4 home run night powers Phillies past Indians
Bryce Harper and Jay Bruce knocked in a combined three home runs and five RBIs in tonight’s victory against the Indians. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire)
The Philadelphia Phillies (79-74) blasted four home runs, including two from Brad Miller and a three-run shot by Bryce Harper, to power past the Cleveland Indians (91-64) by a final of 9-4. They remain 5 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot with nine games to play.
For the second consecutive night, the Indians struck first. Francisco Lindor started it off by hitting a ground ball to short. Jean Segura, who had plenty of time to make the throw, did not get enough on the ball and Rhys Hoskins was unable to scoop it up at first. Lindor stole second during the next at-bat. J.T. Realmuto’s throw to second was off and landed in center field, allowing Lindor to advance to third. He later scored on a RBI single from former Phillie Carlos Santana.
That wouldn’t be all for the Indians as Franmil Reyes knocked in another run off a single that was just out of reach of the diving Adam Haseley in center:
Miller led off the top of the second with a double to left-center. Both Segura and Scott Kingery were unable to bring Miller home, leaving it up for the young hitter to come up with a two-out hit. He did just that as he drove in a run with a double of his own to get the Phillies on the board.
Just like yesterday, the Phillies starting pitcher allowed two runs in each of the first two innings. Those two additional runs came off the bat of Oscar Mercado, who took a fastball the opposite way for his fourth RBI of the series:
In the top of the fourth with nobody on, Miller knocked an opposite field home run. It was his first round tripper since September 1st.
The Phillies took the lead in the fifth. With two on and one out, Terry Francona once again opted to bring in Óliver Pérez to face his former teammate Harper. In Friday night’s game, it worked out perfectly as Harper grounded out to second. It was a different story tonight. The 26-year-old crushed a hanging slider for a three-run shot that gave the Phillies a 5-4 lead:
That wouldn’t be the last home run the Phillies would hit in the inning. Jay Bruce recorded his first hit since returning from the IL. It was an opposite field solo shot that doubled the Phillies lead to two:
Miller, who started this season on Cleveland’s roster, notched his second home run of the game in the ninth. In the ninth pitch of the at-bat, Miller went down in the zone and launched a fastball deep into the seats in right field for a no-doubt about it home run:
They were not done adding on to their lead in the ninth. Hernández drove in his second RBI of the series with a single that scored Kingery.
The Phillies bullpen remained excellent. Jared Hughes pitched another shutout inning of baseball. José Álvarez struck out Puig to get the only batter he faced out. Edgar Garcia pitched a scoreless ninth to close out the game.
The team will play their last inter-league matchup of the season tomorrow night in Cleveland on Sunday Night Baseball. Vince Velasquez will take the ball for the Phillies. Adam Plutko gets the nod for Cleveland.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Jason Vargas: 6.2 IP, 5H, 4R, 2ER, 2BB, 8SO
Zach Plesac: 4.1IP, 5R, 4ER, 2BB, 3SO
It what has been a rarity this season, the Phillies starting pitcher lasted considerably longer in this game. At first, it seemed like Vargas was going to be run out of this one quickly, but he recovered nicely, pitching efficiently and getting hitters out with his off-speed pitches. Plesac was not as sharp tonight. His line wouldn’t look as bad if it wasn’t for Harper’s home run as he was responsible for the two runners on.
Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Bryce Harper
Harper loves hitting in Ohio. He enjoys any opportunity he gets to salute his favorite college football team, which is the Ohio State Buckeyes. For Phillies fans who root for Penn State, that may be a problem. For everyone else, it just means more home runs for the Phillies. Tonight’s three-run blast off the bat of Harper, which was his 33rd home run of the season, was timely in that it gave the Phillies the lead. It will ultimately take much more than a miracle for the Phillies to make the postseason, but if they somehow do, this hit could defintely go down as the knock that turned it all around:
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Sunday, 6:37 vs. Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field
- ESPN Sunday Night Baseball
- Sportsradio 94 WIP; WTTM 1680 (Spanish)
