The Phillies swept away the Toronto Blue Jays with an 11-4 win on Father’s Day in front of a sellout crowd of 44,000+ screaming fans at Citizens Bank Park on Sundayy afternoon. With the victory, Philly finishes a successful six-game home stand with a 5-1 record, and secured their 42 win of the 2025 season.
Game Recap
Zack Wheeler was practically un-hittable on the cloudy afternoon with nine strikeouts over six innings. He allowed two runs in the 5th inning, but otherwise, Wheeler was able to neutralize a potent Blue Jays offense over the three-hour ballgame on Sunday. “That’s a good club Toronto has there,” Rob Thomson said postgame. “They can swing the bat. We pitched very well today. [Wheeler’s] sinker was more evident today… a bit more downward movement. A lot of soft contact and nine strikeouts. His command is really impressive.”
The Phillies offense made their ace’s job easier with some early run support. In the first inning, lead-off hitter Trea Turner smacked the first pitch from Toronto’s starter Jose Burrios to the outfield. Kyle Schwarber bashed the very next pitch for a single that scored Turner for a 1-0 Philadelphia lead.
Rookie Otto Kemp led off the third inning with a single before getting credit for his first MLB stolen base later in the frame. Schwarber was intentionally walked and Alec Bohm’s RBI single scored Kemp and doubled the Phillies advantage, 2-0.
In the fourth inning, it was Kemp’s turn to secure the RBI base hit with a clutch two-RBI single which scored Max Kepler and J.T. Realmuto for a 4-0 lead. Kemp was caught stealing second base to end the inning with Trea Turner at the plate. “Watching Otto in the Fall League and in spring training, I don’t think he has any problem with confidence,” Thomson stated after Kemp’s 4-5 afternoon at the plate on Sunday. “I think he’s very level-headed. He knows who he is… he’s a baseball player.“
The Blue Jays responded in the top of the fifth inning with two runs across the board against Wheeler. Infielder Andres Giminez scored on Alan Roden’s sacrifice for Toronto’s first score. Two batters later, Ernie Clement scored after a Phillies error which cut the lead in half at 4-2.
Phillies Grand Finale
It took only three batters for the Phillies to regain those runs back on the oversized scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth inning. After a Schwarber walk, Bohm cracked a 2-run HR deep into the right field seats in front of Harry The K’s restaurant for a 6-2 Phillies lead at “The Bank”. Nick Castellanos drove a ball to the left field wall that was hauled in by a spectacular catch from Roden that brought the Toronto training staff onto the field after the outfielder slammed hard into the wall, however, the Blue Jays outfielder remained in the ballgame.
Wheeler pitched a classic shutdown inning in the sixth before Nick Castellanos busted the game wide open in the bottom half of the frame.
With the bases full of Phillies runners, Castellanos blasted a line drive to left-center field that scraped the wall and landed in the flower bed for a grand slam home run and a 10-2 Phils advantage. “The ball he hit just cut right through the wind,” Thomson said of Castellanos Grand Slam swing.
It is the ninth grand slam in Castellanos’ career and his second grand slam this season with the other occurrence on April 6 against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Castellanos joins Javier Baez (9), Aaron Judge (9), Cody Berlinger (9), Giancarlo Stanton (11), and Manny Machado (12) atop the career active grand slam leaders in Major League Baseball.
Wheeler was finished after six innings with 94 pitches as he gave way to Tanner Banks and the Phillies bullpen. Banks allowed a parade of singles and two Blue Jays runners to score in his solo inning of work. Jordan Romano pitched a clean eighth inning, and Max Lazar finished off the win in the ninth inning. Schwarber’s fielder’s choice in the bottom of the eighth inning finished the scoring in the 11-4 final at Citizens Bank Park.
Philadelphia travels to Miami for a four-game divisional showdown with the Marlins starting tomorrow night. The Phillies return to their home ballpark next weekend for a critical three-game series against the NL East-leading New York Mets next Friday night with Wheeler on the mound against his former club.
Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
