Phillies overcome Bryce Harper’s ejection, errors and testing of the bullpen to beat Cardinals, 5-4

ST. LOUIS — The Phillies made their win on Friday night far more difficult than it needed to be. They committed three errors. They lost Bryce Harper to an ejection early. Their eighth and ninth inning relievers, Craig Kimbrel and José Alvarado, almost blew a two-run lead by combining for five walks. But in spite of all of that, they got it done, defeating the St. Louis Cardinals, 5-4, to take the opener of their three-game set.

This was not the cleanest of baseball games. In the fourth inning, Cristian Pache fielded a ground ball in left field, and, while trying to throw it to first, threw it between first and the mound. Alec Bohm had to run on the grass to catch it on a bounce. Edmundo Sosa made a handful of misplays at third base that didn’t qualify as errors, but certainly didn’t do any favors for starter Aaron Nola.

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As if the Phillies needed any more defensive issues, in the sixth inning, the Cardinals’ Masyn Winn hit a liner straight at shortstop Trea Turner that ricocheted off his glove. It was Turner’s second error of the night and his 20th of the season. He’s tied with the Nationals’ CJ Abrams for most shortstop errors in the National League.

The Phillies lost Harper in the third inning when he was ejected by home plate umpire Alex Tosi. He was frustrated with Tosi’s second strike call, which was far out of the zone. Harper swung and missed on the next pitch to strike out and threw his bat and helmet before saying something to Tosi, who ejected him from the game.

Nola, who has historically fared well against the Cardinals, struggled as he pitched deeper into his outing. He allowed just one hit through his first two innings, on 24 pitches, but in the third, he started to spiral. He allowed a walk, a single, and back-to-back RBI singles before Bryson Stott and Turner turned a double play to stop the bleeding.

In the fourth, he allowed a single, committed a throwing error to put runners on first and third, and allowed a run to score on a sacrifice fly by Winn. Nola was pulled with two outs in the fifth after allowing two hits with two outs. He needed 97 pitches to get through those 4⅔ innings, allowing seven hits, three runs (two earned). It was the third straight outing in which Nola has been unable to pitch past the fifth.

“It sucks [not being able to pitch deeper into games],” Nola said. “I mean, the bullpen is coming in too early when I’m pitching. You want to save those guys, especially this time of year. I never want to go five or below. It’s just kind of the way it’s been the last few outings. Hopefully we’ll turn it around in the next one.”

It was a strange outing for a pitcher who has been known to eat innings and induce whiffs. Nola did neither of those things on Friday. The last time he faced the Cardinals, on Aug. 27, he racked up nine strikeouts in seven innings. On Friday, he only struck out one batter, Paul Goldschmidt, and he didn’t do it until the fifth.

Nola said he wasn’t too concerned. He didn’t have his best stuff, and decided to lean on his two-seamer to induce more ground balls. Thomson was more focused on Nola’s inefficiency.

“The fastball velocity was down a little bit tonight, but usually he can pitch without his best velocity,” Thomson said of Nola. “And he did. Tonight he got ground ball after ground ball after ground ball. But you’ve got to get ahead. Got to throw strikes. Got to command the baseball.”

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The Phillies got out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. A fielder’s choice from Harper drove in Turner, and Nick Castellanos hit a three-run home run, his 24th of the season. Castellanos nearly hit another home run in the fourth inning, when he drove a ball 372 feet to the right center field wall, but it was caught.

It has been a frustrating stretch for Castellanos. When he made the All-Star team in July, he said he was most proud of his consistency. He hadn’t gone through prolonged slumps in the first half. The results haven’t been as consistent in the second half.

Nevertheless, Castellanos appears to be snapping out of it. He’s hitting .296/.345/.593 over his last seven games, and has hit a home run in two of his last three games. Because of those inconsistent results, he said if could grade his season, he’d give it a B- or a C+.

“Doing my job, taking a full season of at-bats, staying healthy,” Castellanos said. “Am I thrilled about every aspect of my season personally? No, because I know I hit periods of inconsistency. But still, I’m always a person that’s going to strive to get better. I have an unhealthy knack for never really being satisfied with anything that I do. Even after my 2021 season, driving home from Cincinnati with [wife] Jess, talking about all of the areas I [expletive] in.”

Castellanos added: “Having points where I want to come through... it is frustrating. But I think a part of the reason why I don’t come through in those moments is wanting to come through too bad. And I don’t take what the game gives me.”

The Phillies added another run in the sixth, when Sosa hit a double and J.T. Realmuto drove him in with an RBI single. Initially, it seemed like it was going to be a relatively uneventful for the night for the bullpen. Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, and Seranthony Domínguez combined for 2⅓ innings of no-hit ball, allowing just one walk.

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But in the eighth inning, Kimbrel got to two outs only to allow three straight walks to load the bases. He struck out Alec Burleson to end the inning, but it was the most walks he’s allowed in an outing all season.

Alvarado came in for the ninth, and again, Sosa’s defense proved to be costly. Alvarado allowed a single and a walk to put runners at first and second with no outs. Tyler O’Neill grounded into a force out, and Sosa stepped on third base rather than throwing to second for the double play.

Walker grounded into another forceout in the next at-bat, when Turner fielded a grounder and threw it to Stott, who caught Turner’s throw by stretching into a split to keep his foot on the bag.

Tommy Edman followed that with a single to score Juniel Querecuto from third. Alvarado walked Winn to load the bases, but he struck out Lars Nootbaar to end the game.

It was a chaotic finish. But a win is a win, and just a few minutes later, the chorus of “Dancing On My Own” started blasting from the visitor’s clubhouse. The last time the Phillies played that song in St. Louis, they were celebrating a trip to the National League Division Series. With a Cubs loss on Friday, they now have a 2½-game lead over Chicago in first place of the NL wild-card standings. Postseason baseball is just 18 days away.

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As Harper reached first base in the first inning, he appeared to be in some pain. Thomson and assistant athletic trainer Joe Rauch checked him out, but Harper remained in the game until the third inning, when he was ejected by Tosi.

Thomson said Harper should be in the lineup on Saturday.

“It was a stinger,” Thomson said. “He just felt something in his knee and then his calf started to tighten up while he was standing there at first base. And then it went away. So we kept him in the game. And he’s fine now. He’ll be in there [Saturday].”