CHICAGO -- The Phillies have aspirations of making a deep run in October. To do that, they’re going to be tested in the toughest of situations, and this week's four-game series against the Cubs provided one of their best tests yet.\n\nThe Phillies had to cover 106 outs in the series at Wrigley Field, and none of those felt easy to come by. Thursday’s 9-7 victory over the Cubs reminded the Phils of what they are capable of, but also what separates good from great.\n\n• [Box score](https://www.mlb.com/phillies/gameday/565149/final/box)\n\n“You always want it to be easy, but that would be a pie-in-the-sky fantasy,\" manager Gabe Kapler said. \"It doesn’t work like that. Players are too good. You have to be prepared for things to go sideways.”\n\nThe Phillies had felt like they left runs on the field throughout the series entering Thursday, and came out like they had something to prove, starting the game by scoring seven unanswered runs against Cubs’ ace Jon Lester, who lasted just four innings.\n\nThe offense also had 12 hard-hit balls overall -- balls with an exit velocity of at least 95 mph -- according to Statcast. Two of those hard-hit balls came on a pair of mammoth homers by
\n\n \n\nRealmuto’s solo shot in the third, which sailed onto Waveland Avenue traveled a projected 456 feet, according to Statcast, making it the longest homer of his career.\n\n“Our team and our lineup is pretty good,” said Segura, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games.\n\nThe Phillies’ bullpen, which endured most of the high-stress moments during the series, had more pressure applied during the victory. While
\n\n \n\n“I felt great today,” Neris said of his nerve-racking ninth inning.\n\nNeris struck out Addison Russell, then forced Victor Caratini to fly out to end the game.\n\n“I think there’s some anxiety, but I think that’s to be expected in a series like this,” Kapler said of his bullpen’s performance. “Two playoff-caliber clubs, and certainly both teams were going after that win. \\[Neris\\] had the gutsiest performance possible out there. That lineup is never-ending. Every guy can hit it out of the ballpark. The way it went today, you thought at any time, there could be more home runs.”
The bullpen managed to secure the win for