On Tuesday, August 16th, The Phillies beat the Reds to pick up the 10,00th win for the club. Led by an impressive splay of the bats and good enough pitching, the team overcame an early deficit to win 11-4. It is only fitting that the win should come under Rob Thomson and a team that seems finally capable of ending the playoff drought. Let us look at a few of the players who helped the team get this 10,00th victory.
Rhys Hoskins
The Player of the game belongs to the Big Fella. After singling and stealing a base early, he came up in the 4thinning with two runners on after the Reds took the lead in the third. First pitch swinging on a low fastball created a line drive homer over the right field fence. Despite giving the Phillies the lead that they needed, he did not stop there. He hit another homer in the 8th, making him 3/5 with two home runs and a stolen base. With both Schwarber and Harper out, Hoskins is doing his best to pick up the slack.
RHYS HOSKINS IS OUT OF CONTROL TONIGHT. pic.twitter.com/vINdc7tBQY — NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 17, 2022
Kyle Gibson
The day started shaky early, but Gibson pulled it together. He gave up back-to-back home runs in the third (the second of which led to a Brandon Marsh injury). However, he reeled it in and finished with 11 strikeouts over six innings. He bounces back and forth between being very good and very hittable but if he is on the right day, Gibson can be lights out for the Phillies.
Nicholas Castellanos
Apparently, all it took for Castellanos to get going was a trip back to his former ballpark. In his first game back to Cincinnati he had one of his best performances of the year. He had two doubles and a home run (which was back-to-back with Hall) for the club and every fan watching is preying that this road series against the Reds is all it takes to have Castellanos finally hitting.
Nick Castellanos and Darick Hall go back-to-back to give the Phils a 2-0 lead! pic.twitter.com/f90gl8CbrR — NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) August 16, 2022
Garrett Stubbs
There is something about Stubbs that I just like as the backup catcher. As my brother has noted, he seems like the little brother you always had on your little league team. His gear looks a bit too big, and he is a little thin to be a catcher, but he plays incredibly well in his role. Yesterday was one of his best games as well. He collected three hits (to raise his average to .288), walked twice, had a home run, and threw out the only base stealing attempt.
I cannot think of a better game for your backup catcher and what a contribution to the historic win. This game and his season (along with guys like Darick Hall) are symbolic of what is going right for this team this year and the special season that it could be.