With win against Mariners, Phillies gaining momentum as they head to Houston originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
By Phil Sheridan
It’s only April, so these baseball games don’t mean all that much. No one will remember them in August and September.
Well, try telling that to the Philadelphia Phillies.
They beat the Seattle Mariners, 1-0, to reach .500 (13-13) for the first time this season. They will finish April in Houston, with a 3-game series against an Astros team that defeated them in the World Series six months ago. Manager Rob Thomson said this weekend’s rematch is “just another series.”
His players did not agree.
“There will be a lot of energy, I think,” said outfielder Kyle Schwarber. I think it will be fun.”
Nick Castellanos wasn’t so sure.
“I’m excited to go back to Houston,” Castellanos said. “There are some uncomfortable memories that I’m going to have to confront. Being the last out of the World Series there and things like that. But I’m excited to go back.”
The Phillies go back with a bit of momentum. After losing the first 4 games of the season, they clawed their way back to an even record. They won the last 2 games of the series with Seattle and have won 3 series in a row. The Phillies are 9-4 over the past 2 weeks.
That momentum seemed important to everyone involved Sunday afternoon. Thomson managed the game with the approach that worked so well in the postseason. Castellanos hustled to score the game’s only run. After leading off the second inning with a single to center, Castellanos got impatient as Seattle’s George Kirby retired Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm.
With Kody Clemens at the plate, Castellanos broke for second base. When Clemens stroked a line drive into center field, Castellanos kept his foot on the gas and scored easily. Clemens got to second, but the official scorer deemed his hit a single. Clemens did get the game’s only RBI.
“(Kirby) was slow to the plate,” Castellanos said. He also has been active on the basepaths this season, an approach that combines with his hitting to make him a factor in most games. Castellanos has an 8-game hitting streak. His run was his 22d of the season, tied for second most in the major leagues (Marcus Semien has scored 23 runs).
After creating the Phillies’ only run, Castellano went to work to make it stand up. His sliding catch of a Tom Murphy line drive ended the Mariners’ 7th with runners on second and third.
His approach?
“Catch it,” Castellanos said. “If I didn’t, then it’s a tie game and I didn’t want that.”
Castellanos’ catch preserved a win in a game that was sort of upside-down. It was a 1-run game where one starter pitched a complete game and allowed only 4 base hits. That was Seattle’s Kirby, who took the loss despite improving his earned run average from 3.57 to 2.93.
Matt Strahm started and pitched very well for the Phillies. The converted relief pitcher set the tone by striking out the first 3 Mariners he faced. Strahm allowed just 2 hits and struck out 5 in 5 innings. He retired JP Crawford, who led off the top of the 6th. Catcher Garrett Stubbs immediately trotted out to the mound.
With umpire Andy Fletcher approaching, Stubbs started back to the plate, stopped, then returned to the mound. Suddenly, the Phillies were changing pitchers. Strahm walked off the field to a deserved ovation and Seranthony Dominguez trotted out of the bullpen.
Say what?
“Strahmy was about to have his third time through the lineup,” Thomson said. “Their most dangerous hitter was coming up. I wanted a righthander on him.”
Stubbs’ longish mound visit was just a ploy to allow Dominguez to warm up. He got leadoff man Julio Rodriguez to line out to second baseman Bryson Stott. Ty France flew out to center and the inning was over.
Three relievers pitched the final three innings. Again, Seattle’s Kirby pitched 8 innings. It took five Phillies to pitch 9. Craig Kimbrel earned the save, the 397th of his major-league career.
“I wanted to win the series, and the game,” Thomson said, which is about the best reason for a manager to do anything. It worked, and Thomson didn’t use Jose Alvarado, who pitched and got the save in Wednesday night’s comeback win. Dominguez faced just 2 batters, while Connor Brogdon faced 3. Kimbrel was clean in the 9th.
Gregory Soto pitched 1-1/3 innings and walked a pair of hitters. But the Phillies go to Houston with only Soto unlikely to be available for Friday night’s series-opener.