Phillies Top Padres Amid Offensive Outbreaks from Kyle Schwarber, Nick Castellanos
Photo via Philadelphia Phillies on X
When it comes to Phillies baseball, two noteworthy things happen when summer rolls around: Kyle Schwarber gets red-hot, and Liam Castellanos—the fan-favorite son of Phillies’ right fielder Nick Castellanos—returns to Citizens Bank Park.
You could call it a coincidence, but do you really believe that?
Kyle Schwarber has the least number of at-bats per home run in June in Major League history, and he now has six home runs in his last eight games, including a huge one in the eighth inning tonight.
And with Liam Castellanos watching from the stands of Citizens Bank Park, Nick Castellanos has six hits in nine at-bats thus far versus San Diego. And while a lot of guys have recorded hits over the past two days, none have been as timely as Castellanos’ most recent knock, a walk-off double in the ninth inning today.
“Nick [Castellanos] can be very streaky, but he’s had good at-bats the last couple of days, and hopefully, he can keep it going. When we got to Baltimore, he started chasing a little bit, but now he’s back in the zone,” Phillies’ manager Rob Thomson told the media after his team’s game-two win. “[The game] changes quickly, but they kept staying after it… I am really happy for them.”
And per usual, Castellanos always has Liam’s unwavering support: “You guys all much prefer when your children are by your side rather than across the country.”
Of course, the offense cannot be the only group that gets credited for the team’s win. Despite allowing three runs in the sixth inning, Aaron Nola spun five near-perfect innings, keeping the game within reach for the Phillies’ offense late in the game. In his six innings, Nola allowed three runs on four hits, walking just one and striking out six. He used his changeup to keep the Padres off-balanced, and his curveball was an effective two-strike pitch that could generate swings and misses.
“His command was really good,” Thomson told the media. “His breaking ball was really sharp. I’m not sure what happened in the sixth inning.”
Well, “what happened” in the sixth inning was a sinker that Nola accidentally left belt-high, and Padres’ catcher Luis Campusano launched it just over Christian Pache’s outstretched glove and over the wall in centerfield, holding Nola accountable for one of the only mistakes he made all night. It may have only been one swing, but at the time, it cost the Phillies their lead.
Luckily, the Phillies’ continued tenacity kept them afloat. Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Jeff Hoffman each threw a scoreless inning in relief, and as mentioned above, Kyle Schwarber hit his seventeenth long ball of the season to bring the Phillies within a run.
“I think we have a lot of strengths, [and] our bullpen is certainly one of them. We have those power arms—guys that throw strikes and come right after people. They have great stuff,” Thomson said.
The bottom of the ninth inning, though, was when the Phillies’ struggles with runners in scoring position finally ceased, and it came at the perfect time. Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm both singled to start the inning, bringing Bryson Stott to the plate with runners on the corners. Stott tied the game with a base hit to left field, and seconds later, Nick Castellanos’ ground-rule, walk-off double sent Padres’ reliever Robert Suarez leaving CBP’s mound in defeat, eerily similar to what ensued in 2022 when Bryce Harper homered off Suarez to send the Phillies to the NLCS and the Padres back to San Diego.
And since we are talking about Suarezs, the Padres will have the luxury of facing Cy-Young frontrunner Ranger Suarez in tomorrow’s series finale, fourteen hours after one of the most demoralizing losses of their season. But, hey, the Phillies will certainly take it, as they look to sweep the series at 1:05 tomorrow.
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