Nola shines as Phillies shut out Astros

PHILADELPHIA – The philosopher and the surgeon. 

It sounds like the title of a New York Times bestseller. Instead, it identifies two guys who carried the Phillies to a 5-0 victory over the Houston Astros. 

Nick Castellanos, always the philosopher, hit a three-run homer off Houston starter Justin Verlander and Aaron Nola surgically diced up a potent Houston lineup, pitching seven shutout innings and allowing just four hits.

They made for quite the pair in a game that allowed the Phillies to win consecutive series for the first time since June 21-26 against Arizona and Detroit. 

The Phillies have now won four straight and 9-of-13.

“We’re playing better baseball,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I’ll leave it at that.”

Thomson is a believer in the baseball gods and is superstitious that if you confidently heap too much praise on the collective whole, something will go wrong. 

But a lot is going right for the Phillies all of a sudden. 

Nola was superb, especially early in the game. He had been struggling to get a lot of swings and miss in recent starts, but he got plenty on Tuesday. 

He finished the game with six strikeouts, and 14 swings and misses. He also struck out Alex Bregman once on a foul tip, which doesn’t count as a swing and miss, but for all intents and purposes, is one.

“It was pretty good,” Nola said. “I felt like I didn’t have as much traffic on bases as I had in previous starts. My four-seamer and curveball were pretty decent tonight. It came down to executing my pitches and really trying to stay out of the middle of the zone.”

Most importantly, Nola went seven innings, something he hasn’t done in a while, even though it’s part of what makes him such a valuable pitcher. 

He had gone 10 straight starts without throwing seven innings before Tuesday. The last time he did throw seven was June 26th in Detroit. 

It was key for him to provide length specifically against Houston, as the bullpen was a little short since they had been used a bunch in the past several days. But also, the Phillies have now won 30 straight games when their starting pitcher goes seven innings. That’s a franchise record and the second-longest such winning streak in Major League history. 

With the win Nola (12-6) moved past Curt Schilling on the Phillies all-time wins list into seventh place with 102 victories. It was also his 56th win at Citizens Bank Park, which moved him into a tie for first with Cole Hamels for most victories in the 20-year history of the ballpark. 

As for Castellanos, he’s maybe one of the most underrated stories in all of baseball this season. 

Many questioned if he should even still be in the Phillies lineup after a dreadful month of April. Castellanos said there was a time in Cincinnati on April 24th where his OPS was an awful .428, that Thomson approached him and asked him if he could use a couple of days off. 

Castellanos told him no, and Thomson has continued to trust him since. 

Castellanos has not missed a game and has been the Phillies’ most consistent hitter for quite some time. 

Consider these numbers:

Since August 1st: .292/.351/.494; .845 OPS

Since July 1st: .283/.328/.478; .806 OPS

Since June 1st: .281/.327/.481; .808 OPS

Since April 30th: .272/.320/.475; .795 OPS

Known more as a streaky hitter, Castellanos has been the model of consistency for a team that has had extreme peaks and valleys this season. 

And he’s doing it while seeing a steady diet of off-speed pitches. Castellanos sees more breaking balls than any hitter in major league baseball. And he’s finding success in simplifying his approach at the plate. 

The home run he hit off Verlander to stretch the Phillies lead to 4-0 was a curveball, and one he knew he was going to get. 

“I had a pretty good idea that I was going to see an off-speed pitch at some point in the at bat,” Castellanos said. “Usually with how hoppy his fastball is, my approach is to make sure I’m on time for his heater. This was the first time where the heater is secondary to his off-speed stuff, and it worked out.”

That’s a subtle way of saying Verlander’s fastball isn’t what it used to be, so Castellanos was looking for the curveball – and he took full advantage. 

Trea Turner, who again had two hits, drove in the first run of the game in the third inning with an RBI single, scoring Austin Hays, who doubled to lead off the third inning. 

After Bryce Harper also singled and Alec Bohm struck out, Castellanos crushed the Verlander curve into the seats in left field. 

“Casty is always working and he’s always hitting,” Nola said. “He’s taking really good at bats from what I see. He’s always positive – and that’s a big thing. Always being positive and having a confidence no matter how things are going.”

Bohm plated the fifth Phillies run in the seventh inning with a bloop double that landed in shallow centerfield where three Astros players tripped all over themselves trying to make the catch. 

ON DECK

The Phillies will try and secure their first sweep post All-Star break Wednesday afternoon. RHP Taijuan Walker (3-5, 6.26) will go for the Phillies against Houston RHP Spencer Arrighetti (6-11, 4.94).