Phillies’ wild run to the World Series ends short of a title, but ‘there’s a lot to be proud of’

HOUSTON — Zack Wheeler had more to give.

Let that sink in. Let it wash over you. Who can say what would have happened if the Phillies allowed their best pitcher to face Houston Astros slugger Yordan Álvarez in the sixth inning of the sixth game of the World Series on Saturday night? Maybe the result winds up the same. Maybe it doesn’t.

But this much we know: Wheeler was pitching the game of his life against all evidence that he had the strength left in his right arm to do it. His 70th pitch was a 96 mph sinker, and when Jeremy Peña grounded it up the middle to threaten a one-run Phillies lead, the only reason to replace Wheeler was that José Alvarado throws with his left hand and Álvarez bats from the left side of the plate.

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Rob Thomson walked out to the mound anyway, a move that left Wheeler “caught off guard.” And because all good things must end, including a manager’s five-month hot streak. Álvarez crushed a 99 mph heater over the batter’s eye in center field, and the Astros seized the lead en route to a 4-1 victory that closed out the Phillies’ magic-carpet ride two victories shy of the franchise’s third World Series championship.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” said Wheeler, who spoke into his glove but didn’t make a case to Thomson to stay in the game. “Obviously I wanted to be out there and make the pitches, but it is what it is. It’s ultimately Thomps’ call, and that’s the call he made.”

It was also the move that Thomson made throughout the World Series. He used his bullpen aggressively, especially Alvarado, who entered in the fifth inning in Games 1 and 4 and the sixth inning in Game 5 and held Álvarez to two flyouts and a hit by pitch.

The Phillies decided before the series that they wanted Alvarado, who allowed one homer to a left-handed hitter all season, on Álvarez in every high-leverage situation. They weren’t going to deviate now, even if Wheeler’s performance dictated they should have.

“I thought Wheels still had really good stuff,” Thomson said. “It wasn’t about that. It was just I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado on Álvarez.”

OK, so there won’t be a parade down Broad Street this week. There won’t be ticker tape or light-pole climbers. “Dancing On My Own” won’t play on an endless loop through the streets.

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But there will be a residue from this wonderfully unexpected run. After years of coming up short of even reaching the tournament, the Phillies of Bryce Harper — co-starring J.T. Realmuto, Kyle Schwarber, and of course, Wheeler and Aaron Nola — burst on to the national stage. And now that they broke through, they may just stay for a while.

Maybe that’s why they didn’t seem devastated when it was over. Rookie shortstop Bryson Stott, center fielder Brandon Marsh, and a few others lingered in the dugout, leaning over the railing to watch the Astros celebrate.

“You never want to be on that side of it,” Stott said. “We want to be out there doing the celebrating. It [stinks] now, but there’s a lot to be proud of still.”

And when Stott finally retreated to the clubhouse, several players were sitting in a semicircle around Schwarber, who gave a brief pep talk. Rhys Hoskins and Nick Castellanos joined the group later for a few beers and baseball talk, a close-knit team to the end.

Over the last 30 days, the Phillies also recaptured their share of the city’s sporting consciousness. It’s a football town now. Has been for a while. But if there was any doubt that another generation of players could restoke Philadelphia’s passion for baseball, the last month erased it.

“We heard about it,” Nola said. “They always said, ‘Get to the playoffs and you’ll see it.’ With us, it’s been a long time and we hadn’t seen it. And we saw it. And it was cool. It was awesome.”

There’s a cruel irony in how it all ended. The Phillies turned around their season on June 3, after Thomson was elevated to replace deposed manager Joe Girardi. They were 22-29 then before going 76-52, including an 11-6 postseason.

The Phillies took on the new manager’s cool, calm personality. Nothing rattled Thomson, whose mood was as consistent as his lineups. A two-run deficit in Game 1 of the wild-card series? Just score six runs in the ninth. Down 5-0 to future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the World Series? Come back to win, 6-5.

Last week, Castellanos summed up the players’ affection for Thomson by saying, “I trust anything that man does.” It’s a palpable feeling. Even if Wheeler had thought to talk Thomson out of his decision in the fateful sixth inning, he probably wouldn’t have.

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“Honestly, it just caught me off guard,” he said. “I didn’t even think about that really quick like that.”

Said Realmuto: “Wheels was throwing the ball incredible, but you have two left-handers coming up in the next three batters. I’m sure that’s the pocket that they had circled before the game. I’m sure Thomps, it was a coin flip for him.”

Besides, there was a bigger reason why the Phillies lost the series. After tying a World Series record with five homers in Game 3, they scored only three runs in the next three games, including a no-hitter in Game 4. They also set a record with 71 strikeouts in the series.

The top five batters in the lineup — Schwarber, Hoskins, Realmuto, Harper, and Castellanos — combined to go 19-for-113 (.168) with five homers and 46 strikeouts. They were shut down in Game 6 by Astros lefty Framber Valdez, who reprised his curveball artistry from the second game of the series.

This time, the Phillies’ strategy against Valdez seemed to be to lay off the curveball and hammer sinkers. But he mixed his pitches like a blender, causing the Phillies to take several fastballs down the middle. Schwarber jumped on a sinker and hit a homer to open a 1-0 lead in the sixth inning, but otherwise, the Phillies had no answers.

“As a team, we played really well getting to this point. We just didn’t finish it,” Harper said. “I’m never satisfied with second place or third place or fourth, or getting knocked out in the second round or the third round. We still lost.”

Every bit of the pregame intrigue centered on Wheeler. After dominating the National League playoffs, he threw a dud in Game 2 in Houston. Couple that with the Phillies’ insistence on giving him a sixth day of rest and Thomson’s concession that the ace was feeling “fatigued,” and by all appearances, Wheeler seemed to have little left to give.

Well, if ever looks were deceiving ...

Wheeler came out throwing the kind of smoke that he lacked seven nights earlier. His first eight fastballs all topped 98 mph. (He didn’t get above 96.4 mph in Game 2). He threw a 99.1 mph fastball to Trey Mancini in the third inning and struck out Alex Bregman on a nasty curveball in the fourth.

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“I could just tell throwing out there in the outfield, and once I got in the bullpen and felt that way, I knew,” Wheeler said. “It felt good.”

Wheeler also leaned on his heater for 5⅓ innings and was still reaching back for 97 mph in the sixth.

Until Thomson came to get him.

And the magic ended.