Wheeler, still with a 0 in the hit column, dispatched the Sox easily in the 6th. That brought up Rojas, who poked the ball into the infield and dashed safely to first. Turner slipped a grounder right under the glove of a Sox infielder, and Rojas strode towards third like a particularly swift gazelle. Harper soon singled himself with a grounder through the right side, and Rojas ran home to make the game 6-0. Banks was replaced by Deivi García. Realmuto scored Turner with a sacrifice fly.
Wheeler walked the leadoff batter to open the 7th — but if that seemed to be a crack in the door, Wheeler slammed it shut, putting the next three Sox down. Benintendi made good contact to send a ball to deep center, but a running Rojas ensured it amounted to naught. Dominic Leone came to the mound to face the Phillies in the bottom half. Castellanos walked and Stott flew out, putting Rojas back at the plate. He popped one to shallow right for what ought to have been an easy out, but in a microcosm of the Sox’s state of affairs, second baseman Lenyn Sosa and right fielder Gavin Sheets tangled each other up, allowing the ball to drop. Turner then lined a 2-run double to left, and the Fightins took a 9-0 lead. All the drama, at this point, rested solely in the question of whether Wheeler would get the chance to close it out — and if he’d do what none dare speak about until it’s done.
In the 8th, Wheeler allowed good contact on a liner to Fletcher, but the BABIP gods put it right in the glove of Turner. They were not so kind moments later, as Korey Lee put a grounder past the glove of a diving Harper, ending Wheeler’s no-hit bid. Wheeler walked off the field, having accrued 1 hit, 2 walks, 8 Ks, and an ovation befitting one of the game’s best hurlers. Seranthony Domínguez came on in relief and kept the shutout alive, despite a loading of the bases.
In the final frame, Ricardo Pinto was tasked with closing out the game. He allowed a parade of hits that first spoiled the shutout, and then snowballed into something that ought not to have been possible, given the inning started with a 9-run cushion: a tying run at the plate. Fortunately, the worst case scenario remained hypothetical, as the Phillies deployed José Alvarado, who picked up the final out with the bases loaded and earned an improbable save. Few will remember the oddity of the 9th (and few would want to), but the impressions of Wheeler’s outing will linger.
The Phillies are 13-8. They’ll go for their second consecutive series sweep tomorrow at 1:35.
“Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things”. It’s been rough for Nick Castellanos in the recent going. His bat went cold in the final games of the 2023 NLCS — and while he certainly wasn’t alone in that, his free-swinging reputation made him the posterboy for the problem.
The coldness continued into the new season, as he watched every other qualified batter get their first extra base hit as he pressed to find his first. The advanced stats and the eyes of the fans often disagree, but not here: Castellanos has been out of sorts in 2024. Still, the memories of his past glories are enough to sustain hope for a return to better days: slamming homer after homer in the postseason, making a diving 9th-inning catch to doom Atlanta’s hopes in game 1 of the 2022 NLDS, being named an All-Star in 2023. Redemption can begin at any time; it needn’t wait for a moment of high drama. It might as well begin on a Saturday night against the White Sox.
Nicky Lopez worked a 10 pitch walk as the leadoff hitter, remaining thoroughly unfazed after taking the first two pitches for strikes. Zack Wheeler, however, remained equally unflappable, sending the next three Sox down (two by putout, one by strikeout) to strand Lopez. The Phillies went down in order at the hands of Michael Soroka, punctuated by Bryce Harper taking a strike three painting the lower left corner of the zone.
The Phillies put their first baserunner on in the bottom of the 2nd, via an Alec Bohm walk. Brandon Marsh was up next, and continued his red-hot start to the campaign, sending an offspeed pitch into the right-centerfield seats for a 2-0 lead. Up next was a Phillie with the precise opposite sort of start: Nick Castellanos, wandering in the desert of singles and strikeouts, the only qualified hitter without an extra base hit to his name. Three pitches later he smashed a sinker into the right field wall, just shy of a home run. He raced around first and second, sliding into the oasis of third base. Like Andy Dufresne basking in the rain, Castellanos was liberated. He had crawled to freedom through 500 yards of sliders.
Johan Rojas singled to right, scoring Castellanos, and then stole second for good measure. His speed suggested that he might not need help getting to third, but he got that help anyway, in the form of a balk. A Kyle Schwarber walk suggested the potential for futher damage, but a foul pop ended the inning at 3-0, Phillies.
In the top of the 5th, Wheeler plunked DeJong to give the Sox their first baserunner since the first. Speaking of first, that’s where he got stranded. In the bottom of the inning, Harper slapped a one-out single to left, then got picked off. An unusual sequence then ensued with Realmuto’s at-bat which the replay officials had to determine if the count had been lost track of; after some delay, Realmuto took ball 4 for a walk. Bohm singled to left, and Soroka was pulled for Tanner Banks. Marsh worked a walk to load the bases, bringing up Castellanos, who promptly slapped a liner right back towards the mound. It could’ve gone right into Banks’ glove. Instead, it found its way right past it, then through the infield for a single and 2 RBIs. Castellanos remained perfect on the night, and the Phillies extended their lead to 5-0.
Phillies RF Nick Castellanos slides into third after belting a triple vs the White Sox - April 2024 - Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images
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