Nick Castellanos hit two home runs and tallied five RBIs for the Phillies last night in their series opener against the Washington Nationals, but the comeback fell short, losing 8-7. 

The Phillies fell behind 7-1 after four innings. Zack Wheeler was miserable to start the game, tossing just 3.2 innings and allowing eight hits, seven earned runs, and a walk while striking out just three.

Wheeler threw 90 pitches (58 strikes) in arguably his worst performance in a Phillies uniform just one start after tossing eight shutout innings against the Atlanta Braves last week. 

Miserable. 

Thanks to Nick Castellanos, the Phillies were able to rally back to make it a ballgame, but Connor Brogdon ultimately coughed up a two-out, go-ahead single to the Nets in the bottom of the eighth inning to give Washington an 8-7 lead. 

Tough loss for sure, but the Phillies at the very least, were able to rally back. Castellanos had arguably his best game in Philly, connecting on a season-high four hits with another season-high five RBI. He finished the game with a single, double, two home runs, two runs scored, and a stolen base. 

Nick Castellanos: 4-5 | 2 HR | 5 RBI

While Castellanos and the rally certainly made a Friday night watching the Phillies bearable, they ultimately lost the game and have now moved into a tie at the bottom of the NL East Standings with the Nationals.

Burn this image into your retinas. Accept the pain. Grow from it. Or don’t. Whatever.

The Phillies are 25-32, seven games under .500, and it’s the fourth time this season they have gone on a losing streak of four or more games. 

Welcome to “Turnaround Day 2023”

After firing Joe Girardi on June 3rd of last year, the Phillies finished the season under Rob Thomson, posting a 65-46 (.586) record before steamrolling the Cardinals, Braves, and Padres on their way to the World Series against the Houston Astros. 

Can that happen again this year?

Well, it’s really hard to feel much of anything, let alone optimism with the Phillies right now but we have certainly suffered through worse stretches as a fanbase so who knows? 

Yesterday, I was hoping for a series sweep of the Nats to serve as a launch point for the remainder of the season. We didn’t get that, obviously, but we did however get a jolt of energy and a sense of urgency that we haven’t seen over the first 55 games of the MLB season. 

Now, absent of a fifth starter, the Phillies will have a bullpen game today against the Nats. Matt Strahm (4-3, 3.20 ERA) will get the start against Mackenzie Gore (3-3, 3.57 ERA) to even the series.

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