It’s late June. The standings said the Phillies and Mets were even. Friday night made one thing clear: they’re not.
This was supposed to be a tense, tight, first-place showdown at Citizens Bank Park. For five innings, it looked like it might live up to that billing. But then came the bottom of the seventh, a half-inning that felt less like a ballgame and more like a montage from Major League.
Tied 2-2 entering the frame, the Phillies erupted for six runs, turning a coin-flip into a beatdown. The highlight came off the bat of Bryson Stott, who lashed a triple off the angled wall in left-center to blow the inning open. But the moment that brought the place to life? That belonged to J.T. Realmuto and Nick Castellanos, who came barreling home in tandem on the same play. Both slid in under the tag of Mets catcher Luis Torrens, a split-second apart, like something choreographed by a Hollywood director. All that was missing was Bob Uecker screaming into a microphone.
“It looks like — what is it? ‘Rookie of the Year’?” Castellanos said. “I can’t remember which, but I know it’s one of those baseball movies and it’s a funny scene.”
“I basically made the decision rounding third base,” Realmuto said. “In my head, I was like, ‘We’re either going to both be out or both be safe.’ So luckily, we both snuck in there.”
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Suddenly, it was 8-2. And the game was over in everything but paperwork. Castellanos added a two-run shot in the eighth, putting the final stamp on a 10-2 thumping of the Mets.
The night began with Zack Wheeler doing what Zack Wheeler does: battling. He wasn’t sharp, five innings, 98 pitches, four hits, three walks, but he punched out eight and escaped trouble more than once. The biggest escape came in the first when he loaded the bases with one out, only to get a tailor-made 4-6-3 double play from Jeff McNeil. Classic Wheeler: get in trouble, then get out of it like it was all part of the plan.
The Phillies struck first in the fourth. Castellanos led off with a single. Realmuto added one later. Otto Kemp rolled a grounder to third that plated a run, and Brandon Marsh followed with an RBI single to make it 2-0.
But the Mets clawed back in the fifth - and quickly. Taijuan Walker took over for Wheeler and immediately gave up a bomb to Pete Alonso that smashed off the center-field batter’s eye. Three pitches later, McNeil went deep to right to tie it. Four batters, one out, and Walker was gone.
That’s when the game hung in the balance. And that’s when the Phillies snatched it.
Marsh opened the seventh with a double. Turner followed with one of his own. Schwarber walked. Bohm blooped a single to right, where Soto fielded it cleanly - just not urgently - and Turner scored to retake the lead.
Then came Stott’s triple. Then came the double-slide. Then came a six-run statement that said: We are not the same.
"It's awesome. It's the best feeling," Marsh said. "Especially against a good team like that, in-division, big game."
Did you notice?
Before the Phillies blew the game open, Otto Kemp might’ve saved it in the top of the seventh.
First, he made a full-extension stretch on a bang-bang play to get Brandon Nimmo out — the kind of play that usually ends up on replay and in highlight reels.
Then, he ranged to his right, made a diving stop on a hard-hit ball, and flipped to the pitcher covering third to close out the inning.
If either of those plays had gone the other way, the Mets would’ve kept the inning alive — and the game might’ve taken a very different turn.
Instead, Kemp’s glove preserved the tie and gave the Phillies a chance to turn the bottom of the inning into a party.
"It's awesome. It's the best feeling," Marsh said. "Especially against a good team like that, in-division, big game."
Did you notice?
Before the Phillies blew the game open, Otto Kemp might’ve saved it in the top of the seventh.
First, he made a full-extension stretch on a bang-bang play to get Brandon Nimmo out — the kind of play that usually ends up on replay and in highlight reels.
Then, he ranged to his right, made a diving stop on a hard-hit ball, and flipped to the pitcher covering third to close out the inning.
If either of those plays had gone the other way, the Mets would’ve kept the inning alive — and the game might’ve taken a very different turn.
Instead, Kemp’s glove preserved the tie and gave the Phillies a chance to turn the bottom of the inning into a party.
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