Phillies win Game 2 in stunning comeback against the Mets; Nick Castellanos comes through in the clutch

Half an hour after the Phillies sealed a come-from-behind win in Game 2 of the NLDS, Joe Catoe was still smiling.

“I’m exhausted,” said Catoe, “but we did it.”

Joe and his wife Kristen Catoe, who live close to the ballpark in South Philly, thought the Phillies needed to have their backs to the wall to come alive.

With the Phillies backs to the wall, Joseph McClelland knew what he had to do.

McClelland, veteran of 13 years of Catholic school, went to Game 2 of the NLDS dressed as Phillies Jesus - long white robe, red stole that he periodically waved in lieu of a rally towel - because the team needed a miracle, he said.

“I asked my father for help,” McClelland said earnestly. “My birthday is coming up in a few months, and my father didn’t know what to get me, so I asked him for a Phillies win.”

As the Mets took a 3-0 lead, there were a few pockets of positivity left in Citizens Bank Park, but mostly, uncertainty abounded.

“Baseball is a momentum game and the Phillies don’t have it,” said Zach Martine. “I’m really nervous.”

Martine was decked out in full Ronald McDonald gear, to counter Grimace, the Mets’ good luck charm. Plenty of people wanted to take their picture with Martine, of Medford Lakes, but the costume didn’t seem to be bringing the Phils’ bats much luck.

First base is the easiest place to play on the diamond. Bryce Harper is an elite athlete. A converted right-fielder, Harper moved to first last season to preserve his oft-injured body.

He's a natural.

Harper dived to his left and robbed the Mets of a double, stepping on the bag himself to end the second inning.

After Nick Castellanos swung and missed at a pitch a foot off the plate and low to go down, 0-2, in the fourth inning, he did not swing at a pitch that bounced 2 feet in front of the plate. The savvy fandom at CBP cheered his discipline – mockingly, of course.

TV cameras caught Castellanos' reaction to the Bronx (Queens?) cheer. It looked a lot like he muttered, "These (Bleeping) people."

Those bleeping people, who pay for much of his $100 million contract, then watched Castellanos ground out weekly on the next pitch, which, of course, was a foot off the plate.

Edmundo Sosa is the Phillies' best defensive player, and ostensibly an upgrade over struggling Alec Bohm at third base, but his throwing error put Mets shortstop Jose Iglesias on second base with nobody out in the second inning.

No problem.

Bryson Stott ranged to his right, leaped, and caught J.D. Martinez's looper. One down.

Game 2 of the National League divisional series between the Phillies and New York Mets is underway.

Lefty Cristopher Sánchez is on the mound for the Phillies, who opted to hold back Aaron Nola for Game 3 Tuesday. 

"What I really like about this guy is he keeps the ball inside the ballpark," Fox announcer and former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright said of Sánchez. "He's got the best changeup in all of baseball."

Roger Clemens, who, at 62, still looked fit enough to throw a couple of innings of relief for the Phillies, exited the executive suites at Citizens Bank Park beaming with happiness. Clemens is no Mets fan — ask Mike Piazza — and he just saw his kid’s team lose a playoff game in the final two innings.

So why was “Rocket Roger” so happy?

Because that kid, Kody, the youngest of his four sons, got his first postseason hit and RBI in the ninth inning. The Phillies lost Game 1 of the National League Division Series, 6-2, but Kody pinch-hit for Johan Rojas with two out in the ninth inning with J.T. Realmuto on base.

It’s not hard to miss Adrienne Laguda at a Phillies game. She’ll be the one with the green hair, dancing her heart out in front of the crowd with a sign that says “Phree Shimmy Lessons.”

Laguda’s sign was inspired by her husband Joe’s appearance in a Phillies commercial, where he was shown doing the shimmy.

“He was doing the shimmy and I was like hey, I taught him that,” Laguda said. “I’m the musical theater kid.”

The Mets silenced fans in Citizens Bank Park after stunning the Phillies in Game 1 with a 6-2 come-from-behind win — racking up five runs in the eighth inning.

The Phillies offense and bullpen let them down last night. But another factor that could have played a role in the loss: rust. At least that's what some fans were speculating on Sunday ahead of Game 2.

Phillies fan Kyle Sincavage believes the Phillies' time off could have definitely played a factor, but doesn't think a week off should've set them back that much.

The Mets and the Phillies combined for three hits across the first seven innings of Game 1, and several players pointed to shadows on the field as a reason why. In the late afternoon on Saturday, the sun cast shadows over the mound, while the batter’s eye in center field remained bright. The result made it difficult for hitters to pick up the ball out of the pitcher’s hand.

Unfortunately, Game 2 has an identical 4:08 p.m. start, with clear weather in the forecast. So both teams will likely face the same problems today.

Kyle Schwarber was the only Phillies player to wear sunglasses on Saturday, and also happened to be the only Phillies player with a hit through the first seven innings.

The Phillies lamented how they wasted Zack Wheeler’s gem in their Game 1 loss to the Mets in the NLDS, but a day later, Kyle Schwarber reminded everyone of the obvious.

“Yeah, it's a series, right? That's why it's a series. Do you want to win the first game of the series? Absolutely,” Schwarber said on Sunday before Game 2 at Citizens Bank Park. “You feel like you have a great performance yesterday from Wheeler, which was phenomenal, and we just weren't able to finish it. And that's baseball sometimes. And that's why there's a series.

“You've got to put the pieces together to figure out a way to win three games. And would it be great to — would it be great — you can ask them on the same side, do they want to sweep? They want to sweep us, I'm sure. They want this thing to be over as quickly as they can. But also, too, this is a series and we have to figure out what we're going to do.

Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm is not in the starting lineup for Sunday’s Game 2 of the National League Division Series against the Mets, replaced by Edmundo Sosa. Manager Rob Thomson said he wanted to get “some energy” in the lineup with Sosa in place of the struggling Bohm.

“He’s kind of our energy guy,” Thomson said of Sosa. “Bohm’s not swinging the bat particularly well, but he’s not the only one. He’s frustrated. But I just wanted to get Sosa in there.”

Bohm went 0-for-4 in Game 1 and smashed his helmet in the eighth inning after grounding out.

Blame the manager, blame the rust, blame the format, blame whatever culprit you want. A baseball team has nine hitters, a starting pitcher, and a bullpen. It is difficult to win a game when only two of those players show up. It is devastating when it happens in Game 1 of a five-game series.

“Get up and fight,” Nick Castellanos said after the Phillies dropped their first Game 1 of the current playoff era. “That’s all we can do.”

Well, there is one other thing they can do. Hit the dang ball. The didn’t do it in Game 1. In fact, they haven’t done it in three straight postseason games dating back to last season. That’s a concern. Different year, sure, but same essential team. Same essential problem. Same essential results. Six hits in Game 6 of the 2023 NLCS. Five hits in Game 7. Five hits in Game 1 of the NLDS on Saturday: a leadoff home run by Kyle Schwarber followed by 4-for-31. Schwarber finished 2-for-5. Everyone else went 3-for-27.

Trea Turner walked into the Phillies clubhouse at 7:55 p.m. on Saturday. He was in full uniform, with a bat in each hand. Their 6-2 loss to the Mets in Game 1 of the National League Division Series had ended a half an hour earlier, but the Phillies shortstop wanted to take some extra swings.

So, he stepped into the cage, as assistant hitting coach Rafael Peña fired pitch after pitch. He saw dozens of them, maybe 100.

“Just to talk and look at some things,” Turner said. “Get ready for tomorrow.”

A pumpkin sat Saturday night on the top shelf of Pete Alonso’s locker, three oversize letters — OMG — were on the clubhouse floor, and a staffer cleaned the dirt off a pair of cleats inspired by Ronald McDonald’s best friend. The Mets came to Philly with a playoff pumpkin, an anthem sung by their 34-year-old infielder, and an affinity for Grimace. They also carried with them the momentum from a wild week, a ride that stunned the Phillies in the opener of the National League Division Series.

“We’ve been doing this all year,” Alonso said after the Mets’ 6-2 win. “We’re just a gritty bunch. It’s a special group. It’s a great vibe. A lot of good things are going our way right now.”

The Mets have not been home since Sept. 22 and they snuck into the playoffs on the season’s final day with a ninth-inning rally in Atlanta. They eliminated the Brewers in the wild-card round with an even more dramatic ninth-inning rally. So of course they won Saturday behind a pitcher who last pitched in July and five eighth-inning runs after going 1-for-21 in the first seven innings. Credit the pumpkin, the song, or the purple thing.

The worm turned quickly.

Boos descended as the ball settled into J.T. Realmuto’s mitt, the third out of an inning that will live in infamy.

Zack Wheeler had pitched seven scoreless frames and spent himself after 111 pitches.

Scott Lauber: Has anyone seen Bryce Harper? Or Trea Turner? The Phillies are 16-for-95 (.168) and slugging .284 in NLCS Games 6-7 last year and Game 1 vs. the Mets, all at home. Small sample? That’s all there will be if it doesn’t change Sunday.

Matt Breen: Cristopher Sánchez has been much better at home this season than the road. But how will the least experienced starter handle the pressure of what feels like a must-win game? The decision to start Sánchez could decide this series. Will they regret not starting Aaron Nola?

Alex Coffey: The Phillies chased — a lot — on Saturday. They’ll need to turn it around in Game 2. One or two runs will not cut it. But Sunday is a new day, and they should have another advantage on the mound, in Cristopher Sánchez. Will the at-bats be more disciplined? They’ll have to be if they want to make a deep run.

Game 2 of Phillies-Mets is scheduled to begin at 4:08 p.m. Eastern on Fox.

Calling the game will be play-by-play announcer Adam Amin. In the booth alongside Amin will be analysts A.J. Pierzynski and Adam Wainwright. Tom Verducci will report from Citizens Bank Park.

A Spanish broadcast of the game will air on Fox Deportes, with Carlos Alvarez and Jaime Motta on the call.