The Phillies kicked off their final away series of the 2025 season on the right note Friday evening, defeating the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2. Walker Buehler earned the win in relief for the Phillies as the Phillies dropped the magic number to secure a first round bye in the postseason to three games.
Walker part one
Taijuan Walker struggled in the first inning, allowing two runs to score. The first run came on a 1-2 cutter that Walker left over the plate to Ketel Marte, who slugged the ball into the stands in right field. Back-to-back singles from Corbin Carroll and Gabriel Moreno put two runners on following the home run. Blaze Alexander then hit a ground ball up the middle to Bryson Stott, who rolled the ball to Weston Wilson at second in hopes of turning the double play. Alexander beat out the throw while Carroll scored from third, giving the Diamondbacks a 2-0 lead.
On the season, Walker has allowed 20 runs to score in the first inning, just under a third of his 62 total runs scored. In his last six starts, Walker has allowed 15 runs in the first inning of action.
Just as he has in most of those outings, Walker locked in after his first inning struggles, keeping the Diamondbacks at two runs in four innings of work before passing the ball off to his start partner and name co-opter Walker Buehler.
Outfield power
In the top of the second, Brandon Marsh found himself swinging at a 1-2 curveball dropping below the strike zone. Marsh held on, slipping the curveball into right field for a single. Alec Bohm, in his first at bat since returning from the Injured List with a shoulder cyst, followed up with an opposite field double, scoring Marsh to put the Phillies on the board.
Since joining the Phillies, Harrison Bader owned a .331 batting average over a 41 game stretch. In the top of the fifth, he tied the game up for the Phillies, on his second extra base hit of the day, a solo home run into left field. The home run is Bader’s fifth since joining the Phillies and his 17th on the season.
Marsh recorded his second hit of the day leading off the sixth inning, hitting a single into right field. Stealing second base on a strikeout from pinch hitter Nick Castellanos, Marsh was in scoring position for Weston Wilson. Wilson slung a single into left field, scoring Marsh to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead.
Speaking of Castellanos, the once everyday right fielder for the Phillies has struggled of late. He had not hit a home run since August 17 and had been on the precipice of hitting is 250th career dinger. In the eighth, after Bohm reached to lead off the inning on a fielding error, Castellanos got the job done. Castellanos took a sweeper from reliever Philip Abner into left field to give the Phillies some insurance runs.
Walker part two
As the Phillies worked their way into the lead, Walker Buehler kept the momentum going from Taijuan Walker, shutting the Diamondbacks down with only one base runner through his first three innings of work.
Buehler started to show signs of slowing down in the eighth inning, however. Marte started the trouble with his third base hit of the day with one out. After recording a fly out for the second out, Buehler allowed two consecutive full count walks to Gabriel Moreno and Blaze Alexander to load the bases.
Rob Thomson opted to go back to the bullpen for the final out of the inning, pulling Buehler after 3.2 innings in favor of Tanner Banks. Banks needed but two pitches to get the job done, working Jordan Lawlar to an infield pop-up to get out of the inning.
Overall on the day, Buehler pitched 3.2 innings allowing no runs on two hits and two walks. He and Taijuan Walker combined to strike out five batters.
Thomson announced the other day that the pair would be matched up not only for Friday’s start, but also during their last turn in the rotation next week against the Marlins. Buehler will likely be given the start that night with Walker coming in out of relief.
Bohm goes the dynamite
The Phillies tacked on a few extra runs in the top of the ninth to seal the deal in Phoenix. Following a one-out walk for Bryce Harper, J.T. Realmuto hit a line drive into right-center field, bouncing over the fence and making a splash into the Diamondbacks’ pool for a ground-rule double. With two runners in scoring position, the Diamondbacks opted to intentionally walk Brandon Marsh to set up the force out.
Alec Bohm took advantage of the opportunity, ripping a single into right field to score Harper and Realmuto. In his return from the IL, Bohm clocked in a 2-for-5 day at the plate with three RBI and one run scored.
Nick Castellanos then closed out the scoring tab on the evening, hitting an RBI single into center field to score Marsh, giving the Phillies an 8-2 lead. Five Phillies’ batters recorded multi-hit nights overall.
Going into the ninth, Jhoan Duran was warming up in the bullpen, but ended up sitting down in lieu of Max Lazar. Lazar pitched a one-two-three ninth inning to finish the evening for the Phillies.
How things shake out
With the Milwaukee Brewers (94-60) dropping their contest to the St. Louis Cardinals (75-79) 7-1 earlier in the evening, the Phillies (92-62) regained a game in their race to catch the Brewers for the top seed in the National League and the best record in baseball. The Phillies stand 2.0 games behind the Brewers but will need to finish the regular season with a better record than the Brewers to clinch the top slot as the Brewers own the seeding tiebreaker having defeated the Phillies in four of six matchups this season.
Meanwhile, the Phillies’ magic number to secure a bye through the NL Wild Card Series is down to three. The Los Angeles Dodgers (87-67) defeated the San Francisco Giants (76-78) 6-3 to keep the magic number from dropping further.
Aaron Nola will make the start against Zac Gallen in game two of their final away series of the 2025 season Saturday evening. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. EDT.
