Phillies set to reign in London as best team in National League

By DAN GELSTON AP Sports Writer

Get ready, London. Some blokes on the Phillies called Bryce, Bohm and Big Stick Nick are set to show Europe what it’s like to stay loose and sexy, baby.

They like double-deckers over there?

Cool, only forget buses, how about Schwarbombs? You know, those orbital home runs slugger Kyle Schwarber enjoys sending into the second decks of stadiums throughout major league baseball.

Crown ’em?

Not yet, that’s what the postseason is for, but the Phillies were set Wednesday night to hop on a plane with about 100 lie-flat beds and take a cross-Atlantic flight to London as the best team in the National League.

That counts for something in their weekend in the spotlight as they play two games against NL East rival New York Mets on Saturday and Sunday at London Stadium for the league’s third visit to the country in the past five years.

The Phillies scored all of seven runs in a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers, good enough to sweep the NL Central leaders and hold a whopping eight-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East.

“This is the first time myself and a lot of us are going to be playing baseball in Europe,” right fielder Nick Castellanos said. “But there are two important baseball games that we’re going to play there.”

Castellanos played a pivotal role in the 5-1 homestand, hitting the game-winning double in the 10th inning of Tuesday’s win and then hitting a two-run shot Wednesday in a 2-0 win over the Brewers.

Behind Aaron Nola and two relievers, the Phillies pitched their seventh shutout of the season. The Phillies allowed only 10 runs over the six games at Citizens Bank Park.

They hope that success carries over to the UK.

Philadelphia has a workout day on Friday and many of the players and coaches hoped to tour the sights ahead of the two-game series.

“I’m not a buff but I always watch stuff on World War II,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I’m interested to see the buildings, the architecture, all the historical things.”

A tour sounds fun.

If they can stay awake.

The Phillies left May 23 for a road trip that included stops in Denver and San Francisco before a return to Philly. Counting Wednesday’s flight, the Phillies say they will have traveled 8,575 miles over 13 time zones by the time they land in Europe.

“We’re supposed to sleep, right? So when we get there we don’t get tired,” Castellanos said. “That’s what our sleep schedule says we should do, sleep as soon as the plane takes off.”

But who can blame them if they get swept up in the same excitement over a season that has made baseball fun in Philly? With a 10:10 a.m. first pitch set for Sunday in Philadelphia, area bars are all in on offering breakfast and baseball happy hours in the morning. Even some of the player’s wives and girlfriends have talked of scheduling a proper afternoon tea while in London.

“It’s going to be kind of like a playoff atmosphere,” Thomson said. “We can’t wait to get there, really.”