Categories: 2023 Postgame Recaps

In first game after trade deadline, stars lead Phillies to comeback over Marlins

Nick Castellanos hit a colossal home run on Tuesday. (Melissa Tamez/Icon Sportswire)

The Phillies’ relative inaction at the trade deadline was guided by two factors: the overall dearth of impact talent on the market, and the fact that the only real way for the Phillies to make a playoff push and run is for their stars to step up.

As far as that strategy goes, Game 1 after the deadline wasn’t a good start in terms of return on investment.

Until the ninth inning.

Three outs from falling to the Miami Marlins and former Phillie David Robertson, in for the save opportunity, the Phillies’ stars stepped up big time, leading a furious late comeback effort to steal one from the jaws of defeat against a Wild Card competitor.

It started with Kyle Schwarber, who worked a leadoff walk (despite a rough called strike on a 2-0 pitch), and continued with a huge one-out hit off the bat of Bryce Harper, doubling just past the outstretched glove of Bryan De La Cruz to tie the game at one apiece.

Then, Nick Castellanos — who could only stand to benefit when July, the worst month of his Phillies career, gave way to August — delivered likely his biggest regular season swing since signing with the Phillies last March.

It was just the second homer for Castellanos since July 5, and it came after his OPS had fallen more than 100 points in the past month.

That the Phillies only had a one-run deficit to erase was largely due to a different Castellanos contribution, in the seventh. Luis Arráez lined a ball down the right field line that ended up lodging itself in the base of the wall, but Castellanos and Bryson Stott executed a perfectly relay home. Garrett Stubbs finished the play by applying a tag — reminiscent of the Derek Jeter “flip” play — on Jacob Stallings, curiously neglecting to slide as he tried to score from first.

That small deficit was also due to Ranger Suárez, who bounced back from back-to-back four-run outings by firing 6 1/3 frames of one-run ball, despite conceding 10 hits. It was due to Yunior Marte, too, who came in after the aforementioned relay put Arráez on third with one out.

Marte walked the next two batters to load the bases. He escaped the inning unscathed.

If Castellanos and Suárez established bouncebacks as the theme of the night, Seranthony Domínguez added his name to the ledger in the bottom of the ninth. After blowing saves in his past two appearances, as well as three of his past four and four of his past six, Domínguez worked a perfect ninth to give the Phillies one of their best wins of the season, considering the opponent, location, timing and manner.

It padded the 58-49 Phillies’ Wild Card advantage to a full game over the Arizona Diamondbacks and Milwaukee Brewers, and 1 1/2 games on the Marlins. The Phillies and San Francisco Giants share the NL’s top two Wild Card spots, and with a Giants loss Tuesday night, the Phillies will reclaim the top spot.

It’s an awfully good way to kick off the month.

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