Categories: 2020 Postgame Recaps

Phillies beat Blue Jays behind strong effort from Eflin

Final Score: Phillies 7, Blue Jays 0

For the fourth time in the last ten years, the Philadelphia Phillies were the away team in their own ballpark against the Toronto Blue Jays.

Zach Eflin won his third game of the 2020 season on Friday. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire)

While the 2020 squad is no match for the 2010 Phillies, both teams have found success in these games that are a by-product of odd circumstances.

Behind an offense and starting pitcher that found its groove, the Phillies earned their 25th victory of the season in game one of a seven-inning doubleheader against the Blue Jays.

Game two is coming up soon. David Hale will get the ball. The approximate start time of game two is 7:30.

Top Plays

The visiting Phillies got off to an early lead in the top of the first with a one-out double off the right field wall from Didi Gregorius. They had a chance to drive in more but Phil Gosselin flew out and Scott Kingery struck out with two men in scoring position.

Bryce Harper hit his third home run in the last two days. It had the distance, but the question was whether or not it was fair. It was and the Phillies had themselves a three-run lead in the top of the fifth.

“Barrels” is back. Gosselin notched an RBI single to left to make it a 4-0 game.

The fifth-inning rally continued. Andrew Knapp lined a two-run triple to right field to make it a 6-0 game. At that point, it seemed like that was enough to hold on for the victory. Maybe.

Alec Bohm continued to do what he does best: drive in runners in scoring position. His RBI single in the sixth easily scored Roman Quinn from second. His ROY case just keeps getting stronger and stronger.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

Zach Eflin: 7 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 9 K, 92 pitches

This may have been the most important outing of Zach Eflin’s career. He did exactly what the Phillies needed him to do. He continued to rack up strikeouts and induce some key ground ball outs.

The sinker-baller relied heavily on his slider to earn his third victory of 2020.

Robbie Ray: 4 1/3 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 92 pitches

Ray, who has somehow never been traded to the Phillies despite countless rumors, needed to have a better outing than he did. He showed signs of getting passed his struggles in his last outing against the Mets. His average velocity gradually increased over his last two starts, but it went back down again. As a result, Ray just didn’t have the juice to stop the Phillies lineup.

Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Zach Eflin

It was an incredible outing from a pitcher who has struggled with consistency all throughout 2020. The team desperately needed Eflin to conserve the bullpen and he did just that, throwing a seven-inning complete game.

Postgame Notes

Before the game, the Phillies activated outfielder Jay Bruce from the 10-day injured list. LHP Garrett Cleavinger was sent down to Lehigh Valley. Ramón Rosso was appointed as the team’s 29th man for the doubleheader.

The Phillies also finalized the David Phelps trade. They have sent RHPs Juan Geraldo, Israel Puello and Brandon Ramey to Milwaukee.

Quote of the Game

Eflin reflected on the up-and-down nature of his season so far.

“It’s been a very interesting season for me. I feel like I’ve clearly had my best stuff in my career this year. I ran into some bad luck and made some bad pitches along the way too but I’m happy with where I’m at.”

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