A late-inning rally put the Phillies up over the New York Mets 10-2 on Friday evening. Zack Wheeler pitched five scoreless innings, racking up a high pitch count before passing the ball to the bullpen. Tanner Banks eventually earned the win for the Phillies, pitching 1.2 scoreless innings.
Nick Castellanos and Brandon Marsh led the way for the Phillies offensively, each tallying three hits. Bryson Stott, meanwhile, recorded a bases-clearing double to rack up three RBIs.
Early call changes and managing a traffic jam
Festivities began early in what was shaping up to be a lively Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. Zack Wheeler had Mets’ leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor down on an 0-2 count two pitches into the contest. Wheeler then threw a curveball destined for the dirt, getting Lindor swinging. The original call from home plate umpire Jonathan Parra was a strikeout; however, Lindor contested that he fouled the ball off.
After a lengthy debate between Lindor, manager Carlos Mendoza, and the umpire crew, the call was changed to a foul ball. Lindor then immediately flew out to center field.
Wheeler then found his way into trouble quickly, allowing a single to Brandon Nimmo before walking both Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. Wheeler, however, remained poised, getting Jeff McNeil to cave on an outside cutter, hitting into a 4-6-3 double play to get out of the first inning unscathed.
Getting on the board
Both sides battled, but neither could break the ice until the bottom of the fourth inning. Nick Castellanos led off the inning with a single into center field. Two batters later, J.T. Realmuto drove a slider into left field, putting two runners on for Bryson Stott.
Stott, who had already been walked earlier in the game by Mets’ starter Blade Tidwell, worked himself into a friendly 3-1 count. Looking at a cutter into the dirt, Stott loaded the bases for rookie Otto Kemp. Kemp then slapped a dribble to third base. While Stott was called out at second base, Kemp beat out the subsequent throw to first base, scoring Castellanos. The run not only broke the ice for the Phillies but forced the Mets to the bullpen, ending Tidwell’s outing at 3.2 innings pitched.
With José Castillo now pitching for the Mets, Brandon Marsh kept the inning going for the Phillies, hitting a single into left field. Realmuto scored on the play, giving the Phillies a 2-0 lead after four innings of work.
Nimmo sought to get the momentum going back in the Mets’ favor in the top of the fifth. With two outs, he hit a double to the warning track in center field, just barely out of reach of a running Marsh. Nimmo, however, would find himself stranded at second as Wheeler struck out Soto on a full count sweeper low and inside.
Schwarber led off the bottom of the inning with a single just beyond Alonso at first base. Groundouts from Bohm and Castellanos put Schwarber 90 feet away from scoring at third.
Wheels out and the wheels fall off
Zack Wheeler pitched five shutout innings against the Mets, needing 98 pitches to do so. It was Wheeler’s shortest outing of the year.
Taijuan Walker then entered to face his former team, the Mets. Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeill promptly hit back-to-back home runs off Walker, tying the game at 2-2 before Walker even recorded an out.
Walker pitched 14 pitches to four batters before being removed from the game. He allowed four line drives into the outfield, resulting in two solo home runs, one line out, and a single to Luis Torrens.
Otto-matic outs
Tanner Banks entered with one runner on and worked out of the jam. First, he struck out Brett Baty on a 2-2 red zone fastball. Then, he worked Tyrone Taylor into a weak line drive in foul territory. Otto Kemp made a leaping catch to record the out, his second recorded foul out of the day.
“He’s throwing the ball very well,” said Rob Thomson post-game on Banks. “We have put him into some leverage situations and got out of that inning and went 1-2-3 and really set us up for the end.”
Kemp continued to put on a show in the seventh. Trea Turner made a sliding stop on a dribbler from Nimmo. Pressed for time to complete the out, Turner launched a throw high and a bit wide to first. Kemp stretched out, barely holding the bag with his foot while making the catch for the second out of the inning. Kemp was not done there, however, as Soto hit a hard grounder to Kemp’s left. Diving on the first read, Kemp secured the grounder in time to toss the leather to Banks covering first to end the inning.
“[Kemp] really played well,” said Thomson. “We played really good defense tonight, infield defense. Stott made a couple of good plays. Trea made a really good play. Kemp makes that catch way down the right field line.”
The classic late-inning breakout
Marsh, already 2-for-2 on the day with an RBI, led off the bottom of the seventh with a double down the left field line. It would not take long for Marsh to score as Turner followed up with a double of his own down the right field line. Both doubles were to the opposite field for the respective lefties and righties.
A walk from Schwarber put two runners on base for Bohm. Bohm then hit an opposite-way single into right field, scoring Turner and moving Schwarber to third.
After a pitching change bringing in Justin Garza, Castellanos kept the train going, hitting a single up the middle. Schwarber scored on the play, with Bohm moving up to second base. Bohm would then move to third on a fly ball into right field from Max Kepler. The bases were then loaded on a four-pitch walk to Realmuto.
With the bases loaded, Stott put on the exclamation mark, a double into center field. Realmuto nearly caught Castellanos as the throw reached home plate, but all runners were safe on the play. Advancing to third on the throw, Stott secured a three-RBI double to rip open the game to an 8-2 advantage for the Phillies. Ten batters came to the plate in the inning for the Phillies as they scored six runs.
Sealing the deal
With a six-run lead, the Phillies sought to save their high-leverage arms. Max Lazar pitched a clean eighth inning in relief of Banks, sitting down the Mets in order.
The bats, however, were not finished quite yet. Turner led off the bottom of the eighth with a single, eventually being replaced by Schwarber on a fielder’s choice. With Schwarber on and two outs, Castellanos sent a fastball 428 feet into center field for a two-run home run, putting the Phillies in the double digits for the second time in a week.
Lazar came back out for the top of the ninth and retired the Mets’ batters in order, sealing the deal on a 10-2 victory for the Phillies over the Mets.
Tanner Banks walks away from the night with the win for the Phillies, while Reed Garrett takes the loss. Banks now improves to a 2-0 record on the year.
Offense shows up big time
The Phillies combined for 13 hits on the evening, walking five times. Nick Castellanos went 3-for-5 with three runs scored, three RBIs, and a two-run home run, while Brandon Marsh went 3-for-4 out of the nine-hole.
One thing that Thomson preaches time and again to his batters is to use the entirety of the field. The Phillies did so tonight in a big way, constantly hitting the ball to the opposite field.
“Five hits, two walks in the seventh,” Thomson explained. “Of the five hits, two were with two strikes, and all of them were either opposite field or in the middle of the diamond.”
Mick is ready and Abel
Only needing to utilize Taijuan Walker, Tanner Banks, and Max Lazar, the Phillies’ bullpen will be at full strength on Saturday to support rookie hurler Mick Abel. Abel will make his first career start against the Mets and will toe the rubber against Griffin Canning. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. with the game being broadcast nationally on FOX.
“We’re playing good baseball right now,” said Thomson. “Trust me, there are ups and downs in the season now. So, you know, but I’m happy with where we’re at right now.”
