Final Score: Blue Jays 6, Phillies 3
The Philadelphia Phillies wrapped up their home schedule on Sunday with a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. They’re now a game above .500 at 27-26.
Top pitching prospect Adonis Medina made his MLB debut as the starter for the afternoon’s tilt. He labored early on but bounced back in his last two innings of work.
Heath Hembree’s dreadful tenure with the Phillies continued Sunday. He gave up four earned runs on four hits in 1 1/3 innings. He has a 12.54 ERA since being traded from Boston to Philadelphia in August.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bryce Harper walked back to the dugout in pain after striking out. He talked to Joe Girardi afterwards, packed up his bag and headed for the tunnel. Phil Gosselin replaced Harper in the top of the eighth.
Girardi said after the game that Harper had some lower back stiffness. He will get treatment and see where he is at tomorrow.
Top Plays
- Medina’s first inning wasn’t pretty. He walked the lead-off man Cavan Biggio. The next batter Bo Bichette then hit a 100-mph scorching line-drive that deflected off of Alec Bohm’s glove at first base. Bichette was credited with a double.
- Girardi on the play: “In Alec’s defense, if you catch the ball, you have a double play. If he gets his glove up a second quicker, he’s got a double play which gets Medina out of the inning.”
- Medina balked home the first run with Teoscar Hernández up at the plate. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. brought home another run with a single to left field. He was able to bounce back nicely by striking out Randal Grichuk and getting Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to ground out.
- Medina had another long inning in the second. He walked his first two batters and surrendered an unlucky infield hit to Biggio. He beared down and induced two key ground balls for the last two outs.
- Brandon Workman came into the game in the fifth for the first time in his new role: middle relief. He pitched a 1-2-3 inning and has Roman Quinn to thank for that. He made an excellent catch against the wall for the first out.
- Two runs scored for the Jays in the sixth on a double from Jonathan Davis. Hembree hung a curveball on 0-2 and the ball sailed past Adam Haseley in left, who probably should have caught it.
- Girardi spoke briefly on the play Haseley made on the ball. “[Haseley] did everything he could to catch it. He just didn’t catch it.”
- Hembree came back out to pitch the seventh. He surrendered a triple to Bichette and a home run to Hernández to put the game out of reach.
- The Phillies got to within three in the seventh. Bohm singled home a run. Second baseman Joe Panik made an errant throw, which scored Rafael Marchán. Bohm tried to advance to second but he was tagged out. The inning ended with the Phillies trailing 6-3.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Taijuan Walker: 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 104 pitches
Never before has a Blue Jays starting pitcher pitched into the seventh inning in 2020. That has still yet to happen but Walker came awfully close. They needed a good outing to conserve their very good but overworked bullpen. Walker, who was acquired in a trade with the Mariners, struck out eight Phillies hitters and worked himself out of a few jams to lead his team to victory.
Adonis Medina: 4 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 84 pitches
Command issues plagued him early on, but Medina finished his first-career outing quite brilliantly. His swing-and-miss stuff was working as his changeup played well. Medina’s fastball sat around 92 mph. He threw around 78 pitches in his most taxing outing in Lehigh Valley, so he was done after four innings and 84 pitches.
Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Teoscar Hernández
His two-run home run against Hembree in the seventh turned out to be the key hit of the game. After struggling a ton in his first few seasons as a big-leaguer, Hernández has transformed himself into a valuable piece for a Jays team that is on the verge of making the playoffs for the first time since 2016
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Monday, September 20 vs. the Washington Nationals at 6:05 pm
- Nationals Park
- NBC Sports Philadelphia; MLB Network (out of market only)
- Sportsradio 94 WIP
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