Philadelphia Phillies star catcher admits teams were “close” heading into playoffs

The Philadelphia Phillies got a day to breathe after their Game 2 NLDS showdown ended with a dramatic walk-off single by Nick Castellanos.

It was a must-win victory after they lost the first set when Zack Wheeler hit a gem.

In 14 innings of that series, the Phillies struggled offensively, scoring just two runs after failing to get on base at a consistent rate.

That changed in the sixth inning of Game 2 when Bryce Harper hit a patented clutch homer, which was followed one batter later by a solo shot from Castellanos that tied it at three.

Philadelphia managed to end the offensive drought by scoring three more runs in the eighth before Castellanos got the win in the bottom of the ninth.

The hope is that this will propel this lineup forward for the rest of the series, something their star catcher JT Realmuto hinted at when he admitted the team didn't get into the playoffs as comfortably as they would have liked.

“Some of us said after the game, ‘All right. Now we can breathe deeply.' For some reason it felt a little tense, a little tight as we got into the series. “I feel like now we can let loose and play our style of baseball,” he said, according to Matt Gelb of The athlete.

That is certainly understandable.

There is a lot of internal and external pressure on the Phillies to return to the World Series and ultimately bring home the Cup after coming two games shy of winning in 2022 and coming up short in the NLCS last year.

It feels like Philadelphia weathered the early onslaught of a red-hot New York Mets team that came into the NLDS with nothing to lose and confident that it was in the midst of a magical run.

Winning Game 2 was essential to giving themselves a fighting chance to return to the Championship Series, and with the day off to regroup and breathe, the Phillies now find themselves in a best-of-three set, who will decide whether they can achieve this goal or not.

With Aaron Nola on the mound and a rested bullpen, they have the pitching advantage compared to what the Mets will throw on the field in the future, but this team will only go as far as this lineup takes them.

Realmuto expects the offensive explosion late Sunday night to get them back on track.

That will prove right or wrong in Game 3.