Castellanos, Phillies get last laugh in sweep of Rays

PHILADELPHIA -- Nick Castellanos loved the sweep, of course.

But he loved how the Phillies swept the Rays this week at Citizens Bank Park, including Wednesday’s 3-2 victory. The Phils played without Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto for the entire series. They played more than half the series without Kyle Schwarber, who tweaked his left elbow on Tuesday. But they got solid starting pitching and a nearly flawless performance from the bullpen, along with key contributions from unlikely sources.

“I really liked how everybody did something to contribute every single night,” said Castellanos, who hit a two-run homer in the first inning and scored the winning run in the sixth.

The Phillies have an eight-game lead over the Mets in the NL East with 16 games to play. They could clinch their first division title sometime next week, especially if they play well against the Mets this weekend.

The rivals open a three-game series on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.

“Nothing is done yet,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Until they put whatever they put next to your club -- the ‘e’ or the ‘b’ or whatever it is [to show a clinch on the standings page] -- until they put that there, nothing’s done. So we’ve got to keep going.”

Here are a few notable contributions to Wednesday’s win:

Zack Wheeler
Wheeler did not pitch his best, but it speaks to his talents that he kept the Phillies in the game.

He allowed two runs on four hits and three walks in six innings. He struck out nine. But he also walked the first two batters he faced in the second inning, allowed a leadoff triple in the third and a leadoff double in the fourth.

“It was a battle,” Wheeler said. “Obviously, I didn’t have my best command and all that. I got through it.”

Wheeler is 15-6 with a 2.60 ERA. He has an outside chance to beat out Braves left-hander Chris Sale for the NL Cy Young Award, but he will need a strong finish and probably a stumble or two from Sale to get there.

Wheeler is scheduled to make three more starts: Tuesday in Milwaukee, Sept. 22 in New York against the Mets and Sept. 28 vs. Washington. The Sept. 28 game is the second-to-final game of the season. The Phillies hope to have not only clinched the NL East by that point, but potentially home-field advantage through the World Series. If either or both happens, the club could dial back Wheeler’s workload that day for Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Oct. 5.

Wheeler said he feels about the same as he has felt the previous two Septembers, which seems to bode well. He has been fantastic the past two postseasons.

“I feel comfortable right now, just try to continue that,” he said.

José Alvarado
The Phillies fell apart in the 2023 NLCS, in part, because the bullpen crumbled. But Thomson has plenty of reliable options this year, including a recently resurgent Alvarado.

Alvarado was 0-2 with a 6.75 ERA in 19 appearances from July 5-Aug. 25, with 14 strikeouts and 13 walks in 17 1/3 innings. He left the team on Aug. 26 to handle a personal matter in Venezuela. Since returning on Aug. 31, Alvarado has pitched five scoreless innings in five appearances, allowing only one hit and one walk while striking out seven.

“Just from the visual, it looks fantastic,” Wheeler said. “It looks like Alvarado.”

It would be huge to get this version of Alvarado the rest of the season, along with Carlos Estévez, Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering.

“I never give up,” Alvarado said via team interpreter Diego D'Aniello. “It’s so much different just focusing on competing and not worrying too much about those things that you can’t control. I know that I came from a rough stretch of bad outings, but I think we just left that behind.”

The supporting cast
Buddy Kennedy and Kody Clemens had clutch ninth-inning plate appearances that led to the Phils' 2-1 walk-off victory on Monday. Cal Stevenson doubled to score two runs in the eighth in Tuesday’s 9-4 win.

Stevenson called it the biggest hit of his career.

On Wednesday, Weston Wilson’s swinging bunt single in the sixth inning scored Castellanos from third to give the Phillies the lead. That came a couple innings after catcher Aramis Garcia tagged out a runner at the plate in the fourth. Garcia later threw out a runner at second who represented the potential tying run in the ninth.

All these players saw significant time in Triple-A this year.

“It’s a testament to how we take care of business down there,” said Wilson, who turned 30 on Wednesday. “It’s them putting trust in guys to come up in big situations. It’s helped guys flourish in those opportunities.”