Final Score: Orioles 10, Phillies 9
Baseball is weird.
The Phillies won and lost this game about three different times. An eighth-inning rally put the team in a good spot to close out a victory. Then Héctor Neris blew a save by surrendering a bases-loaded single to Renato Núñez. A communication breakdown on a pop-up cost the team two runs. Then Didi Gregorius forced extra-innings with a two-run single.
Add in an inside-the-park home run in the top of the tenth and rally that comes up short in the bottom half and you have another disappointing Phillies loss. In the era of an inning beginning with a runner on second in extra frames, the Phillies are 0-1.
The series against the O’s continues on Wednesday. Zach Eflin will get the start against the veteran left-hander Wade LeBlanc.
Top Plays
- The Phillies opened the scoring in the third. Andrew McCutchen lined a 3-2 fastball on the outside plate into right field for a base hit. Jay Bruce scored easily from third after reaching on a two-base error from Chris Davis. Adam Haseley, who was running on the pitch from first, scored without a play at home.
- Bruce smoked his third home run on the season on a first-pitch hanging knuckle curveball. The ball came off the bat at 108.9 mph and landed in the first row of the second deck.
- The middle of the Orioles lineup continued to do damage. Right fielder Anthony Santander began the inning with a double to right field. The Orioles’ most prolific hitter, Renato Núñez, brought him in with a single. The clean-up hitter Rio Ruiz followed up with another double, bringing the Orioles to within a run.
- Wheeler’s early-season success can be heavily attributed to his ability to get himself out of trouble. This time, Wheeler was unable to limit the damage. Dwight Smith Jr. drove in the third run of the inning on a first-pitch changeup to tie the game up at three apiece.
- With the bases load and two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Joe Girardi decided to leave in Bruce to face the lefty Tanner Scott with Phil Gosselin on the bench, who has a 1.639 OPS against left-handed pitching in 2020. Bruce would hit the ball hard, but right at the second baseman Hanser Alberto for the final out.
- Former Oriole fan-favorite Tommy Hunter came in to pitch for the Phillies in the seventh. He gave up two runs on three hits and was bailed out by a strikeout-throw-out double play. Alberto’s RBI double handed the Orioles the lead.
- Andrew Velasquez, who came in to pinch-run for Smith Jr., caught Realmuto being too casual while throwing the ball back to the pitcher José Álvarez and tried to steal home. He was originally called safe but the Phillies challenged the call and it was overturned. Score that a 1-2 caught stealing.
- On a 3-2 pitch with Hoskins on first, Harper launched the seventh pitch of the at-bat from Miguel Castro just over the left-field wall, tying the game up at five.
- Segura gave the Phillies a 6-5 lead with a no-doubter of a shot to left field.
- With Neris in to close out, Núñez singled to left with the bases loaded, tying the game at six. It was Núñez’s second RBI of the game and 13th on the season.
- On a pop-up hit by Pedro Severino to the middle of the infield that should have ended the ninth, the Phillies experienced a communication breakdown. Segura called off Hoskins and the ball landed in the infield. Two runs scored on what was ruled a single.
- With the bases loaded, two outs, and with two strikes in the bottom of the ninth, Gregorius singled into left-center field and reached second on defensive indifference, scoring Hoskins and Harper and tying the game 8-8. That forced the first extra-innings game for the Phillies with the new runner on second rule.
- Deolis Guerra came in to pitch and immediately surrendered an inside-the-park home run to Austin Hays. Roman Quinn, who replaced McCutchen in the ninth, dove for the ball but he missed it and it ended up rolling all the way to the warning track. Hays scored easily and the Orioles had a 10-8 lead.
- A rally ensued in the bottom of the tenth, but the Phillies fell short. Bruce drove in Segura, who was the last out of the ninth and the de facto runner on second. Both Quinn and Hoskins had a chance to drive in the winning run with two runners in scoring position but failed to capitalize.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Alex Cobb: 5 1/3 IP, 3 H. 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 71 pitches
Cobb has been surprisingly good in 2020 after spending the majority of 2019 on the injured list. It was an average line for the 32-year-old but the fact that the Orioles might be getting some production out of their 57 million-dollar man in 2020 is good news for Baltimore fans.
Zack Wheeler: 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 84 pitches
Command issues plagued Wheeler early and often. When Wheeler did manage to start throwing pitches in the strike zone early in the count, Orioles hitters pounced on them. Who couldn’t blame them? Many of his pitches early in the count caught the middle of the plate and O’s hitters are one of the best teams in the majors when it comes to offensive production when swinging at the first pitch. It wasn’t a terrible outing but he probably expects better results against a team that’s projected to finish in last place in the AL East.
Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Austin Hays
An inside-the-park home run is the most exciting play in baseball. It becomes even more exciting when it comes in the 10th inning with a runner already on second base due to the new rules. Hays had a productive day at the plate, going 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Wednesday at 7:05 vs. the Baltimore Orioles at Citizens Bank Park
- Cozi-TV
- Sportsradio 94 WIP
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