PHILADELPHIA – Nick Castellanos laced a ball into left field. Bryce Harper, the heart and soul of not just this Phillies team but maybe the city itself, began his mad dash from first base.
He hurried past second, his helmet flying off, and ignored third-base coach Dusty Wathan’s plea to stop. Harper is known for many excellent qualities, but speed isn’t one. He nonetheless found whatever next gear he had in that moment, sliding home and immediately leaping up to belt an emphatic scream.
“Bryce does that all the time (running through third-base stop signs) and he’s miraculously safe more often than not,” Castellanos said with a smile.
All that was for an eighth-inning insurance run, by the way. The Phillies themselves seem to collectively find another gear this time of year. They defeated the Marlins 4-1 Tuesday at Citizens Bank Park to take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Wild Card series.
The series winner will face the Braves in the National League Division Series, which begins Saturday at Truist Park. So the Braves and Phillies might just be days away from a rematch that the baseball world has deserved since last October.
This is familiar territory for the Phillies (90-72). A year ago, they took two games in St. Louis to advance and face the Braves, whom they upset in four games en route to the NL pennant. This time, the Phillies are hosts in the wild-card round, which allowed them to benefit from their energy-infused audience of 45,662 on Tuesday.
“I missed it,” Castellanos said. “Honestly, it felt like a continuation from last year.”
Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber: “It felt just like (last year) and it’s only the first round.”
“Red October,” as they call it in Philadelphia, is underway again. And just as before, it began with ace starter Zack Wheeler. The Smyrna native propelled the Phillies’ run to the NL pennant in 2022 when he had a 2.78 ERA with 33 strikeouts in the postseason.
He looked the same, maybe even better on Tuesday. His velocity hovered in the high-90s – he averaged 95.8 mph in the regular season – which included the fastest pitches he’d thrown this year. He was routinely hitting 98 and 99 mph (”It’s got to be the atmosphere and the adrenaline going,” he said). Wheeler went 6-2/3 innings, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out eight without issuing a walk.
Wheeler is among the best signings in Phillies history because he gets better as the situation requires it. Whatever the qualifications to meet the “ace” label, he covers them. As Braves manager Brian Snitker said: “He’s a rough ride.”
Meanwhile, the Phillies’ offense did enough. Each starter had a hit. Castellanos, Alec Bohm, Bryson Stott and former Braves top prospect Cristian Pache each knocked in runs. Johan Rojas, in his first postseason game, won a nine-pitch battle with a single off Marlins starter Jesus Luzardo in the third, then scored on Bohm’s double. That’s one reason the Phillies say they’re better than last year. The lineup is longer and they’re getting production from players like Pache and Rojas.
The Marlins finally wore Wheeler out in the seventh, scoring a run and requiring Phillies manager Rob Thomson to dip into his bullpen. Reliever Jose Alvarado struck out Yuli Gurriel to leave two Marlins stranded. An inning later, the Marlins had Luis Arraez on base with Jorge Soler – the Braves’ 2021 World Series MVP – presented the chance to reset the game with one swing. But Jeff Hoffman, relieving Alvarado, forced Soler to ground into a force out.
There lies another difference with these Phillies. They have options in their bullpen, plus a future Hall of Fame closer in Craig Kimbrel, who finished Tuesday’s win. They’ve also recaptured the vibes of 2022. Calum Scott’s “Dancing On My Own,” essentially the theme song of their previous run, again serenaded the ballpark following the win.
“That’s what this team is all about, we’re a family in here,” Harper said. “It’s 40,000 people out there plus 26. We all vibe the same way. We have such a good team, such good personalities in here that mesh so well with this fan base and city, as well. Just a lot of fun. We just have to keep this going, leave no doubt. Understand that’s a really good team over there. It’s nice to win that first one but we have to take care of business and get it done.”
As for the other side, the Marlins (84-77) were massive underdogs in this series, according to oddsmakers and common sense. But they deserve credit. Not only for being here, but because so many numbers suggest they shouldn’t be.
Miami’s Pythagorean record, per Baseball Reference, was 75-86, which falls closer in line with preseason expectations. The Marlins’ minus-55 run differential is the worst ever for a postseason participant. If it’s agreed that one-run victories are largely a product of luck, whenever the Marlins’ season concludes, they should head straight to Vegas (or the casino adjacent to Citizens Bank Park). They went 33-13 in one-run games and had 41 comeback wins.
That’ll help you leap from 69 victories in 2022 to 84 this year. Manager Skip Schumaker should be commended for his debut season. As folks in Atlanta know, the manager plays a part in consistent close and come-from-behind wins.
The Braves are actually a big reason why Miami is here. After the Braves won three of four in Philadelphia a couple weeks ago to clinch the NL East, they took their foot off the gas during a three-game series in Miami, which the Marlins swept. The Cubs didn’t receive the same courtesy. The Braves swept them at Truist Park, opening the door for Miami and Arizona to secure their wild-card berths in the season’s final week.
Good luck finding a credible analyst who picked the Marlins in this best-of-three, but that doesn’t mean it was an impossible task. The Marlins went 7-6 against the Phillies this season, which included winning four of six at Citizens Bank Park. In Marlins’ fashion, they were outscored 55-64 in those games, though, and had a notably worse ERA (4.61 versus the Phillies’ 3.74). They’re also down phenomenal starters Sandy Alcantara and Eury Perez due to injuries.
Now, the Marlins need two consecutive road wins to keep their season going. They’ll turn to lefty Braxton Garrett (9-7, 3.66) on Wednesday. The Phillies will try to finish the series with Aaron Nola (12-9, 4.46).
“I think they know what’s at stake,” Schumaker said about his team. “I think they know what tomorrow means. We’re going to do the same thing we’ve always done (and that’s) go on game plan and try to beat Nola. That’s what we have always done and I don’t think that’s going to change (Wednesday).”
In the Wild Card Series against the Cardinals, Wheeler and Nola combined to pitch 13 scoreless innings, surrendering just six hits while striking out 10 and walking one. The Phillies hope to apply that same formula here and head down to Atlanta afterwards.
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