Phillies’ comeback attempt falls short against the Mets in their London Series finale

LONDON — As his bat handle splintered and the crowd roared and the ball rolled a few feet in front of home plate, Nick Castellanos got an idea.

“I did think about kicking it,” he said.

Well, when in Rome ... er, London.

But Castellanos didn’t mimic all those Premier League footballers who usually roam this pitch-turned-baseball-field. Instead, he dropped his head and ran. So, he didn’t see Mets catcher Luis Torrens stretch out his right foot to tap the plate before throwing to first to complete a double play and dash the Phillies’ hopes of a ninth-inning rally and a London Series sweep.

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“If I did [kick it],” Castellanos said Sunday after the Phillies’ 6-5 loss, “I think that I’m just called out, and I think that everything just kind of stays the same. So, hindsight, I think I should’ve kicked it. But I didn’t.”

Oh, well. Can’t win ‘em all, even if it has felt lately like maybe the Phillies actually can.

The finale of two games in London that were witnessed by a total of 108,956 paying customers marked only their second loss in nine games. Their last three losses have all been by one run. Their last 10 losses, dating all the way to April 29, have come by a total of 16 runs.

As old English phrases go, eke out might as well have been coined to describe how a team beats the Phillies.

“Tough loss today, but it was a great ballgame,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Great ballgame for fans to watch.”

Indeed, the two games in London were nothing if not entertaining.

Bryce Harper powered a 7-2 victory in the opener Saturday night and provided the iconic moment of the weekend with a celebratory slide, soccer-style, in front of the dugout after hitting the Phillies’ first European homer.

Through seven innings of Sunday’s game, the most unheralded player on the roster — backup outfielder David Dahl — looked like he might play the starring role. One week removed from playing in a triple-A game in Columbus, Ohio, Dahl slammed a pinch-hit homer to snap a 3-3 tie.

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How’s that for a postcard-worthy moment from a weekend overseas?

“Stuff can happen quickly,” Dahl said. “If you asked me a week ago if I’d be here, I’d probably laugh at you.”

But Dahl’s international star turn became a footnote after José Alvarado gave up three runs in the top of the ninth inning and Castellanos hit his squibber to kill a bases-loaded, one-out threat in the bottom.

Pitching for the first time in four days thanks to back-to-back days off before the series, Alvarado gave up the tying run on Mark Vientos’ chopper to third base off the spongy London Stadium turf. He hit Pete Alonso on the thigh with a cutter to force in the go-ahead run, then allowed another when a cutter ticked off J.T. Realmuto’s mitt for a passed ball.

“It wasn’t my day,” Alvarado said. “Something with my command. That’s the way I see it. Today the Mets got me. That’s baseball.”

Go ahead and apply “that’s baseball” to explain why struggling Whit Merrifield finally seemed to find his stroke overseas, with a three-run homer in the first game and an RBI single in the second. Similarly, Taijuan Walker might’ve figured out something on a mound in London.

Walker entered with a 5.73 ERA in seven starts, making him the weakest link in the league’s best rotation. But the veteran righty had his best start in weeks, holding the Mets to two hits and a walk in 5⅔ innings.

» READ MORE: Bryce Harper, hardly recognized tourist, wants to win over fans in London, and in the Olympics

After saying he would lean on his splitter to get as many grounders as possible at offense-friendly London Stadium, he instead mixed five pitches like a blender. The breakdown: 17 sinkers, 16 four-seamers, 15 splitters, 14 sweepers, and 14 curveballs.

“Honestly, the game plan was to throw a lot of splitters today, but I thought the fastball was really good,” Walker said. “And the curveball was working really good, too. So, we just kind of went with what’s working.”

In all, Walker threw 79 pitches. And if you were wondering why he didn’t keep going — or why lefty Matt Strahm wasn’t the choice to replace him with two on, two out, a 3-0 lead, and lefty Brandon Nimmo coming to the plate in the sixth inning — well, let’s allow Thomson to explain.

“I thought in that last inning, [Walker] started getting the ball up a little bit,” Thomson said. “I wanted to him to end his day without giving up any runs. I wanted him to have a good day and feel good about it. Because he pitched great.”

And Gregory Soto over Strahm, who hasn’t allowed an earned run in 25⅔ innings since opening day?

“I wanted Strahm for a full inning, and Soto’s had really good numbers against [Brandon] Nimmo and [J.D.] Martinez,” Thomson said. “It didn’t work out today. I think [Soto] was a little bit rusty.”

» READ MORE: Rob Thomson and Phillies staff visited a Philly-themed London sports bar: ‘It was just a lot of fun’

Soto faced three batters and gave up an RBI double to Nimmo, a two-run single to Martinez, and a walk to pinch-hitting Harrison Bader before handing a 3-3 game to Strahm.

The Phillies had early chances to break open the game. They loaded the bases in the first inning but came away with only one run. They reloaded them again in the fourth after scoring twice on hits by Edmundo Sosa and Merrifield. But Mets right fielder DJ Stewart stole extra bases from Weston Wilson with a catch against the wall and Realmuto struck out.

And still, they led 4-3 after Dahl’s homer.

Maybe it would’ve ended differently if Castellanos played a little soccer, not that it was worth losing sleep over on the transatlantic flight to Boston for a series that begins Tuesday.

“It was a great experience to be able to come over to Europe and play two baseball games,” Castellanos said. “Ideally, you want to win them both. Come away with the split, and now go back and get ready for the Red Sox.”