After an impressive three-game sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Phillies played host to the surging New York Mets — suddenly their strongest competition in the National League East race — for a three-game weekend sent at Citizens Bank Park.Aaron Nola ran into major trouble in the series opener, and the Phillies fell, 11-3, in a blowout victory. The next day, they recovered from another poor start and staged a dramatic 6-4 comeback victory. On Sunday afternoon, a pitchers’ duel between Christopher Sánchez and David Peterson emerged before a walk-off single by J.T. Realmuto sent the Phillies home victorious.Here is what stood out most from the Phillies’ penultimate home series in the 2024 regular season:Series opener quickly gets away from Aaron Nola in Friday loss, with no offense to save himNola had his first subpar outing in months last weekend in Miami, and in a game with division race ramifications, he had a chance to rebound in a major way.Despite walking two batters in the first inning and needing to throw 23 pitches to get through that inning, Nola looked his best early on. In the second, third and fourth innings, his signature knuckle-curve was buckling hitters just about every single time he threw it.Friday night’s game was scoreless entering the top of the fifth inning, with a duel in the making between Nola and Mets starter Jose Quintana. Nola was particularly on point, tossing four no-hit innings with six strikeouts. And then in the fifth inning, it all unraveled for the Phillies’ starter who continues to let what could have been great starts be derailed entirely by disastrous frames.Nola faced seven batters in the top of the fifth, and six of them scored on a pair of three-run home runs by Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez and left fielder Brandon Nimmo. Nola, whose strikeout stuff looked as if it was at absolute peak form early on, suddenly couldn’t miss bats. Nola failed to get through five innings for the second straight time, and in just two outings his ERA has gone from 3.29 to 3.62.Meanwhile, Quintana just kept on getting outs, inducing weaker and weaker contact as the game went on while utilizing outstanding command to silence the Phillies bats. Quintana tossed seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits without walking any batters — all on 94 pitches (62 strikes).Mets center fielder Harrison Bader added onto his team’s lead with a three-run shot in the top of the eighth inning, and when Kody Clemens entered to pitch the top of the ninth for the Phillies, Mets first baseman Pete Alonso hit a 60-mile-per-hour “slider” into the seats in left-center field.The Phillies seemed headed for an 11-0 loss, when with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning and two runners on base, Brandon Marsh of all people blasted a three-run home run. Phillies fans bold enough to stick around for the game got their money’s worth in a chaotic ninth inning.In a series with plenty of intrigue, the Phillies could not have gotten off to a worse start — an 11-3 loss in front of their home crowd.Another outstanding bullpen performance enables Phillies comeback victory on SaturdaySaturday’s 6-4 Phillies win featured a thrilling come-from-behind effort starring Bryce Harper, Cal Stevenson and Taijuan Walker. Harper finally broke his drought of homers, which lasted over a month, with a pair of blasts that kept the Phillies in the game. Stevenson laced a two-out, two-run double to give the Phillies the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning, then robbed what would have been a game-tying home run in the top of the eighth inning. Walker, meanwhile, kept the Phillies afloat with three shutout innings.MORE: Phillies stage win of the season thanks to three very different heroesAfter left-hander Kolby Allard was recalled from Triple-A to make the start and only lasted three innings, the Phillies bullpen spun six scoreless frames to silence the Mets’ red-hot bats.After Walker got nine outs and allowed Harper to bring the Phillies within one run, Phillies manager Rob Thomson handed the ball to his three most-trusted right-handed relievers. Rookie Orion Kerkering, All-Star Jeff Hoffman and trade deadline acquisition Carlos Estévez each threw stress-free, scoreless innings.During the Phillies’ brutal month-plus-long stretch of play late in the summer, their bullpen went from among baseball’s elite to a weakness. But there was never a question that they have an outstanding group of options for Thomson to use in high-leverage situations, and over the last few weeks that unit has become dominant.On the right side, Hoffman, Estévez and Kerkering have all had outstanding seasons. The addition of Estévez has been crucial, as Thomson now uses him in a traditional closer role that allows him to seek out ideal matchups for his other high-powered arms out of the bullpen.All-Star Matt Strahm has been outstanding all year as well, a left-handed reliever who has no issues attacking right-handed hitters. Strahm was expected to be second in Thomson’s pecking order among lefty relief pitchers, but his breakout season combined with the struggles of José Alvarado changed that.Alvarado, though, has looked outstanding since returning from a week-long stint on the Restricted List when he tended to a family matter. Even during a down season, he has been one of the few most effective relievers in all of baseball against left-handed hitters. The Phillies are going to need him if and when they face players like Shohei Ohtani, Freddie Freeman, Matt Olson, Corbin Carroll and other dangerous left-handed bats in the National League in October.The biggest question marks in this bullpen come in lower-leverage situations. Who can Thomson use before going to his horses? The answer now appears to be right-hander José Ruiz, who signed a minor-league deal with the team last November, earned a major-league call-up on May 3 and has never looked back. Ruiz initially seemed to profile as a long reliever for the Phillies, but with the departures of Seranthony Domínguez and Gregory Soto, he was able to earn his way into the picture as a middle reliever.In 19 appearances since the All-Star break entering Sunday, Ruiz owned a 1.08 ERA and 0.84 WHIP while striking out over 35 percent of the batters he faced. If Thomson needs a right-hander in relief early in an October game, Ruiz appears to be the guy who would be called upon — and he has earned every bit of the opportunity. Alec Bohm returns from injury for Sunday series finaleBohm suffered a hand injury on Aug. 29 that eventually led to a stint on the shelf. Thomson indicated in recent days that Bohm was making significant progress and could be activated as early as Monday in Milwaukee after a two-game minor-league rehab stint. But on Sunday morning, the team activated its All-Star third baseman after just one game in Lehigh Valley.Thomson said about an hour later that Bohm felt good enough after a nine-inning game that he could return to the active roster for Sunday’s series finale against the Mets.Interestingly enough, Bohm was slotted fifth in the batting order — behind Nick Castellanos, who has replaced Bohm in the clean-up spot while Bohm has been unavailable. Thomson said the motivation behind the decision was to keep Castellanos in a spot where he has been producing of late, but the numbers do not exactly substantiate that claim.In 14 games during Bohm’s absence, Castellanos slashed .167/.298/.250 out of the clean-up spot with only two extra-base hits in 57 plate appearances. For what it’s worth, Thomson did not seem married to the idea of this new alignment, so if Bohm quickly returns to producing at the level he has for much of the season, a swap back should be in play.Phillies pull off second straight comeback victory to take seriesSunday’s game turned into a good, old-fashioned pitchers duel between two southpaws having career years, with the All-Star Sánchez facing the 29-year-old Peterson.It took seven quick innings on each side for either team to get on the board. In the top of the eighth inning, Mets outfielder Tyrone Taylor led off with a solo homer against Sánchez to give the Mets a 1-0 lead. Not only did that net the Mets the first run of the game, it was only the seventh hit of the game by either team to that point. Sánchez allowed another hit, Kerkering was summoned and once again escaped a jam.After emerging as a quality starter last season while on the verge of falling entirely out of favor within the organization, Sánchez came back considerably better in 2024. He has made every single scheduled start, far surpassed his career-high innings totals and somehow keeps on getting stronger as games — and the season — go on. Thomson routinely lauds the physical shape Sánchez has gotten himself into and maintained, as well as his preparation going into starts.Once a live arm with command that was, to put it lightly, erratic, Sánchez has found a way to harness his stuff routinely, including a changeup that has become one of the single best pitches in all of baseball. With postseason planning to come soon and Nola and Ranger Suárez both sputtering, one has to wonder if Sánchez is in consideration to start Game 2 of the Phillies’ first postseason series.In the bottom half of the eighth inning, though, Sánchez finally got some support. Weston Wilson and Buddy Kennedy — two players vying for stronger long-term standing within the organization — hit back-to-back doubles to tie the game against Peterson.Speaking of Ruiz, the reliever often used in non-stressful situations entered a tie ballgame in the top of the ninth inning on Sunday and effortlessly tossed a 1-2-3 inning. His rise into a trusted option for Thomson has been remarkable.The Mets went to closer Edwin Díaz in the bottom of the ninth inning. Castellanos got on base with a single, then stole second base thanks to a poor throw. Castellanos ended up scoring the game-winning run when Realmuto walked off Díaz with two outs and two strikes on a base hit to the opposite field.
With each passing day, the Phillies are inching closer to doing something they have not done since 2011: win the National League East. Their pair of weekend victories over the Mets represented a major step in that direction.Up next: The Phillies now head out for a crucial seven-game road trip in which they hope to clinch their first division title in 13 years. First, they will play three games in Milwaukee against a first-place Brewers team that could stand in the way of the Phillies nailing down a first-round bye. Then they head to New York for four more games against these Mets, who are in an intense battle with the Atlanta Braves for postseason positioning. Suárez, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are the Phillies’ probable starters in Milwaukee.Follow Adam on Twitter: @SixersAdamFollow PhillyVoice on Twitter: @thephillyvoice