The $244 million Phillies finally earning their money just in time for a road trip to Arizona

The Phillies led the Dodgers by two runs with one out and runners on the corners in the sixth inning when Rob Thomson decided to test fate.

The Phillies manager called for a safety-squeeze bunt from backup catcher Garrett Stubbs. Stubbs gets about three at-bats per week. He was a left-handed hitter facing a left-handed pitcher, Alex Vesia, who throws 95 mph with more movement than Shakira. Considering the Phillies’ tragic, comic, consistent ineptitude through the season’s first 55 games or so, Thomson’s decision courted disaster.

Two weeks ago Stubbs would have popped up the bunt, or whiffed it, or would have had it hit himself in the eye. That’s how things were going when the Phillies were 25-32 and tied for last place in the National League East.

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No longer. Stubbs took two balls, then dropped such a perfect bunt between Vesia and third baseman Max Muncy that not only did Bryson Stott easily score from third, but Stubbs didn’t even draw a throw at first base.

The bunt made it 4-1. The game ended 7-3. The Dodgers never got closer than two runs Sunday. Unlike most of April and May, the 16th sellout crowd in the team’s 30 home games never felt a moment of trepidation from the Phillies.

Hung over from their 2022 World Series run, undirected in the absence of injured team captain Rhys Hoskins, and desperate to validate their Red October and justify their lavish contracts, Phillies regulars, with few exceptions, had underachieved. Their $244 million payroll, about the same as last season, is the fourth-highest in baseball for the second straight season, but last season they won the NL pennant.

“There’s a lot of very established players in this clubhouse. Guys with big contracts. Big deals. Been in the big leagues for nine or 10 years,” said J.T. Realmuto, who happens to be the highest-paid catcher in baseball, and who debuted 10 years ago. “Everybody in here works as hard as we ever have.”

The work is paying off, and just in time. They’re playing their best baseball as they face perhaps their biggest series of the season: four games in Arizona. The Diamondbacks went into Monday with 40 wins, tied with the Braves for most in the NL, but they present a unique challenge.

“This was a huge homestand,” Realmuto said. “We knew coming in we needed to win both these series, and taking five out of six was a good start for what’s coming. We haven’t played well in Arizona in the past. We haven’t played well on the West Coast in the past. So, we’ve got to take this momentum and win while we’re out there.”

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The Phillies are 1-2 against the Diamondbacks this season. They went 1-2 at Arizona last year. They’re 2-7 on the road against National League West teams this season. And they’ve won just 13 of 35 games away from Citizens Bank Park. Their 22 road losses are the fourth-highest total in baseball, and they’re the reason they remained a game below .500 and eight games behind the surging Braves in the division.

“We’ve been playing well for a bit now,” Thomson said Sunday evening. “Now, we have to go play a really good team, and win on the road. That’s the next goal.”

At least now the goal of winning outside of the 215 area code seems attainable.

On Sunday, Thomson got five shutout innings from starter Taijuan Walker, the Phillies’ $72 million pitching upgrade, against the most dangerous lineup in baseball. Thomson got three hits from Trea Turner, the Phillies’ $300 million lineup upgrade. He got a home run from Nick Castellanos, a $100 million investment last year, and a Gold Glove defensive play in center field from 2022 trade deadline addition Brandon Marsh.

More than anything, though, Thomson’s fielders made basic defensive plays, his hitters scratched out professional at-bats, his pitchers threw strikes, and all of that meant a second win in the three-game series against the Dodgers, which followed a sweep of the visiting Tigers, right after the Phillies won two of three in D.C. They’ve won three straight series and seven of eight games, each for just the second time this season.

How?

By finding themselves.

“I think so, to a certain degree,” Thomson said. “This is a bunch of talented guys. Competitive guys. They come to work every day and they play well together and they get along very well.”

By trusting themselves.

“We know what we have,” said 2022 NL home run king Kyle Schwarber, who was hitting .160 nine games ago but has compiled a 1.058 OPS since some idiot suggested benching him. “We know what we’re capable of,” Schwarber continued. “It’s always more comfortable when there’s results.”

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By producing.

“Winning a couple of games in Washington — we swung the bats well there,” said Realmuto, referencing the 22 runs the Phillies produced in those three games, the most they’d scored in any three-game series. “Since then, we’ve fed off that momentum and been able to play a lot cleaner games.”

By pitching well from the start.

Phillies starters lasted at least five innings in seven straight starts, with a combined 1.58 ERA. Walker had a 6.53 ERA through nine starts. He’s at 1.93 in his five starts since.

And, of course, by working.

Ever since Thomson was promoted from bench coach to replace Joe Girardi last June, the consistent theme from the Phillies’ clubhouse has been effort and accountability.

Maybe too hard? Maybe, Realmuto said.

“When we’re not playing well, everybody knows it. Everybody feels it. Everybody gets a sense of urgency, and maybe we put a little bit of pressure on ourselves to do more,” Realmuto said. “Now, there’s a lot less pressing. Guys are playing more relaxed. We’re definitely playing cleaner baseball.”

Cleaner, but not perfect.

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On the perfect safety-squeeze, Marsh got caught trying to go from first base to third. It was the sort of over-effort, do-too-much baseball to which Realmuto referred — the kind of baseball that had them locked into third place and 1½ games out of the third wild-card slot.

Marsh’s mistake likely cost the Phillies another run.

Every run will be precious in the Valley of the Sun.