Phillies check another box that could matter in season win originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
WASHINGTON – The kind of moment Rob Thomson and every Phillies fan wanted to avoid almost happened in the second inning of Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Nationals, when Aaron Nola was hit in the right side by a 90-mph line drive .
Drew Millas’ batted ball deflected off Nola’s right oblique/hip and went for an infield single, putting runners on the corners. Thomson and Phillies assistant athletic trainer Joe Rauch immediately came out to check on him and Nola stayed in the game. With a caught stealing and a strikeout, he was out of the inning a few pitches later.
“We came out healthy,” Thomson said. ‘Nola took the line drive, but no bones or anything like that were hit. There’s some skin on it, he’ll have a bruise, but he’ll be fine. I tried to get him through 5 2/3 (to get to 200 innings), but I told him we wouldn’t go past 100 pitches.”
The Phillies have been locked in second place in the National League playoffs since Friday night, but this latest win checked another box that could matter, giving them home field advantage over the Yankees in the World Series if both teams make it. It.
However, there are still many steps to be taken before that can become a reality and Thomson failed to deliver on Sunday as if it was a crucial match. Bryce Harper and JT Realmuto had the last day off. Nick Castellanos started for the 162nd time, but retired in the second inning. Trea Turner left in the seventh.
“It’s pretty cool to say out loud,” Castellanos said of the achievement.
The Phillies won 6-3 and finished 95-67. It is their sixth-highest win total in franchise history. The game ended when Kody Clemens made a game-saving play by jumping a fly ball into the left field wall with the bases loaded.
The Phils have a bye in the wild-card round and won’t play again until Saturday. The Phillies will take Monday off, have a mandatory team workout at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday, play an intrasquad game on Wednesday, have a voluntary workout on Thursday and another mandatory Friday at the same time as Saturday’s game.
“Don’t be so cheerful and consider these five days as a vacation instead of just some free time,” Castellanos said. “Still stay focused and concentrate on what we have planned that day.
“I think we just know how important every day is. Win today and tomorrow will take care of itself. We have a number of guys who subscribe to this philosophy.”
The Phils’ NLDS opponent is the Brewers, Mets, Braves or Diamondbacks. The Mets and Braves meet Monday in Atlanta for a doubleheader to determine the final two playoff spots.
Nola allowed a home run to the first batter he faced, Luis Garcia Jr., on Sunday, but got through five innings for his 14th win. He finished at 199⅓ innings for the season, two outs shy of 200. Thomson tried to get Nola to reach the milestone as Zack Wheeler did on Saturday, but Nola powered through the fifth inning and was removed on a leadoff triple in the sixth.
The Phillies were quiet offensively in the first two games of the series, loading the bases with no outs in the first inning Sunday, scoring two runs and scoring four more in the fifth. Kyle Schwarber drove in two and matched a career-high from last season with 104 RBI.
The Phillies went 33-33 after the All-Star break and lost seven of their last 11 games, but those facts alone don’t portend doom. The Diamondbacks scored a total of three runs and lost four straight to end last season before heading to the World Series. The 2022 Phillies went 13-2 to end the regular season against an Astros team with nothing to play for, then rolled through the playoffs, winning 10 of 12.
Now comes the real stakes. These guys have been waiting for October since the last pitch of the 2023 NLCS and it’s finally here.
“I’ve learned that the playoffs are kind of an animal unto themselves,” Castellanos said. “It’s a clean slate for everyone.”