Categories: 2018 Recaps

Crawford! Kingery! 12th inning win pushes young Phils over .500

I avoided the Phillies game all night, turning my head from the big screen when the score ticker hit “MLB” and staying away from my phone as I hosted a monthly trivia night.

When I arrived home I opened the MLB At-Bat app and clicked on video. It was 10:30; I figured the game had ended a half-hour ago. I looked at Phillies vs. Reds … LIVE it said. Weird. I shrugged and opened the game.

Suddenly there was Pedro Florimon grounding out to second base. Oh boy, 12th inning? This kind of g- Scooter Gennett threw it wild! Florimon to second with no outs!

Then J.P. Crawford stepped in and laid down a perfect bunt. I wondered how this game unfolded, so I quickly checked the box sc- DAMNIT! I MISSED J.P. CRAWFORD’S FIRST MAJOR LEAGUE HOME RUN!

The Reds then walked Cesar Hernandez, who also homered earlier in the game, loading the bases for Scott Kingery. And the 23-year-old rookie, who hit his first major league homer in this series, then followed up with a grand freaking slam, then showed off his hose in his first major league start in left freaking field on Wednesday, waited and waited for the right pitch. 3-1. He could lift it. He did. The sacrifice fly easily scored Florimon, and the Phillies celebrated a 4-3 win to cap a three-game sweep of the Reds. The Phillies are now 6-5 after a sparkling homestand that gave fans a beautiful glimpse at the very near future.

This game also featured a five-star Odubel Herrera robbery (along with some outstanding defense from the Reds) and a Hector Neris blown save (which was bound to happen). Nick Pivetta (7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 0 BB) was very good. Also, Crawford and Hernandez obliterated those home run balls. Holy moly.

The Phils are off Thursday before a weekend set in Tampa Bay. After a bumbling start to the season the Woo Kids are above .500 and hoping to add more.

Tim Malcolm

Tim first found the Phillies as a little infant at Veteran’s Stadium, cheering on a Juan Samuel game-winning home run in his very first game. With the pinstripes in his blood, he witnessed Terry Mulholland’s 1990 no-hitter, “Steve Carlton Night” at the Vet, game three of the 1993 World Series, countless games during the charmed 2008 championship season and various road excursions. Since November 2007 Tim’s been writing about them daily at Phillies Nation, becoming one of the world’s most popular Phillies scribes. You can catch him on Twitter and Facebook, as well. When he’s not talking about the Phils he’s relaxing with a St. Bernardus ABT 12 or one of his many favored brews.