PHILADELPHIA — As the Phillies took their positions and made a few warmup throws before the sixth inning Thursday night, Nick Castellanos squatted in right field, alone with his thoughts.
There was a lot to consider. His 10-pitch duel with Houston Astros starter Justin Verlander. Another game without much thunder from the Phillies’ power-packed offense. A World Series that felt as if it was slipping away.
And now, after a cuticle-chomping 3-2 loss in Game 5 at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies must chew on this: Unless they win back-to-back games this weekend in Houston, their magic-carpet ride of a postseason will end with a National League pennant but also the emptiness of not being able to etch their names alongside the World Series victors of 1980 and 2008.
It was never going to be easy, vanquishing the 106-win Astros. The Phillies were the last NL team into the tournament, and although they are the last one standing a month later, they are regarded as the World Series underdog, except within the walls of their clubhouse.
The Phillies’ best hope to outrun the Astros to four victories was always to outslug them. The Phillies were built to mash. And after tying a World Series record with five home runs to drive their fans delirious in Game 3, it seemed like things might actually go according to plan.
But the bats have fallen silent ever since against the Astros’ world-class pitching. In Game 4, the Phillies became the second team in 688 World Series games to get no-hit. In Game 5, they picked up six hits, but only two for extra bases and one with a runner in scoring position. Jean Segura’s one-out RBI single in the eighth inning snapped a team-wide 0-for-20 drought with runners on second or third base, a skid that dated to the fifth inning of Game 1.
They haven’t gotten much luck, either. J.T. Realmuto was robbed of a certain extra-base hit in the ninth inning when Astros center fielder Chas McCormick, a West Chester native, made a running, leaping catch on the warning track, leaving Realmuto standing between first and second base with his hands on his helmet.
Over the last two games, the first five hitters in the Phillies’ batting order — Kyle Schwarber, Rhys Hoskins, Realmuto, Bryce Harper, and Castellanos — are 2 for 36 with one homer (Schwarber’s Game 5 leadoff shot), six walks, and 17 strikeouts. Since his 10th-inning homer in Game 1, Realmuto is 1 for 18 with 11 strikeouts — and utter robbery by McCormick.
Castellanos had two big chances to deliver a run. With two outs and Harper on second base in the fifth inning, he waged a 10-pitch fight with Verlander, his former teammate with the Detroit Tigers. He fouled off four consecutive pitches — slider, fastball, slider, change-up — took a curveball to work the count full and fouled off another curveball before flying out to left field on a slider.
Then, in the ninth, after Harper got hit by a pitch, Castellanos worked the count full again before grounding to Astros rookie shortstop Jeremy Peña to end the game. Peña had a big game, with an RBI single in the first inning, a leaping catch to take a hit from Castellanos in the third, and a solo homer in the fourth.
The Phillies’ hopes now rest with ace Zack Wheeler, who will take the mound Saturday night with a gas tank that is running dangerously low. After dominating his first four postseason starts, Wheeler got knocked around for five runs (four earned) in five innings of Game 2, his top fastball velocity slipping by about 2-3 mph.
“He’s got the stuff to get the job done,” Realmuto said. “Whether his velo is at 98 or not, as long as he’s got his command and then he’s able to attack the strike zone and work ahead of hitters, I’m not too worried about the velo.”
Maybe not. But in 47 previous World Series that were tied 2-2, the Game 5 winner went on to win 31 times (65.9 winning percentage).
When the Phillies left town on the night of Sept. 25, they didn’t know if they would make it back. Because even if they survived a season-ending 10-game road trip and snapped an 11-year postseason drought, they would play the wild-card series on the road. And if they advanced, the divisional round would begin away from home, too.
But the Phillies did return. Not just for a game or two, either. They wound up hosting eight postseason games over three rounds, turning Citizens Bank Park back into South Philly’s biggest party, and restoking a city’s longheld flame for baseball after a decade in the darkness.
Not that there was any need to hype up the crowd for the last home game until next April, but there was Brad Lidge spiking a changeup to Carlos Ruiz in a ceremonial first pitch replay of the final World Series pitch 14 years ago. Meek Mill rapped in right field, then got a ride on the hood of the Phanatic’s scooter. The Phillies took the field in their powder-blue throwbacks.
And then the Astros grabbed a 1-0 lead after four pitches from starter Noah Syndergaard.
Jose Altuve lined a leadoff double and took third base when Brandon Marsh bobbled the ball in center field. Manager Rob Thomson brought the infield in, and Peña stroked an RBI single up the middle.
It would take more than that to quell the crowd, which roared again when Realmuto caught Peña trying to steal second and Schwarber tied the game with the 26th leadoff homer in World Series history and first ever by a Phillies player.
If the Phillies come home now, it will be for a World Series victory parade next week. Count them out at your peril. But this would qualify as their biggest comeback of all.
