Apr 30, 2024; Anaheim, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh (16), center fielder Johan Rojas (18) and right fielder Nick Castellanos (8) celebrate after the game against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
On Pattison's countdown of the 15 best Phillies games of 2024 continues with some late-game heroics to close out the month of April.
15) April 16, 2024 - Ranger Suarez throws a complete game shutout
14) September 14, 2024 - The Cal Stevenson game
13) May 18, 2024 - Kody Clemens ninth-inning home run
12) July 9, 2024 - Phillies clobber Dodgers, 10-1, in first game of series sweep
11) June 18, 2024 - Nick Castellanos walk-off double against Padres
10) June 24, 2024 - Phillies turn 1-3-5 triple play
9) April 30, 2024 - Castellanos and Rojas hit ninth-inning bombs against Angels
On April 30, the Phillies reached 20 wins before May for the first time in franchise history. The MLB season starts earlier than it used to, but the feat still illustrates just how well this team played early on.
Do you remember the April Phillies? The Spencer Turnbull Phillies?
Turnbull gave the Phils a strong start on the last day of April: 5.1 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. And Kyle Scharber gave them a Schwarbomb for a 3-0 lead in the second.
Schwarbomb, baby, Schwarbomb#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/DSVkSETEtE
But the Angels roared back. Trea Turner mangled a double-play ball that could have ended the sixth, and the Halos scored four runs immediately after to take a 5-3 lead.
Here’s the Trea Turner error.
We all knew right away what would happen next. pic.twitter.com/Ag42DkTJwR
Turner--possibly due to the power of love--was able to shake off the error in the eighth, singling and stealing a base. Alec Bohm drove the shortstop in, making it a 5-4 game and setting the stage for some ninth-inning heroics.
Bohm was hitting .366 with a 1.036 OPS after this game.
Alec Bohm’s RBI single cuts the Angels lead to 5-4. pic.twitter.com/rRmWHrdaQi
In the top of the ninth with one out, Nick Castellanos blasted a solo home run to tie the game at 5.
Casty!!!#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/NBePKGipLn
Later in the inning, Johan Rojas followed up with the third home run of his career to make it 7-5. (Sidenote: The Phillies really witnessed this Carlos Estevez performance and decided he'd be their big trade deadline move.)
Known power hitter Johan Rojas pic.twitter.com/FGxumAOXWw
Rojas started the season with one hit in 22 at-bats. But his average was up to a respectable .241 after this game. (He finished the season at .243.) “If you go back to the first couple weeks, I’m ecstatic with where [Rojas] is at based on that,” said Rob Thomson.
Jeff Hoffman closed out the win in the bottom of the inning, and the win gave the Phillies a 20-11 record overall.
"I think we’re playing pretty complete baseball," said Castellanos after the game. "I think we’re pitching well. I think we’re competing at the plate well. I think that we’ve cleaned up our baserunning as of late.
“We’re just a really good baseball team."
