Phillies set for World Series rematch after playoff-like pitching decision in win over Mariners

Maybe it was because the team jet was fueled up and ready to fly. Or maybe it had to do with the destination — Houston, where the Phillies’ magic ride ended in Game 6 of the World Series last year.

But Rob Thomson sure was in a must-win state of mind Thursday.

Because the manager said Matt Strahm was set to throw “probably 85 pitches, maybe 90, depending on how good it looks.” And it looked better than good against the Mariners. Strahm allowed two hits in 5⅓ scoreless, walk-free innings and threw only 60 pitches.

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Yet there came Thomson to take the ball and put a one-run game in the bullpen’s hands. It was aggressive, especially for Game 26 of the season. It was the kind of move that Thomson made, say, in the World Series — infamously, it turned out.

“We can’t be doing that every night, but today was a game where, want to win the series, want to win the game, 5-2 homestand,” Thomson said. “Yeah, I felt like that was the time to go.”

And so, the Phillies went to Seranthony Domínguez and Connor Brogdon and Gregory Soto, and finally, Craig Kimbrel to finish off a 1-0 victory in a 2-hour, 4-minute matinee before 31,543 paying customers at Citizens Bank Park.

In eking out the rubber game against the Mariners, the Phillies won their third consecutive series. They also climbed back to the .500 mark, and at 13-13, headed out on a tough six-game road trip that begins Friday night in Houston, the scene of the World Series crime.

“I’m excited to go back to Houston,” said Nick Castellanos, who scored the game’s lone run on Kody Clemens’ two-out single in the second inning against hard-luck Mariners starter George Kirby. “There’s going to be some uncomfortable memories that I have to confront. But I’m excited to get back there.”

Nobody has a more difficult Houston memory than Thomson. Not that anyone needs the reminder, but in the sixth inning of Game 6, Thomson lifted Zack Wheeler for José Alvarado, who gave up the decisive homer to the Astros’ Yordan Alvarez.

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After the World Series, Thomson said he’d have made the move again. And in a sense, he did against the Mariners, albeit with almost nothing at stake other than a series victory in April.

Never mind that Strahm was cruising. Thomson didn’t want him to face Julio Rodríguez, the Mariners’ best hitter, for a third time. So, he opted for Domínguez, who got Rodríguez to line out to second base.

“That’s their best hitter,” Thomson said. “I wanted a right-hander on him, and Seranthony’s one of our best right-handers.”

It hardly diminished another stellar start by Strahm, who has been the five-inning version of Clayton Kershaw despite spending three-quarters of spring training in the bullpen. In four starts, Strahm has a 2.31 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 23⅓ innings. He hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any start. He hasn’t allowed any runs in three starts.

Strahm stymied the Mariners in several ways. He struck out the side in the first inning, rolled a ground-ball double play in a four-pitch fourth, and kept Seattle hitters guessing with a mixture of fastballs, cutters, sliders, and sinkers.

But the Phillies signed Strahm to get important outs in the middle and late innings. And when Ranger Suárez returns in a few weeks from a spring training elbow injury, Strahm is likely headed back to a bullpen that has emerged as a Phillies strength.

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“When you can contribute to a team of this caliber, it’s obviously nice,” Strahm said. “But there’s a long road ahead of us. We’ve got to stay consistent.”

Kimbrel retired the side on 12 pitches in the ninth inning to record his 397th career save, tied with Boston’s Kenley Jansen for the most among active players and the seventh-most in major-league history.

But it also marked Kimbrel’s eighth consecutive scoreless outing. Over that stretch, he has allowed three hits and one walk while striking out 13 of 24 batters.

Over the last 11 games, the Phillies’ bullpen has allowed a total of three runs in 35⅔ innings for a 0.76 ERA while racking up 44 strikeouts.

Trea Turner went 0-for-3 to cap a 4-for-29 homestand that left him with an underwhelming .273/.316/.400 batting line in 26 games. It’s actually better than the same point last season, when he was batting .250/.306/.350 for the Dodgers.

But Turner is chasing more pitches than usual, leading to a 23.9% strikeout rate that is well above his 18.2% career mark.

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“Just keep running him out there because everybody goes through slumps at some point,” Thomson said. “Just got to trust that he’s going to come out of it. You know he is. History tells you that.”

Indeed, Turner rebounded from his slow start last year to finish at .298/.343/.466 with 21 homers and 27 stolen bases in 30 attempts.

But Turner has also started every game and leads the majors with 107 at-bats. Could he benefit from a day off?

“I don’t think it’s fatigue right now,” Thomson said. “When I think it’s fatigue, I’ll give him a day.”

The game was played in 2 hours and 4 minutes, the fastest nine-inning Phillies game since May 3, 2012, a 4-0 shutout in which Joe Blanton threw a three-hit complete game.