Yesterday was a pretty exciting game! The Phillies found themselves down 2-0 early and it took until the 6th inning for the Phillies to find a lead. Once again finding runs in the second half of ball games.
Alec Bohm returned to the lineup after his injury and made a huge impact. He started the scoring for the Phillies by driving in a run in the 2nd. In the 5th, Harrison Bader showed up yet AGAIN with a solo shot, his 17th, to tie the game. Then, Weston Wilson drove in the go ahead run in the 6th and from that point on the Phillies just took the game emphatically.
Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos did a majority of the damage. Castellanos hit a two-run shot in the 8th, his 17th like Bader, to stretch the lead to 5-2. In the 9th, Bohm drove in two more, and Castellanos one more.
For Nick Castellanos, it was his 250th homer as a pro! What an awesome milestone.
It's been a tougher year for Castellanos. He actually hasn't been playing every day. It's a mixture of the Phillies having great depth and his inconsistency and defensive abilities not being as sharp as they could be. With the addition of Harrison Bader who has been playing career baseball it's just been a slower amount of playing time for Castellanos. Castellanos is still mostly as skilled as ever, it's just a tough situation. Castellanos is not shy in expressing his displeasure at the situation.
But with Max Kepler not providing enough at the plate, Rob Thomson had Castellanos come in to pinch-hit and Nick responded big time! He and Bohm each drove in 3 runs yesterday, Nick did so in three at-bats.
Wish Castellanos was happier but I get it. I'm glad he's still helping the team win and maybe he'll get a ring out of this situation! Castellanos as healthy as possible and with less wear and tear on him in October could be a very valuable thing. Nick playing at his best could be the difference between winning a World Series or not. Maybe Thomson is annoying him on purpose. I'm glad he hit #250 as a Phillie. It was his 82nd with the Phils.
Tonight, Aaron Nola gets another start. It's really depressing always assuming Nola will stink. It would be nice to just see him pitch well as he did for so many years.
The Phillies will have to finish ahead of the Brewers by a game for the #1 seed because the Brewers own the tiebreaker, so with that in mind the Phillies are actually three games back to actually own the top NL seed. With eight games remaining, it is possible.
If the Phillies finish 8-0 they'll have 100 wins!
Should be a great weekend of sports.