Phillies recover from Mets sweep, take out frustrations on Braves

It started with a 19-run outburst that included four homers from Kyle Schwarber and ended with the Phillies nearly finishing off a sweep of their own.

The Phillies, fresh of getting swept by the Mets in Queens for the second time this season, came home and took out their frustrations on the going-nowhere Atlanta Braves, taking three of four against their National League East rivals.

After a 15-run win in Thursday's opener, with Schwarber going yard a historic four times in the onslaught, the Phils scratched out consecutive wins in their last at-bats Friday and Saturday, including Trea Turner's two-out, two-strike line drive single that plated Alec Bohm in the bottom of the 10th on Saturday.

On Sunday, the Phils spoiled another great outing from Jesús Luzardo, who exited in the seventh with a one-run lead but watched the bullpen – namely Orion Kerkering and José Alvarado – blow it, as Drake Baldwin's pinch-hit two-run homer off Alvarado in the ninth allowed Atlanta to escape with one win in the four-game set.  

But even that blown opportunity didn't hurt them in the long haul. The Phils had left New York with large large lead in the NL East whittled down to 4 games, but the Mets dropped three of four to the Marlins and lost the momentum they had temporarily seized as the Phillies' NL East lead is back to 6.

Here's a recap of the series that helped the Phils get their groove back.

Cristopher Sánchez shines again, prepping to be Game 1 starter

After a rough outing against the Mets, who were all over his signature change-up in pounding him for six runs in 5.1 innings, the left-hander made some adjustments to completely foil the Braves.

Sánchez allowed one run on seven hits and struck out eighth and didn't permit a single walk Saturday, although he didn't factor into the decision. He lowered his season ERA to 2.66 and his 6.3 WAR is tops among all MLB pitchers.

Sánchez became the Phils' de facto ace after Zack Wheeler went down for the rest of the season from surgery to remove a blood clot and from thoracic outlet surgery, and it's very important that the Phillies finish September strong and wrap up a top-two seed in the National League, both for needed rest and home-field advantage for as long as possible. Sánchez would be the Game 1 starter in the NLDS in South Philly.

Sanchez's dominance at home gives the Phillies a major advantage whenever they're at The Bank. Here are his home-road splits numbers this season, some of which are staggering:

Trea Turner is red hot again

Turner shook off a bad series against the Mets to get red hot against the Braves. He had at least one hit in three of the four games and finished the series 6-for-16 (.375) with six hits – three doubles – to go along with three RBIs, two runs scored and three stolen bases. 

Turner raised his average from .297 going into the series to .300 and leads the NL with 169 hits, just three behind MLB leader Bo Bichette of the Blue Jays.

Here's a look at where Turner ranks among MLB hitters

Durantula rebounds, late-game relief (generally) good

Also recovering from a recent bump in the road was Jhoan Duran, who pitched Saturday and Sunday, getting a Game 2 save and keeping the Braves off the scoreboard on Saturday before the Phillies rallied in the 10th. He retired all six batters he faced, getting four of the six on strikeouts.

Prior to the Atlanta series, Duran had been knocked around in his past three outings, including a blown save against the Nationals, who earned a 5-4 win by scoring two off the Durantula, and an implosion against the Mets in which he let all four batters he faced reach on hits and allowed a run to absorb the loss. But every closer has some down moments. He appears to have rebounded.

Until Sunday's collapse, late-game relief had stood out positively for the Phillies. Four Phils relievers combined to toss four scoreless innings Friday night. The bullpen added three more scoreless frames Saturday. 

But the 2025 Phillies just can't have three straight lockdown nights. With Duran not available Sunday, Kerkering coughed up the 1-0 lead by not getting an out to start the eighth before loading the bases, and then Alvarado surrendered Baldwin's pinch-hit two-run homer in the ninth to prevent the Phils from a sweep.

Should there be concern about Nick Castellanos?

On Friday night in Game 2, Phils manager Rob Thompson lifted Nick Castellanos from right field as he inserted Harrison Bader, the team's best defensive outfielder. It was the second time Castellanos was lifted for a defensive replacement, and almost three months since the first time, after which Castellanos was benched one game for having some choice words for Topper about it that were deemed "inappropriate."

This time, Castellanos was visibly annoyed again after being replaced and chose his words carefully, but his actions have come under question.

After the 2-1 win, Castellanos gave some terse one-word or one-sentence reponses when asked for his feelings on being replaced. Here's some of his exchange with reporters after the game, courtesy of Tim Kelly of On Pattison:

Castellanos' defensive metrics are objectively subpar, as this MLB.com story points out. Entering Friday, he ranked last among 113 qualifying MLB outfielders in Out Above Average at minus-12, per Statcast. Castellanos also ranked very low in the jump that he gets off the bat and defensive runs saved.

With some very significant games ahead in September against the NL-leading Brewers, Mets and Dodgers, don't expect Topper's approach to change.

Castellanos is taking some social media criticism for his reaction – or lack thereof – to scoring the game-winning run on Turner's two-out single in the 10th. Teammates mobbed Turner after the hit but several clips making the rounds show Castellanos quietly walking away after scoring the winning run.

Here's the clip, from MLB's X account:

In fairness to Castellanos, it's impossible from this clip to know what was said or done in the moments after the celebration, or in the locker room afterward, but the situation is surely worth keeping an eye on as the Phillies have generally enjoyed great locker room chemistry under Thompson, which has always shown during their playoff rides.

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