Phillies Close Regular Season with Drama: 2-1 Walkoff, Small Ball Victory Over Twins
Sep 28, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos (8) celebrate his game-winning sacrifice fly during the tenth inning with outfielder Brandon Marsh (16) against the Minnesota Twins at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
While today’s game has had the feel of the last spring training game of the year and most Phillies story lines have been addressed, there were still a few reasons to watch today’s game.
While it was more of a tune-up start for Cristopher Sanchez, he pitched well, but only went 5 2/3 innings. He started the game with 21 consecutive strikes, so to say he started strong is an understatement.
While he was out there, he pitched well, striking out 8 and surrendering no walks and only 2 hits on 60 pitches. Yes, he could have given him the last out to try at, but at the end of the day, there is no reason to keep him out there. It felt like Rob Thomson pulled him more to get him an absolutely deserved standing ovation
Both Sanchez and Twins starter Simeon Woods Richardson pitched well, and with the shadows in their favor, it was obvious early on that hits and runs were going to be at a premium in this one. The Phils only had one hit through 7 innings.
Twins DH Ryan Jeffers, who ended up with 3 hits and, in the 6th, after Sanchez was pulled and Austin Martin walked, Jeffers doubled to left. Twins third base coach Tommy Watkins sent Martin, which was a huge risk, and even with Martin’s speed, it would have taken a perfect relay to get him. While the play was bang-bang, Martin slid past Rafael Marchan‘s tag for what felt like a huge run at the moment.
The quality pitching continued; however, in the bottom of the 8th, Max Kepler hit his 18th home run to tie the game, setting the stage for extra innings.
As if 162 games weren’t enough, we had a little free baseball to end the season, and Orion Kerkering nailed down the 10th inning with some of the best pitching he has had in weeks, which is encouraging moving forward.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Phils played small ball with Harrison Bader coming in to pinch run at second, Weston Wilson bunted Bader to third, and Nick Castellanos poked a fly ball to center deep enough to score the walk-off sac fly to win the game 2-1.
The most important thing at the end of the season, going into a short break, is not to have any injuries. There wouldn’t be anything worse than an injury to a pillar of the team in a meaningless game. However, there was one important thing that was announced at the start of the game, which was that Trea Turner came back to finish the season for the Phils after 18 games on the IL.
This was a huge development for not just the team, but also for Trea’s confidence, and he gets some game-speed reps in during a meaningless game, but also gets his legs under him a bit.
While he went 0-2, he did secure the National League batting title, with a .304 average, becoming the first Phillie to win it since Richie Ashburn in 1958. This marks the lowest average by a National League batting champion in history. No other batter in the NL hit over .300 this season, which makes the feat that much more impressive.
Kyle Schwarber ended the season with 56 home runs, which was 2 short of Ryan Howard‘s team record. He also played in all 162 games this season, which has truly been a luxury that Topper has had all season. This, on top of the constant adjustments he made at the plate all season off of left-handed pitching, has propelled him to being an MVP candidate. Both Turner and Schwarber, whom I would love to give Phillies co-MVP honors to, have continued to evolve their games past 30, and it shows on the field, showing the younger Phils that being fluid is incredibly important for longevity in baseball.
An interesting thing that happened in today’s game was that the shadows wreaked havoc for the hitters of both teams. With the NLDS being played at different hours to accommodate the slate of October games, the possibility of shadows can be an issue for batters in the postseason. But we won’t worry too much about that until it becomes necessary, because after today, the Phils are 0-0 once again.
It feels like the season just started a few weeks ago, and here we are, watching the last game of the regular season, with the wild card round starting on Tuesday, and the Phils’ next game is on Wednesday as an intrasquad game to tune up for Sanchez’s next start in NLDS Game 1 on Saturday.
Another storyline that has been taken until the last game of the season is that the New York Mets have once again Metted for the last time this season, losing 4-0 in Miami in a game that surely felt like a playoff game for them. Something to think about, two of the visiting parks the Phils had the most trouble at this season have seen their last baseball game in 2025, Oracle Park in San Francisco is off the table with the Giants missing the playoffs, and Citi Field is now off the table with the Mets’ historic collapse.
This Red October is starting off strong, with the 96 wins from this team, one more than last year. Schwarber said it best, “It’s a great time to be a Philadelphia sports fan.” 11 more wins to go.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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