he is back in the lineup, the Phillies offense looks a lot more like the version that should be favored here. If not, Boston's bullpen has a real path to keeping this ugly and low, which is exactly the kind of game Fenway tends to produce when neither team trusts its starter past the 5th.
Series win on the line, two clubs going nowhere fast, a manager chasing his own home run record through his cleanup hitter. For a 5:45 first pitch in May, that is plenty to chew on.