Stealing ability wins, coming back late in games consistently doesn’t seem like a trait that should easily translate from one year to the next, but the Phillies are testing it.
They did it again Saturday night, coming back from three separate one-run deficits to beat the Nationals, 4-3. After Cody Clemens hit a game-tying solo homer with the team down to the final two batters, Bryce Harper led off the Phillies with a sacrifice bunt.
Whether the Phillies hit twice in six innings, or when Nationals starter Mackenzie Gore exited in the seventh, the game’s seven most hitters were all by Washington.
Nothing much seems to work for this team.
“It doesn’t matter where we are, how far we are, how high we are or anything like that, we’re going to play 27 games,” Harper said. “And I think that’s good for a season. When you’re in those moments or have those opportunities, your team builds to be that much better in the postseason because you’ve been in those moments. You’ve had those opportunities throughout the year and the more you go as a team, the more you take advantage of them.”
“Every team is different and I think we have a great team here.”
Really good would probably be an understatement. The Phillies are 33-14. No National League team has had a better record through the first 47 games of a season since the 1998 Braves.
The Phillies are undefeated in a 14-game hitting streak. The only two they lost were the first two.
Clemens didn’t last long this season, but he made a big impact when he was called up. In his first two starts, he went 4-for-8 with a double, triple, homer and seven RBI. On Monday in New York, against the Mets, he singled off Edwin Diaz in the ninth inning and scored the game’s tying run.
Trey Turner will be hard to remove from the list if everyone is healthy when he finally returns from the Dam Streak.
“I think he’s going to do a great job even if he’s not going to pitch in the later game against tougher pitchers or start a lockout game,” Harper said. “You saw tonight … he has a big league at-bat, it’s getting bigger every day.”
Clemens is still using Harper’s bat, just like he did in his four-RBI night against the Blue Jays two weeks ago.
“I’ll give him whatever he wants,” Harper joked after Saturday’s win.
Clemens told you the pitch was going away after swinging the bat at the Nats, but Clemens himself thought he hit it too low to get it out. He then saw him land on the chairs and looked back at the exploding crater.
“I feel like a different person every night,” he said. “It’s amazing. I feel like we’re all here and we feel like we’re going to win before the game even starts. It’s a great atmosphere to be around. … It’s all coming together.”
A big, sometimes insurmountable, factor in the Phillies’ win streak this season has been minimizing the damage over and over again. Nick Senzel’s leadoff double in the fourth off Christopher Sanchez was the Nationals’ sixth of the game and 13 hits, but Sanchez induced two early double plays, leaving the runner with nobody out in the fourth and was retired. He faced the last seven hitters, four through strikeouts.
A better opponent than the Nationals might have opened up the game, but realistically, there are plenty of teams above Washington’s ranking. There are over 500 National League Five clubs. five. The Phillies will spend this season playing inferior teams instead of facing deep or talented teams.
“Sanchez was fantastic, he hit 98 (mm/h) and held down the order,” manager Rob Thomson said. “The change has been great. This guy’s growth, mentally and emotionally, fighting off the field.
“Our starters are finding ways to kill fumbles and get out of bounds, get the ball, play the double play. They have the ability to slow the game down.”
Sanchez hit 98.3 on the radar gun and his fastball average rose to 1.5 mph on the season, better than any pitcher but with an especially good changeup. He has a 3.31 ERA through nine starts and has allowed one home run in 49 innings.
When asked about bending but not breaking Saturday night, Sanchez said he wants to emulate what he sees from Zach Wheeler and Aaron Nola.
“Great pitchers do that and I try to mirror that from Wills and Nola,” he said. “Even if it hits the area sometimes, that doesn’t stop you, and it doesn’t stop them. I’m trying to see it in myself.”
The music is still blasting in the Phillies’ clubhouse 20 to 30 minutes after the game, but the playlist ended early Saturday. Maybe you’re sick of hearing the same victory tunes every night.
“It’s an amazing feeling,” Sanchez said of coming to the ballpark every day. “This is unbelievable.”
The Phillies will go for their sixth shutout of the season Sunday afternoon behind Nola, who pitched a four-hit shutout Tuesday in New York.