PHILADELPHIA — Citizens Bank Park spent the past week celebrating what baseball has been.
Beginning Thursday night, it returns to deciding what the Phillies’ season will become.
The All-Star banners will still be hanging when the Phillies and Mets open the second half in South Philadelphia, but the atmosphere has changed. The introductions, ceremonies and exhibitions are over. What remains is a pennant race, a trade deadline and 65 games that will determine whether Philadelphia’s remarkable recovery becomes something larger.
The Phillies enter the second half at 54-43, two games behind Atlanta in the National League East. That standing would have appeared improbable in late April, when an ugly 9-19 start cost manager Rob Thomson his job. Under interim manager Don Mattingly, Philadelphia has gone 45-24, tied for the best record in baseball over that span.
That surge saved the season.
The second half will decide how far it can go.
The Mets arrive from the opposite direction. New York is 40-57, last in the division and 16 games behind Atlanta. Its season has slipped from disappointing to precarious, leaving the organization with difficult decisions ahead of the trade deadline.
Still, the Phillies should not confuse New York’s record with harmlessness. The Mets remain a divisional opponent, and Juan Soto remains capable of changing a game with one swing or one plate appearance. Soto begins the second half batting .290 with a .405 on-base percentage, 21 home runs and a .967 OPS.
The unusual three-game series begins Thursday as the only game on Major League Baseball’s schedule. The clubs will take Friday off before returning Saturday afternoon and Sunday.
Aaron Nola gets the first assignment for Philadelphia, and no player may enter the second half with more to prove.
Nola is 3-6 with a 5.75 ERA through 19 starts. He has allowed 108 hits and 62 earned runs in 97 innings, numbers that have made every promising outing feel temporary. There was progress immediately before the break. Nola allowed five runs over 12 innings in his final two starts while striking out 15 and surrendering only one home run.
The Phillies do not need Nola to carry their rotation. Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo have reduced that burden. They do need him to provide innings, stability and a version of himself they can trust if the season reaches October.
Christian Scott will start the opener for New York. The right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.17 ERA and 65 strikeouts after returning from Tommy John surgery, giving the Mets one of the few encouraging pitching developments from their first half.
Saturday offers a left-handed matchup between Sean Manaea and Luzardo. Manaea is 2-4 with a 4.56 ERA. Luzardo enters at 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA and 136 strikeouts, giving Philadelphia a clear opportunity to control the middle game of the series.
Nolan McLean and Alan Rangel are scheduled for Sunday. McLean is 6-6 with a 3.52 ERA and 125 strikeouts, while Rangel is 0-2 with a 4.19 ERA in his introduction to the Phillies’ rotation.
Philadelphia’s offense has enough star power to punish mistakes. Kyle Schwarber leads the club with 32 home runs and a .927 OPS. Brandon Marsh’s breakout first half produced a .301 average, 15 homers and his first All-Star selection. Bryce Harper remains the center of the lineup, and the Phillies will need all three as the schedule quickly stiffens with the Dodgers arriving Monday.
For one week, Philadelphia hosted baseball’s celebration.
Beginning Thursday, the Phillies return to the harder work of trying to extend it into October.
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