The Phillies won the series against the Houston Astros over the weekend as they beat them twice in a rematch of the 2022 World Series. The starting pitching was much better, the offense was firing on all cylinders, and the bullpen continued its dominance.
Game one
The Phillies won the first game of the series 3-1 largely because of Aaron Nola’s best start of the season. Nola allowed a solo home run in the first inning to Jeremy Peña, but after that, he shut down the Astros’ offense over eight innings. Nola surrendered just three hits and did not walk any batters. His command looked sharp, and while his velocity was down a bit, he hit his spots.
The offense got started early when Kyle Schwarber hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning. Cristian Pache doubled in the fifth inning to score Edmundo Sosa. Pache injured his knee on the bases and will require surgery to repair his torn meniscus. He had been hitting the ball well of late and his injury is untimely. Brandon Marsh singled in the seventh inning to knock Sosa in for his second run of the game. Those would be enough runs to secure the win as José Alvarado closed the game in dominating fashion once again.
Game two
Zack Wheeler took the mound for the Phillies in game two of the series. Wheeler tossed six shutout innings while allowing just four baserunners and striking out seven batters. The bullpen finished the game pitching three innings of one-run baseball and struck out four Astros’ hitters.
Nick Castellanos got things going in the fourth inning when he took Cristian Javier deep to left field for his fourth home run of the season. That same inning Brandon Marsh scored on a J.T. Realmuto sacrifice fly. Then in the sixth inning Kody Clemens hit a home run to right field knocking in Realmuto making the score 4-0. The Phillies would add two more runs on hits by Alec Bohm and Jake Cave.
The Phillies had twelve hits in game two. Only Kyle Schwarber and Bryson Stott were held hitless. The offense seems to be clicking right now. Castellanos has been swinging a hit bat and hitting for power and the club has been getting help from players throughout the lineup.
Game three
Bailey Falter struggled in his start in the series finale. He went 4 1/3 innings and allowed four runs one eight hits and walked three batters. After Falter was pulled from the game, the bullpen took care of business. Connor Brogdon, Gregory Soto and Luis Ortiz combined to throw 3 2/3 innings allowing just one baserunner.
The offense came mostly from solo home runs. J.T. Realmuto hit a solo shot in the second inning and drove in the team’s third run on a hard hit ball that got past Alex Bregman and was scored an error. Kody Clemens hit his second home run in as many games. Despite the home runs, the Phillies only managed to score three runs. They were a combined 0-8 with runners in scoring position.
Despite the loss Realmuto has been swinging a hot bat. In his last 15 games he is slashing .339/.361/.536 with two home runs, seven RBIs, and seven runs scored.
Bryce returning soon?
The Athletic’s, Matt Gelb, reported on Sunday that Bryce Harper could return as early as Tuesday night in Los Angeles. Harper will see Dr. Neal ElAttrache— the doctor who performed Harper’s surgery— on Monday. If he is cleared Rob Thomson said that Harper will return to the lineup on Tuesday as the team’s designated hitter.
Harper’s recovery from offseason Tommy John surgery has been nothing short of incredible. If he does return on Tuesday, he will have taken just 160 days to get back to playing. Thankfully for the Phillies they can use him as the designated hitter. If Harper had to play the field, his return would not be as speedy.
Once Harper returns, he will provide an immediate boost to an already hot lineup. Even if he is a bit rusty when he makes his 2023 debut— which is likely— his mere presence in the lineup forces opposing pitchers to be that much more careful, benefiting other hitters around him.
