Erasing the struggles
It was a frustrating game for the Phillies offense up to that point, as they had stranded second and third with one out in the second, the bases loaded with two outs in the fourth, two on with two outs in the fifth, and two on with one out in the sixth. Brandon Marsh singled in their first run of the day earlier in the fourth, bringing home Castellanos after a double.
Bouncing back
Aaron Nola started the game for Philadelphia and faced the minimum through five innings. He was perfect through 4.1 before allowing a single to Donovan Solano. The baserunner was quickly erased however on a strike’em out, throw’em out double play.
Nola ultimately ran into trouble in the sixth though. After allowing a leadoff walk to David Peralta, Luis Campusano hit a two-run homer to center field that went just over the glove of a leaping Cristian Pache. It put the Padres on the board with just their second hit of the game and gave San Diego a 2-1 lead.
Tyler Wade followed with a single and eventually scored on a two out base hit from Jurickson Profar that pushed the lead to 3-1. It didn’t end pretty, but Nola turned in a quality start in his first outing since getting shelled in Boston. His final line was 6 IP, 4 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, 6 strikeouts.
Keep it close
Orion Kerkering, Matt Strahm, and Jeff Hoffman were perfect in relief of Nola. The trio retired all nine Padres hitters they faced with three strikeouts, buying the offense time to break through.
Kyle Schwarber, aka Mr. June, cut the deficit to one with an eighth inning home run, his 17th of the season and sixth so far this June. He now has 61 career home runs in the month of June across 172 games.
Sweep?
The Phillies will look to go a perfect 6-0 against the Padres this season when they send Ranger Suarez (10-1, 1.77) to the mound tomorrow at 1:05. He will be opposed by knuckleballer Matt Waldron (4-6, 3.66) for the Padres.
The Phillies had stranded 12 runners on base through 8 innings. They were down 3-1 at home and in danger of losing their first game to the Padres this season. San Diego sent in closer Robert Suarez, who had yet to blow a save this season, for his first appearance at Citizens Bank Park since surrendering a home run to Bryce Harper in Game 5 of the 2022 NLCS that became known as Bedlam at the Bank.
Nine pitches later, the Phillies had a 4-3 win.
The Phillies once again victimized Suarez, who had given up just 2 earned runs all season entering tonight and just one since the beginning of April. Harper led off the inning with a single to right field on two pitches. Alec Bohm followed with a line drive single to center off of a 100 MPH fastball. Bryson Stott was next up, and he flipped a single into left field on a 99 MPH fastball down and in to tie the game at 3-3.
Finally, Nick Castellanos hit a first pitch fastball just past the diving Fernando Tatis Jr. in right field for a ground rule double that scored Bohm from second. Castellanos finished the day 4-5 with two doubles. It was Castellanos’ fourth four hit game as a Phillie and his first since June 2nd of 2023.
Phillies Right Fielder Nick Castellanos waits for his teammates to celebrate his walk-off double vs the Padres - June 18, 2024 - Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
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