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The Philadelphia Phillies picked up the win over the San Diego Padres in Bryce Harper’s return from the injured list Monday. The Phillies got a dominant outing from starting pitcher Zack Wheeler as well as some impressive base running from center fielder Brandon Marsh.
Marsh drove in a run with an RBI single off Padres starter Matt Waldron in the fourth inning, putting the Phillies up 2-0. He then stole second base. And although the throw from catcher Martin Maldonado beat him to the bag, Marsh broke out a nifty swim move to get around the tag, via Crossing Broad on X.
This Brandon Marsh swim move was insane! pic.twitter.com/q2ySAJUkAq
— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) June 30, 2025
After collecting his fifth steal of the season with a great slide, Marsh advanced to third on a wild pitch. He then scored on Trea Turner’s RBI infield single, giving Philadelphia a 3-0 advantage in the fourth inning.
The Phillies look to take control of the NL East
Nick Castellanos added a solo home run in the fifth. The right fielder jumped on the first pitch he saw, a 75 mph knuckleball from Waldron, and hammered it 372 feet to left.
Castellanos has been hot since he was benched by manager Rob Thomson in the middle of June. The two-time All-Star apparently “crossed a line” with Thomson and was held out of the Phillies' matchup against the Marlins on June 17. The benching snapped Castellanos’ streak of consecutive games started. He recently passed Jimmy Rollins to move into second-place in franchise history with 231 straight starts.
However, the 13th-year veteran seems to have been motivated by the incident. Entering Monday’s contest, Castellanos slashed .302/.333/.558 in 11 games since being benched. He now has 3 homers, 5 doubles and 9 RBI since his manager sat him down.
Castellanos' fifth inning home run gave Philadelphia a 4-0 lead, which was more than enough for Wheeler. The Phillies' ace was electric, allowing six hits and no walks while striking out 10 in eight shutout innings.
Wheeler delivered the team’s second straight standout start following Ranger Suarez’s excellent outing against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday. Suarez is on a historic run for the Phillies with 10 consecutive quality starts.
Monday's win over the Padres put Philadelphia two games above the idle New York Mets in the NL East. The Phillies trailed New York by 5.5 games just two weeks ago.
