PITTSBURGH — Sunday’s game went about as well as a game could go for the Phillies. They won, 8-2, completing a four-game sweep of the Pirates. Aaron Nola pitched another gem, finishing his day at six innings, six hits, one run, one walk and eight strikeouts. Interim manager Rob Thomson only needed to use two relievers on Sunday, Mark Appel and Jeurys Familia, giving his bullpen ample rest before an off-day Monday, and a two-game series in Atlanta that starts Tuesday.
But perhaps most impressive was the Phillies’ offense. After a stretch in which the bats have looked largely stagnant, they lit up on Sunday afternoon. The Phillies rattled off 18 hits, which passes their previous season best for most hits in a game (they had 17 on May 9 in Seattle). Five Phillies had a multi-hit game. After going 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Saturday night, they went 6-for-10 in that scenario on Sunday afternoon.
The Phillies are now 55-47 and are sitting in the third NL wild card spot.
Bohm goes 0-for-4 on Saturday, and 4-for-5 on Sunday
Alec Bohm had his 14-game hitting streak end Saturday, but quickly made up for that on Sunday. Bohm went 4-for-5, falling just one hit short of the cycle (he had a double, two singles and a home run that traveled 404 feet). With his four-hit day, Bohm officially hit over .400 for the month of July (he finished the month at .408/.434/.563). He’s batting .299 for the season.
Bohm is the first Phillie with 18 hits over eight games since Shane Victorino did it from Sept. 14-22, 2008.
Schwarber’s 33rd homer
So much happened in this game that Kyle Schwarber’s 33rd home run of the season felt almost overlooked, but he did, in fact, send a ball 441 feet to left-center field. Schwarber’s career high for home runs in a season is 38 (in 2019). He’s on pace to hit 52 home runs, so it seems like he’ll set a new bar fairly easily (and quickly).
A big day for Castellanos
Nick Castellanos’ struggles at the plate have been well-documented, but he seemed to have somewhat of a breakthrough on Sunday. He went 4-for-5 with four singles and two RBI. A few of those hits were hit hard — one left his bat at 100.7 mph. We’ll see if it carries into Atlanta.
Another good start for Nola
Nola had one of his better starts of the month on Sunday, bouncing back after a rough outing against the Braves on July 26 in which he allowed five earned runs over six innings. He now has 12 quality starts this season through his first 21 starts. That’s already more quality starts than he had in 2021 (11) and he still has two months of the season left.
