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Tag: Cristopher Sánchez

  • Bryce Harper silences Nationals fans as Phillies mount ‘another crazy ninth inning’ rally for 10-5 win

    Bryce Harper silences Nationals fans as Phillies mount ‘another crazy ninth inning’ rally for 10-5 win

    WASHINGTON — In the right field corner of Nationals Park, a group of entirely shirtless fans took over Section 236.

    They were steadily growing in number on Thursday night, while the Phillies — yet again — fell behind early against the Nationals. The fans, who were waving their discarded shirts and chanting for most of the game, were participating in a movement known as “Tarps Off.”

    It’s a trend that is not unique to this series, and not unique to the Nationals. But the Phillies took notice of this particular group in right field earlier this week, when their chants started to include expletives directed at former Nationals Bryce Harper and Trea Turner.

    Derek Hill brings value to Phillies’ lineup, even when at-bats are limited: ‘He fits right in with our group’

    The “F— Bryce Harper” chants resumed in full force on Thursday. And so when Harper blasted a two-run home run to break a 5-5 stalemate in the ninth inning, he made sure he acknowledged them. As he rounded the bases, he flashed a finger — which he clarified was his ring finger — toward the upper deck in right field.

    “Obviously, everybody heard it,” Harper said. “We heard it the other night. I mean, they were doing same thing to Trea — which is crazy, because they should probably know their history a little bit with them winning the World Series here — but yeah, it’s part of it. I love coming in here and playing here.”

    By the time Derek Hill stepped into the box and hit another homer, capping a five-run ninth inning and the 10-5 win, the Tarps Off group had mostly dispersed.

    The Phillies secured the series victory over Washington with their third consecutive comeback win. Each of them had involved a go-ahead home run in the ninth inning.

    “We just have that never-quit mentality,” said Brandon Marsh.

    Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sánchez had his shortest outing on Thursday since April 7.Nick Wass

    And in each ninth inning, the Phillies had a different hero. On Tuesday, it was Bryson Stott. On Wednesday, it was Hill. And on Thursday, it was the former face of the Nationals franchise.

    “You guys know everywhere I go, I get booed and they say my name or boo or anything else. I love it. It’s all part of it,” Harper said. “It’s weird coming from a fan base that I sweated for for seven years, but there’s a lot of people around here that enjoy me, so it’s all part of it, it’s all fun.”

    Their latest comeback helped the Phillies recover from an uncharacteristic start from Cristopher Sánchez. The lefty wasn’t as sharp as usual, and it seemed like Washington capitalized on every mistake he made to jump out to a four-run lead in the first inning.

    Curtis Mead started it off. The former Phillies prospect they traded to Tampa Bay in 2019 to acquire Sánchez blasted a homer over the bullpen in left field. Sánchez couldn’t rebound, hitting the next batter and allowing three singles before finally getting out of the first.

    Three Phillies in running to start the All-Star Game after first phase of voting, but not Bryce Harper

    “I thought probably his command tonight was not as good as we’ve seen,” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “Seemed like the changeup command was not great tonight. Stuff was good, he was throwing the ball good. Probably a little unfortunate on some plays, that if you get an out here and out there, it limits some of that damage.”

    The defense didn’t help Sánchez, costing him quite a few pitches en route to his shortest outing — five innings — since April 7. J.T. Realmuto committed a throwing error in the third inning trying to catch Dylan Crews stealing second, and Alec Bohm booted a ball at third.

    Sánchez struck out six batters, including five on his slider.

    “I missed a couple pitches, and they got me, but outside of that, I think I felt great today,” he said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello.

    After the Phillies fell behind 5-0, their relievers locked things down as the offense chipped away. Marsh hit a two-run homer in the sixth inning to put the Phillies on the board. In the seventh, they capitalized on two singles and four walks to tie the game, as Washington’s bullpen — which has a National League-worst 5.05 ERA — collapsed again.

    “We were very patient there in the seventh,” Mattingly said. “In the strike zone. We talked about it, hitting there. … [Justin Crawford] gets a hit, Trea gets a hit, gets it started, and then you’re into [Kyle Schwarber], and he walks, Harp walks, and it just kind of snowballs.”

    Chase Shugart, José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, and Tim Mayza each pitched a scoreless inning for the Phillies. Kerkering was the only reliever to allow a hit. He gave up a leadoff double in the eighth and then battled back to strike out two consecutive pinch-hitting lefties with his fastball and induced a groundout to preserve the 5-5 tie.

    Phillies’ Don Mattingly named to National League coaching staff for the All-Star Game

    It set the stage for some more ninth-inning magic.

    “Everyone heard what those group of dudes were saying up there,” Marsh said. “I feel like Harp gets a lot of heat just for being who he is and how good he is, and I feel like it just comes with being one of the best players to ever play.

    “Him coming in clutch for us in that moment, I mean, I don’t even know the word to describe it. The boys needed it, and he came through for us, and another crazy ninth inning.”

  • Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber put on a show in Phillies’ rout of the Mets: ‘What a night to be able to have’

    Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber put on a show in Phillies’ rout of the Mets: ‘What a night to be able to have’

    In three weeks, in the same sold-out ballpark, in front of another national television audience, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper will probably be in the All-Star Game, maybe even the Home Run Derby.

    But they won’t put on a show like this.

    They can’t possibly.

    Can they?

    Whatever happens in the Bank’s All-Star closeup, take this to the bank: The Phillies’ stars put on dueling talent shows for the ages in Saturday night’s 15-3 demolition of the rival Mets. And, no, that isn’t mouth-agape hyperbole over feats we can’t believe we just saw.

    Bryce Harper hits for first-career cycle in five innings, Kyle Schwarber hits three homers vs. Mets

    “They stole the show from me, that’s for sure,” ace Cristopher Sánchez said, laughing, after a one-run, six-inning gem reduced his ERA to 1.84. “It was perfect.”

    It started with Schwarber, who became the fourth player in Phillies history (dating back to 1883, by the way) to smash two homers in one inning before adding a third later in the game for good measure.

    Not to be outdone, Harper tripled in the fifth inning to hit for the cycle for the first time in a career that has spanned 15 seasons and will eventually take him to the Hall of Fame. And it took him only four at-bats, to boot.

    Only once before did teammates do those two things — at least three homers and a cycle — in one game: Lou Gehrig and Tony Lazzeri, Hall of Fame Yankees, in 1932.

    “We were wondering that in the dugout,” Harper said. “We didn’t think there was going to be two guys that did it. But to have those two names up against ours is pretty cool. It’s a pretty awesome moment for both of us.”

    Kyle Schwarber became the fourth Phillies player to homer twice in one inning when he did so in the third.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Or as Schwarber put it, after he and Harper had four hits apiece in a 17-hit Phillies onslaught: “It was a pretty cool overall night, in general.”

    For Harper, it began a few minutes before 3 p.m. with something he rarely does. He took early batting practice on the field, an exercise he prefers to do underneath the stands in the controlled environment of the indoor cage.

    But Harper was in a 1-for-22 funk, even though he’s been mostly pleased with his approach at the plate. He swung mostly at strikes and hit balls hard, but as he said, “it feels like there’s a big, old glove out there.”

    So, Harper went out to the field with one objective.

    “I was trying to hit home runs,” he said. “Haven’t hit really many balls over the fence in a while, so I felt like just going out there and just trying to hit some balls in the third deck. Sometimes that helps.”

    The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

    OK, but hitting a fastball from Mets ace righty Freddy Peralta into the right-field seats on his first swing of the game for his first homer in 10 days?

    That’s absurd. But it fits with the night’s theme.

    Harper was using different lumber, too. He switched to a 34-inch, 35-ounce bat instead of his usual 34-inch, 31½-ounce model — “My heavy bat from the cage,” he said — because he thought he was out in front of too many pitches.

    “That bat’s from 2023, just an old, heavy bat that I swing every day in the cage,” Harper said. “It’s just my workout-routine bat. I said to [hitting coach Kevin] Long about a month ago, I was like, ‘Man, I should use this thing in a game,’ and I never did. Finally I was like, ‘Screw it. I’m going to do it today.

    “I don’t know if it translated to the game or anything else. But what a night to be able to have.”

    Tell Schwarber about it. He led off an eight-run third inning by golfing a 456-foot drive halfway up the second deck in right field. By the time Schwarber’s spot in the lineup came back around, the Phillies had an eight-run lead. It ballooned to 11-0 with another Schwarbomb, 457 feet to almost the same spot.

    “That was cool,” said Schwarber, who didn’t do anything unusual before the game. “First time I’ve done it in my career.”

    In fact, the only other Phillies players to do it were Andy Seminick (1949), Von Hayes (1985), and Trea Turner (2023).

    Why stop there? Schwarber tacked on a third homer in the seventh inning, skying a ball around the right-field foul pole. It marked the fifth time in his career that he hit at least three homers and raised his majors-leading total this season to 28.

    Phillies weighing options to fill Andrew Painter’s spot in starting rotation; Trea Turner returns to lineup

    “That’s what he tries to do, man,” Harper said of the sport’s most prolific home-run hitter. “It’s way different. Just the way he kind of connects to the baseball. He uses the ground so well. He’s got such a simple, short swing. It’s pretty impressive, you know?”

    Almost as impressive as, say, scoring all the way from first base on Harper’s cycle-capping triple.

    Everyone in the dugout was aware of Harper’s pursuit of the cycle. After his first-inning homer, he was typically overaggressive in hustling to turn a single into a double on a liner to right-center before ripping a single in the third inning.

    “We kind of talked about it before, and I was like, ‘Hey, you’ve just got to aim at Monty’s Angle,’” Schwarber said, referring to the area where the wall juts out in left-center field. “And then he gets up there and he hits the ball to center field. I’m like, ‘I’m going to run through the stop sign.’

    “I was pretty predetermined on going, and I’m glad [third base coach Anthony Contreras] was on the same page, too, with sending me.”

    Not that they had much choice. Harper was intent on not stopping around second base, the helmet flying off his head between first and second.

    Harper joked that Schwarber was well-rested because he “jogged a lot tonight.” And when he slid into third, Harper raised both arms skyward, then pumped his right arm and doffed his helmet.

    It was only the 11th time in 144 seasons that a Phillies player hit for the cycle. J.T. Realmuto and Weston Wilson did it in 2023 and 2024, respectively. But it’s happened only five times in the last 63 years.

    And never to Harper. Well, not since college.

    “Super Regionals,” he said. “Seven-for-seven, four homers and a cycle.”

    Is there a better duo in baseball than Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez? We asked the experts.

    Where does a cycle rank for a two-time MVP with 379 career homers?

    “It’s up there,” he said. “Doing that at the big-league level is really cool.”

    And it makes you wonder what Schwarber and Harper could possibly have in store for an All-Star encore. Neither will commit to the Home Run Derby until they know if they’ll be named to the All-Star team.

    But, really, is there any doubt?

    “A crowd like [Saturday] shows you how electric it’s going to be, for not only that [Home Run Derby] night but the whole week in general,” Schwarber said. “I think it’ll be really special to have the All-Star Game here in Philly, and our fans are going to be able to show up for that.”

    The Phillies’ biggest stars just gave everyone one heck of a preview.

  • Is there a better duo in baseball than Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez? We asked the experts.

    Is there a better duo in baseball than Zack Wheeler and Cristopher Sánchez? We asked the experts.

    The subject came up in the Phillies’ clubhouse recently, after Zack Wheeler followed a Cristopher Sánchez gem with one of his own.

    Is there a better one-two pitching punch in baseball?

    Bryce Harper answered the question with a question.

    “Yeah, I mean, I’m going to ask you,” the Face of the Franchise said. “What do you think? Is it the best one-two? I mean, it’s got to be up there.”

    Up there? No doubt.

    The best?

    What if the Phillies’ most impactful addition was a resurgent Trea Turner? He’s working to make it happen.

    Anecdotally, it’s hard to believe there’s a better tandem. Sánchez and Wheeler have started back-to-back for seven turns through the rotation, five times against the same team. Here’s how it’s gone:

    • Sánchez, May 5 vs. A’s: 8 innings, 0 runs
    • Wheeler, May 6 vs. A’s: 6⅓ innings, 3 runs
    • Sánchez, May 10 vs. Rockies: 7 innings, 0 runs
    • Wheeler, May 12 at Red Sox: 7⅓ innings, 1 run
    • Sánchez, May 16 at Pirates: 9 innings, 0 runs
    • Wheeler, May 17 at Pirates: 7 innings, 0 runs
    • Sánchez, May 22 vs. Guardians: 8 innings, 0 runs
    • Wheeler, May 23 vs. Guardians: 6 innings, 0 runs
    • Sánchez, May 27 at Padres: 7 innings, 0 runs
    • Wheeler, May 29 at Dodgers: 6 innings, 4 runs
    • Sánchez, June 3 vs. Padres: 7 innings, 1 run
    • Wheeler, June 4 vs. Padres: 7 innings, 2 runs
    • Sánchez, June 8 at Blue Jays: 7 innings, 2 runs
    • Wheeler, June 9 at Blue Jays: 6 innings, 1 run

    That’s a 0.51 ERA in 53 innings for Sánchez, last year’s Cy Young Award runner-up in the National League. The 29-year-old recently went 50⅔ innings without giving up a run, the longest streak by a lefty and fifth-longest overall since at least 1893.

    Cristopher Sánchez recently went 50⅔ innings without allowing a run, the longest streak by any left-handed pitcher since at least 1893.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer

    And it’s a 2.17 mark in 45⅔ innings for Wheeler, a two-time Cy Young runner-up. You wouldn’t know that he turned 36 two weeks ago — or had a rib removed nine months ago to relieve a compressed vein.

    Philly hasn’t seen a better one-two punch since the trio of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels in 2011, maybe since Rocky’s left jab and right cross.

    Sánchez leads all pitchers in wins above replacement (5.1, as calculated by Baseball-Reference) and innings (93⅓), and ranks second in strikeouts (113), and third in ERA (1.54). Wheeler is tied for sixth in WAR (2.7) and has a 2.22 ERA in nine starts.

    “I love Wheeler, and I think Sánchez is above Wheeler now,” said a talent evaluator from a National League team. “That’s how good I think Sánchez is.”

    Sure, but are they the best?

    Is it finally time for Mike Trout to be traded? The all-in Phillies make too much sense.

    “It’s relentless,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said last month after Sánchez’s six-hit shutout preceded seven scoreless innings from Wheeler. “Whenever you get to that level and you’re facing those types of guys, those are the types of arms you’re going to see in October.”

    After Sánchez blanked the Guardians for eight innings on May 22, Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt called him “special.” A day later, the Guardians were muted for six innings by Wheeler, whom Vogt called “one of the best righties in the game.”

    Put them together, and well, it’s a two-headed monster that gives the Phillies an edge over almost any team in a short series.

    But there are others. An informal survey of scouts this week produced other dynamic-duo nominees. Among them:

    Zack Wheeler has a 2.22 ERA in nine starts after returning from thoracic outlet syndrome.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Jacob Misiorowski and Kyle Harrison, Brewers: When it comes to velocity, nobody beats The Miz. The 24-year-old righty’s fastball averages — repeat: averages — 100 mph. Harrison is a revelation, though one NL evaluator was skeptical of the 24-year-old lefty, who has been traded twice (Giants to Red Sox to Brewers) since last June 15. Misiorowski and Harrison will take 1.50 and 2.72 ERAs into starts Friday and Sunday, respectively, against the Phillies in Milwaukee.

    Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Dodgers: Imagine if the Phillies convinced Yamamoto to take their $300 million-plus offer in December 2023? After his iconic postseason last year, he has a 2.68 ERA through 12 starts. Ohtani seems determined to add a Cy Young Award to his MVP collection (four, and almost certainly counting). He allowed five runs through his first 10 starts and has a 1.06 ERA overall. One rival NL scout dinged the Dodgers’ duo, dominant as it is, due to the unique usage of Ohtani, who rarely starts on less than six days’ rest.

    Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole, Yankees: Every team wishes it could clone its Cy Young-winning ace. The Yankees seem to have done it. Schlittler (1.87 ERA through 14 starts) resembles Cole not only in terms of physical appearance but also stuff, notably a big fastball and hard cutter. Two scouts — one in each league — put the Yankees’ 25- and 35-year-old righties slightly ahead of Sánchez and Wheeler. But one NL scout cautioned that, like Wheeler, Cole is coming back from surgery. So far, though, four starts into his return from Tommy John elbow surgery, he has a 2.45 ERA that has him looking like vintage Cole.

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    Another NL scout cited the emergence of righty Braxton Ashcraft (3.28 ERA through 13 starts) as a sidekick to Paul Skenes (2.84 in 14 starts) to give the Pirates a formidable tandem. The AL scout pointed to Blue Jays right-handers Dylan Cease (2.91 ERA in 12 starts) and Kevin Gausman (3.60 in 14 starts).

    Off the top of his head, Harper submitted Braves lefty Chris Sale and, when healthy, hard-throwing Spencer Schwellenbach. But the latter had surgery in February to remove bone spurs from his right elbow and isn’t expected to pitch until late in the season.

    In any case, the Phillies believe Sánchez and Wheeler don’t take a back seat to anyone. They’re 10-4 in Sánchez’s starts (including a 1-0 loss to the Guardians on May 22), 7-2 in Wheeler’s, and 20-25 in all other games.

    Unlike the Dodgers’ and Yankees’ co-aces, Sánchez and Wheeler give the Phillies a lefty-righty balance. They present stylistic contrasts, too, and come from vastly different backgrounds.

    Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski, who will face the Phillies on Friday night, is half of Milwaukee’s formidable top-of-the-rotation tandem.Jeffrey Phelps

    Sánchez, acquired from the Rays in a minor trade after the 2019 season, represents a victory for the Phillies’ scouting, analytics, and mostly player-development departments. Specifically, pitching coach Caleb Cotham credits César Ramos, who worked with Sánchez in triple A before becoming the major league bullpen coach.

    In three years, Sánchez harnessed his command, honed his changeup, and went from a last-resort fifth starter in 2023 to the best lefty in the NL — and maybe in the entire sport.

    Since the beginning of the 2024 season, Sánchez has a 2.62 ERA and leads all pitchers with 16.9 WAR, as calculated by Baseball-Reference.

    The Phillies’ ‘longer-term bet’ on Cristopher Sanchez looked like a misstep. Then he found his pitch.

    “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of, from where he started to where he is now,” Cotham said this week on The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast. “The attention to detail and the small things, tightening the delivery, we can go on and on. They turned into huge things for him.

    “You watch a ’23 video, ’22, even some ’24 video, it still kind of smacks me in the face, where it’s like, wow. I know the delivery is tighter, it’s cleaner. But he’s a big dude. There was arms and hands and feet going everywhere. It’s still kind of jarring watching even ’24 video with how much better and consistent and compact his delivery is compared to then. It’s just gotten better and better each year.

    “That’s probably the biggest piece for me with Cris. The physicality got to a point to allow the delivery to get to where you’re no longer wondering where this ball’s going to go.”

    Cristopher Sánchez has a 2.62 ERA since the start of the 2024 season.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer

    Wheeler has evolved, too. He still leans on his fastball, although it’s a few ticks slower after his surgery. But he added a sweeper and splitter over the last few years, and in any given start, one or the other, or maybe his curveball, might be his best off-speed pitch.

    “The splitter’s arguably as good as it’s ever been, movement-wise,” Cotham said. “The sweeper’s been very good. He’s thrown the last couple of starts some of the better curveballs he’s thrown. The cutter was a pitch he didn’t quite have early in the year. It’s gotten better lately.”

    Oh, and for hitters, here’s the scary part.

    “I still think,” Cotham said, “there’s another level for him.”

    From April: What is Zack Wheeler facing in his return from surgery? We asked two pitchers who have done it.

    Said interim manager Don Mattingly: “It’s always good to have Wheels out there. We talk about Sánchy being an ace. But it’s hard to have a true ace if you’re not saying Wheeler is the guy. It’s good to have these guys back-to-back.”

    Regardless of where Sánchez and Wheeler stack up, few teams have anything like them.

    “It’s tough coming into a ballpark and knowing that you’re going to face those two guys in a series,” Harper said. “So, yeah, I really don’t know if there’s a better one-two punch in the game right now.”

  • Bryce Harper’s toothpaste, Philly’s ‘Love Island’ takeover, and another Sánchez masterpiece | Weekly Report Card

    Bryce Harper’s toothpaste, Philly’s ‘Love Island’ takeover, and another Sánchez masterpiece | Weekly Report Card

    Bryce Harper’s toothpaste technique: C

    Bryce Harper spent last week defending his toothbrushing technique after the internet discovered that he squeezes toothpaste directly into his mouth.

    The revelation was so unsettling that the Padres put it on the videoboard, dentists weighed in, and millions of people suddenly found themselves evaluating the oral hygiene habits of the Phillies’ first baseman.

    The funniest part is that Harper seemed genuinely confused by the backlash. “I’ve done it forever,” he said, which somehow makes it worse.

    What elevates this from ordinary internet nonsense to a true Philly sports story is that Harper is currently one of the best players in baseball, and yet this became a legitimate multiday discussion.

    For the record, dentists do not recommend the technique. But Harper has two MVPs, hundreds of home runs, and apparently very clean teeth, so hard to argue with the results.

    Sean Reifel (left), Melanie Moreno (middle), Sincere Rhea (right) are contestants of Love Island USA 2026.Ben Symons/PEACOCK

    Three Philly-area contestants on ‘Love Island’? The Eagles agenda is spreading: B+

    Three contestants with Philadelphia-region ties entered the villa on this season of Love Island USA. They are a North Philly native, a Cape May track star, and a former Lehigh Valley police officer.

    And within one episode, Philadelphia had already established diplomatic relations.

    North Philly’s Melanie Moreno and Cape May’s Sincere Rhea immediately bonded over the Eagles, with Moreno declaring, “Literally cut me and I’ll bleed green.”

    The funniest part about Philly representation on reality TV is that contestants from here almost never ease people into it. Within minutes, viewers knew Moreno was from Philadelphia because she announced it the same way most Philadelphians do: loudly and with complete confidence.

    Meanwhile, Rhea seems genuinely wholesome enough that the producers will almost certainly try to create problems for him by Episode 3.

    The real winner, though, may be Philadelphia itself. The city somehow landed three contestants on one of the biggest reality shows, ensuring that for at least the next few weeks, viewers will get Eagles fandom and blunt honesty on their screens.

    Winners at the North America’s 50 Best Restaurants announcement.50 Best

    Philly restaurants keep collecting national awards like it’s normal now: A

    Two Philadelphia restaurants landed on North America’s 50 Best Restaurants list this week, with Kalaya and Friday Saturday Sunday once again earning spots among the continent’s culinary heavyweights.

    The funny thing is that Philly food fans have become almost spoiled by this stuff.

    A few years ago, getting one restaurant on a list like this would have triggered a citywide victory lap. Now the reaction is more along the lines of: “Only two? What happened to Royal Sushi?”

    To be fair, both restaurants dropped in the rankings this year. But they also remained on a list featuring just 50 restaurants across the United States and Canada, which is a pretty good reminder of how much Philly’s dining scene has changed.

    Not that long ago, national restaurant conversations about Philadelphia basically began and ended with cheesesteaks.

    Now we’re arguing about Michelin recommendations, international rankings, tasting menus, and whether a restaurant fell from 7th to 11th … that’s a good problem to have.

    Local drag royalty Martha Graham Cracker sings during the Philadelphia Orchestra’s Pride Concert on June 4, 2025, at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer

    Philadelphia gave Martha Graham Cracker a fitting farewell: A+

    The death of Martha Graham Cracker creator Dito van Reigersberg this week felt less like the loss of a performer and more like the loss of a piece of Philadelphia itself.

    The tributes poured in from every corner of the city — theater, music, drag, dance, politics — which says a lot about the rare place he occupied in Philadelphia culture.

    But one detail from the obituary stood out. David Devan, the former head of Opera Philadelphia, was at the hospital when van Reigersberg died June 1, the first day of Pride Month. Leaving afterward, he watched the city’s Pride rainbow lights come on across Philadelphia.

    “It was the first day of Pride Month, and our greatest queer Philadelphian died,” Devan said.

    For a performer who spent decades making people laugh, feel welcome, and feel seen, it’s difficult to imagine a more fitting image than Philadelphia lighting up in rainbows on the night he died.

    San Diego Padres’ Nick Castellanos looks on during the third inning against the Washington Nationals, on May 31, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Nick Wass)Nick Wass

    The Nick Castellanos reunion tour lasted about as long as expected: C

    When Nick Castellanos returned to Citizens Bank Park this week, the Phillies played a scoreboard tribute featuring some of his memorable moments from the 2022 postseason. Twenty-four hours later, the Padres designated him for assignment. The timing was brutal.

    Castellanos hit .191 in a part-time role with San Diego after the Phillies released him in spring training. Still, there’s something oddly fitting about the whole thing happening in Philadelphia.

    For all the frustration that came with the final year of the Castellanos era, he was also part of some genuinely great Phillies moments: The standing ovations, the postseason homers, the absolute certainty that if something weird happened in a game, Castellanos would somehow be involved.

    Now, he’s looking for another opportunity at age 34. And if this is the end of the road, at least Philadelphia got one last chance to tip its cap before the baseball gods immediately delivered one final, extremely Nick Castellanos plot twist.

    Apple Cinemas has scrapped plans to reopen the former Riverview Plaza theater in South Philly, closed since 2020. Photo taken May 6, 2019.STEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer

    Philly movie fans lose again: F

    Philadelphia moviegoers got some bad news this week when Apple Cinemas scrapped plans to reopen the former Riverview Plaza theater in South Philly, ending hopes for the return of one of the city’s most beloved moviegoing spots, reported PhillyVoice.

    And what makes it sting is that people were genuinely excited about this one.

    The plan included bringing movies back to a theater that’s been dark since 2020, adding an IMAX screen, and giving Philly something it currently doesn’t have: a true IMAX theater. Instead, the project collapsed amid a dispute between Apple Cinemas and property owner Bart Blatstein over the condition of the building and lease obligations.

    The result is that the giant empty theater remains a giant empty theater.

    Cristopher Sánchez is running out of Phillies records to break: A+

    A week after setting the Phillies franchise record for consecutive scoreless innings, Cristopher Sánchez added another one: the longest scoreless streak ever by a left-handed pitcher.

    That’s not just a Phillies record. That’s an MLB record.

    By reaching 45⅔ scoreless innings, Sánchez passed Hall of Famer Carl Hubbell and moved into sixth place on the all-time list, regardless of handedness.

    What’s remarkable is how quickly this has gone from surprising to expected.

    Bryce Harper probably summed it up best when he said it feels normal now. A pitcher is doing things that haven’t been done in generations, and the reaction has become, “Yep, that’s Sánchez.” A few nervous moments, a bunch of awkward swings at changeups, seven scoreless innings, and another historic number attached to his name.

    The streak will end eventually, but right now, Philadelphia is watching one of the best stretches of pitching in baseball history unfold every fifth day.