Phillies fighting off negative moments as they make another trip to NLCS
Philadelphia Phillies' Nick Castellanos reacts after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of Game 3 of a baseball NL Division Series against Atlanta on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023, in Philadelphia. Credit: AP/Matt Slocum
PHILADELPHIA — As of Thursday afternoon, the Phillies still hadn’t won a World Series since 2008, the second of only two championships in the franchise’s 140-year history. And yet you couldn’t find the stomach-churning angst, the nervous energy, the fatalistic outlook that typically shadows such a team in October.
A few hours later, shortly after 11 p.m., the Phillies once again showed why in Game 4 of the Division Series. The slow-heartbeat, unshakeable, wild-card wonders knocked off 104-win Atlanta, eliminating the NL East champs for the second consecutive year, this time by the score of 3-1, with Nick Castellanos going deep twice for the second straight night at Citizens Bank Park.
That last part isn’t a misprint. Castellanos became the first player in MLB history to hit multiple homers in back-to-back playoff games, both off Atlanta ace Spencer Strider, the second on a 100-mph fastball, the fifth-fastest pitch to ever yield a postseason home run since that data-tracking began in 2008.
How fitting that it was Castellanos who called the Phillies’ only defeat, the Game 2 gut punch at Truist Park, the “perfect ending” to a brutal loss. They blew a 4-0 lead, and watched their final chance circle the drain in the ninth when Bryce Harper was doubled up on Michael Harris II’s brilliant catch for the final out.
“Having that exclamation point on the loss, I think, was perfect for our group of guys,” Castellanos said.
Hard to argue. Since Harper’s futile dash, the Phillies hit nine homers in two games to close out the Division Series while holding Atlanta — MLB’s highest scoring offense — to a mere three runs in that same span. Castellanos smashed four of them, and Trea Turner homered in each game, including Thursday to break a tie at 1 in the fifth inning. Turner also went 4-for-4 with a double and two singles, but even that couldn’t overshadow Castellanos’ bat flips, sort of a nonchalant baton twirl as he strutted toward first base.
“I think when you’re hitting two homers every day, you can do whatever the hell you want,” Turner said afterward. “When you’re that locked in and you’re seeing the ball well and you’re driving it to all parts of the field and over the fence, you can do whatever you want. It’s pretty cool watching him just be comfortable and be himself.”
That’s an appropriate slogan for the Phillies as a whole, a team with an oversized personality and the talent to match — along with Castellanos’ previously mentioned appetite for adversity. After that crushing loss in Atlanta, the Phillies trailed in the next two games, only to bulldoze their way to the NLCS for the second straight October anyway. On Thursday night, they even watched Harper clutch his surgically-repaired right elbow in pain after it collided with Matt Olson’s knee at first base in the eighth inning, but he stayed in the game and appeared fine — both on the field and later partying shirtless in the clubhouse.
“Winning teams find ways to win, right — at all costs,” Harper said as champagne rained down on him. “We just beat a really, really good team. I’m so proud of these guys.”
Given their history, the Phillies have a long track record of unfinished business, including a six-game loss to the Astros in last year’s World Series. But they don’t seem haunted by failure. In very un-Philly fashion, everyone around this team has embraced the power of positive thinking, including the fans in the seats. The same city that once proudly booed Santa Claus chose unconditional love in support of a slumping Turner and was rewarded when the $300 million shortstop rebounded to start playing like one.
For New Yorkers, this whole Philly phenomenon is tough to relate to. The Yankees are sitting on a 14-year title drought, and after getting booed out of the Bronx for six months, they spent last week yelling at each other during organizational meetings in Tampa. As for the Mets, they capped a 75-win season by firing a manager and having the GM tender a surprise resignation.
Thomson is plenty familiar with the New York vibe from his long history with the Yankees, and he was asked before Thursday’s Game 4 how his ’09 Yankees compared to the current Phillies. The baseball climate in the Bronx is much more buttoned up than down here on Broad Street. Think Goldman Sachs vs. a Google campus. Still, Thomson could identify some recognizable DNA strands.
“I think it’s very similar,” Thomson said before Game 4. “I think this team here has a little bit more fun, and I’m not dogging that ’09 team. But they were very business-like whereas this team is, you know, they’re loose — they come to the ballpark, have fun and they’re not afraid to show it.”
After Thursday’s clincher, Thomson — soaked cap to cleats in various adult beverages — left the podium and headed for the exit. It sounded like the manager was wearing sponges on his feet.
“I’m squishing,” Thomson said.
The party continues in Philadelphia, for a team that’s only growing more confident this October.
David Lennon is an award-winning columnist, a voter for baseball's Hall of Fame and has covered six no-hitters, including two perfect games.
