Sanchez racks up GIDPs, big day for Castellanos as Phillies even series in St. Louis

Sanchez racks up GIDPs, big day for Castellanos as Phillies even series in St. Louis originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ST. LOUIS – When Rob Thomson decided this weekend to protect Bryce Harper with Kyle Schwarber, the natural next question became, who protects Schwarber?

On Saturday afternoon at Busch Stadium it was Nick Castellanos, who had three hits and a pair of doubles, the first of which scored Harper and Schwarber after both reached base in the opening frame for the second consecutive game.

If the Harper-Schwarber duo remains intact against right-handed starting pitchers, the hitter in the No. 5 spot will have plenty of RBI opportunities. Not only do Harper and Schwarber hit for power but both also walk a ton.

In Friday’s series opener against the Cardinals, Harper and Schwarber walked and singled but were stranded when Castellanos lined out to right field. Saturday was a good example of how one early swing and a couple of early runs can change an afternoon. With a quick lead and an effective Cristopher Sanchez on the mound, the Phillies were in control the whole way and won, 4-1.

Sanchez dealt with traffic on the basepaths but induced double plays in four of the first five innings. Three of them weren’t even on particularly well-located pitches, but Sanchez has an elite changeup, a mid/high-90s sinker and a slider that continues to improve. The better the stuff, the more wiggle room a pitcher is afforded.

Sanchez’ sinker averaged 96.1 mph in his first two starts but, curiously, he threw a couple at 91 in the first inning. The velocity was right back to the 96 mph range thereafter, including some 97s, so it might have been a matter of Sanchez either settling in or intentionally adding and subtracting.

The Phillies lefty is 1-0 with a 3.12 ERA through three starts after Orion Kerkering, Jordan Romano and Jose Alvarado recorded eight outs to uphold his win.

Thomson used the same top half as in Friday’s series opener, leading off Bryson Stott with Trea Turner, Harper, Schwarber and Castellanos following. J.T. Realmuto was back after a night off, so Alec Bohm moved from seventh down to eighth. Bohm struck out looking and grounded out sharply in his first two at-bats before finally finding a hole in the seventh with an infield hit between short and third.

Stott, 0-for-4 on Friday in his first game out of the leadoff spot, made better contact on Saturday, lining out to begin the game and doubling home Brandon Marsh in the top of the fifth. Stott has hit .344 this season against right-handed pitchers and will likely continue to lead off against them. Marsh’s run came after a two-out walk and had to feel good given his recent lack of production. He also sacrificed Bohm to second base in the seventh inning, enabling him to score two batters later on a Turner single.

With Zack Wheeler on the mound for Sunday’s rubber match, the 9-5 Phillies have a good chance to make it a .500 road trip and win their fourth series out of five. It will be interesting to see how they set the lineup against left-hander Matthew Liberatore. The top four could be Turner, Harper, Schwarber, Castellanos in that order. Bohm will likely move up a couple of spots, and Edmundo Sosa could start for Stott.