No sweep for you.
Facing Zack Wheeler with the possibility of being swept in play is among the scarier propositions that can be named. It’s perhaps not the scariest— wading through an olympic-sized swimming pool full of tarantulas certainly beats it, and there’s an argument to be made that getting a root canal with Freddy Krueger as your dentist does as well— but it’s certainly intimidating. Despite facing that exact situation, New York’s elder club didn’t seem to feel like they were in a nightmare. Perhaps that’s why they call it the city that never sleeps?
The game started in lighthearted, humorous form, with Kyle Schwarber, making a rare appearance in left, catching a fly ball to end the first, losing his balance, falling backwards, hanging on, and laughing as he sat up. Not laughing, though certainly feeling delight in equal measure, was Nick Castellanos, who skied a Carlos Rodón changeup over the left field wall for a home run to lead off the second. To keep things symmetrical, Otto Kemp put a solo shot of his own over the right field wall.
There was significantly less joy for the Phillies in the bottom of the second. Giancarlo Stanton singled on a line drive to right, with Castellanos diving for the ball and missing it. Zack Wheeler then hit the next two Pinstripes, loading the bases with none out. Ryan McMahon, the newest Yankee, then hit a ball just on the fair side of the first base line; as it trickled into right, two runs came home for the home team. A sacrifice fly scored another, and a grounder through the right side of the infield yet another. The Yankees led 4-2.
The bad luck bounces seemed like they would continue in the bottom third, as a ball hopped under Castellanos’ outstretched glove for a triple from Cody Bellinger. Wheeler tempted Stanton into swinging at a ball way outside the zone for the first out. A fly ball from Jazz Chisholm Jr. to Johan Rojas in center seemed like it would score Bellinger, even more so once it became apparent that Rojas’ peg was high. J.T. Realmuto leapt into the air, grabbed the ball, and swung his glove down. The tag was made before Bellinger touched the plate and before Realmuto touched the ground. Bellinger put his hands on his hips, the Yankees dugout turned their heads to see the replay, and ultimately all involved chose to accept the outcome, some more cheerfully than others.
Few were more cheerful than Kemp, who hit his second homer of the game in the top of the fifth, this one to center. The next two Phillies made it to base, still none out, though none would make it home.
Wheeler was pulled with two outs in the sixth, having surrendered five hits, 4 runs, and three HBP. Tanner Banks came into the game as his replacement, putting another runner on via walk but ultimately ending the inning with the deficit still at one.
The top of the seventh saw Bryson Stott pinch-hitting for Weston Wilson, and Brandon Marsh pinch-hitting for Johan Rojas. Neither got hits, and both stayed in afterwards. In the eighth, the Yankees subbed in Tim Hill, whose arm angle of -23 degrees makes him one of the rare submariners braving the modern game. The Phillies didn’t seem flummoxed by the unorthodox delivery, making solid contact against him, but the ball kept finding leather.
The Phillies put in Matt Strahm, who offers an extraordinary look to rival Hill’s, though for follicular reasons rather than arm angle ones; he allowed a hit, but no runs.
The Phillies thus came to the plate with three outs left with which to make up a one-run deficit and preserve their hopes of a sweep in the Bronx. Devin Williams faced Castellanos, Realmuto, and Kemp, swatting them all away with ease. Facing an Airbender on the same weekend that a new Avatar series is previewed is probably bad luck. So it goes.
The Phillies are 60-45. Next up is a trip to the South Side to take on the Junior Circuit’s Chicago club, with game one tomorrow at 7:40.