What we learned as Harper caps Phillies' comeback trilogy, nostalgic first half originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
WASHINGTON — The Phillies reached the season’s halfway point Thursday with a familiar feel.
Four years ago, another Phillies club ended its first half against Washington after climbing out of an early hole, undergoing a managerial change and beginning a run that carried it to a National League pennant.
That 2022 team concluded the first 81 games at 43-38.
This one left Nationals Park at 45-36.
The similarities only grew after the Phillies erased a five-run deficit to beat Washington, 10-5, completing a three-game comeback trilogy that kept topping itself.
They scored two runs in the sixth, three in the seventh and four in the ninth. Bryce Harper, channeling his inner “Showman,” hit a go-ahead two-run homer in the ninth to cap their third straight comeback win and a wild series against the Nationals.
They became the first team in MLB history to hit go-ahead homers in three consecutive games, and scored the most ninth-inning runs in a three game span of any Phillies team ever.
Absurd.
The Phillies were 9-19 less than two months ago. They have gone 36-17 since, moving within four games of first place in the National League East as Atlanta has lost 10 of its last 13.
Thursday did not look like it would extend the run.
Cristopher Sánchez, of all pitchers, allowed five runs over the first three innings. The Phillies had struggled to get anything going against Nationals starter Cade Cavalli.
Then Brandon Marsh got a pitch to drive.
CHIP AWAY, CHIP AWAY
It felt fitting that Marsh broke the Phillies’ scoreless seal.
After Harper singled with one out in the sixth, Marsh jumped on a low-and-in changeup from Cavalli and drove it into the right-field seats for a two-run homer.
It was Marsh’s eighth hit of the series, fourth extra-base hit and third homer.
Earlier Thursday, Marsh was named a National League All-Star finalist after Phase 1 voting ended. This series offered another reminder of what has fueled his breakout season.
“I got some pitches to do some damage with and take advantage of in this series,” Marsh said. “It’s not gonna always be like that, so you definitely got to take it when you get it.”
The Phillies were still down three entering the seventh.
Justin Crawford began the inning with his second hit of the day, only his sixth hit this season against a left-hander. Trea Turner followed with a single, extending his streak to three straight multihit games.
Then the Phillies changed the inning without putting a ball in play.
Kyle Schwarber walked. Harper and Marsh each drew bases-loaded walks after Clayton Beeter entered.
Suddenly, it was 5-4.
Alec Bohm tied the game by beating out a potential inning-ending double play. Bryson Stott worked another walk. J.T. Realmuto grounded out to end the inning despite Curtis Mead hesitating on his throw after the Phillies’ catcher stumbled on his way down the line.
Mattingly said the inning started with an effort to get traffic on the bases before Schwarber and Harper came up.
“We were very patient there in the seventh,” Mattingly said. “We wanted to get some action before Schwarber and Harp got up. Crawford gets a hit, Trea gets a hit, then you’re in the zone. Schwarber walks, Harper walks and it kind of snowballed.”
The Phillies entered the inning with little momentum. They left it with another chance.
A RARE ROUGH DAY FOR SÁNCHEZ
Sánchez’s scoreless streak reached 50 2/3 innings earlier this season. Since it ended, he has posted a 4.98 ERA over four starts and allowed at least four runs twice.
His command was not as sharp as usual Thursday.
Curtis Mead opened the scoring with a first-inning homer off a sinker that leaked back over the plate. Sánchez then hit Andrés Chaparro before allowing consecutive singles to Dylan Crews and Daylen Lile. Jacob Young brought home another run with a soft chopper, and Nasim Nuñez added a two-out RBI single.
Sánchez relied on his slider 28 percent of the time, his second-highest usage of the pitch this season. He allowed five earned runs in five innings with one walk and six strikeouts, raising his ERA to 2.13.
He stayed in long enough to cover five innings after the rough start.
“He hangs in there and gets us through five,” Mattingly said. “He kind of got better as the game went along. His pitch count just got a little deep for us.”
Sánchez did not view the outing as a physical issue.
“I missed a couple pitches and they got me,” Sánchez said. “Outside of that, I felt great today. Everything was good.”
His teammates gave him a different ending than the one he expected after the third inning.
“It motivates us a lot,” Sánchez said. “After a rough start like today, them picking me up like that, that’s motivating.”
THE STAGE WAS SET FOR BRYCE
The Phillies had already climbed back from five-plus runs Tuesday.
They had been down to their final strike Wednesday before Derek Hill’s go-ahead homer.
On Thursday, after the seventh-inning rally tied the game, Harper came to the plate in the ninth with a chance to finish it.
The right-field upper deck had spent much of the night chanting at the former National.
Harper heard it. With “eff you” chants raining down from the ‘tarps-off’ group, he sat on a 1-0 changeup and drove it the other way for a go-ahead two-run homer.
He gestured toward the crowd as he rounded the bases, later clarifying it was his ring finger. He knows this place quite well.
“It’s a fan base I sweated for, for seven years,” Harper said. “There’s a lot of people over there within that organization I respect, a lot of workers around the ballpark, and I still love them.
“But it’s all part of it. It’s all fun.”
The crowd noise has never kept Harper from leaning into a moment.
“I love it,” Harper said.
Mattingly sees those environments as a natural fit for Harper.
“He’s not afraid of the stage,” Mattingly said. “He’s been in it his whole life. I don’t think the stage bothers him. I think it probably motivates him when people get on him and stuff like that. I think it’s probably something he feeds off of a little bit.”
Harper’s homer gave the Phillies their first lead of the afternoon. Realmuto followed with a double off the wall, then Hill added another home run, giving the Phillies breathing room and allowing Mattingly to stay away from Jhoan Duran.
Harper placed the game-winning swing within the full rally that came before it.
“Once you get down 5-0, it’s definitely tough,” Harper said. “But we just got to keep fighting and going back, and we’ve done that.
Three nights. Three comeback wins. Three different players delivering go-ahead homers.
THE ’22 FEEL
The 2022 comparison remains imperfect. Harper said this group is different from the one that went to the World Series.
But the setting, record and timing are hard to ignore.
Bohm was part of that 2022 turnaround. Thursday left him looking at a club in a far better place from the early stages of the season.
“We’re definitely in a lot better spot than we could be, given how we started,” Bohm said. “This is what we knew we were capable of.”
The three games in Washington reflected the larger turnaround, with contributions coming from everywhere.
“It’s kind of the same thing you see in these last three games,” Bohm said. “We’re down five, we’re down three, we’re down two, whatever it is late in the game, and we string something together. It’s the whole roster, guys coming off the bench, shoving down the lineup. It’s everybody chipping in.”
The Phillies did not coast into the second half.
They fought their way there, and now, they could be the most battle tested group in the sport.
“You can’t just flip the switch in this game,” Bohm said. “I think this group’s shown that we can do it. We’ve definitely fought back from a pretty good hole we dug ourselves into, and I think we can draw on that when it comes down to later in the year.”
