Categories: 2021 Postgame Recaps

Phillies lose by a matter of feet

Final Score: Marlins 3, Phillies 1

The Phillies attempted another late-game rally against the Fish. This one didn’t work out.

With runners on the corner and one out in the ninth, the struggling Alec Bohm struck out swinging. Andrew Knapp almost won the game on a three-run walk-off home run, but the ball was caught on the warning track for the final out. Maybe they were missing something.

Andrew McCutchen hit his 250th career home run on Wednesday night. (Gavin Baker/Icon Sportswire)

That something was a few more hits in key spots. The Phillies went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position. One more knock off the bat of their backup catcher would have done it. It’s quite a loss for the Phillies, who suffered the gut-wrenching defeat on Margaritaville Night.

Top Plays

Birthday boy Brian Anderson, who is probably one of the more underrated players in baseball, got a hold of a lazy sinker from Zach Eflin and deposited it into the right-field seats to give Miami a 1-0 lead.

The Phillies had a great chance to strike back in the third. Odúbel Herrera and Ronald Torreyes both reached on singles. Eflin tried and failed thrice to move the runners up with the lineup turning over. It wouldn’t have mattered anyway as Andrew McCutchen and Jean Segura couldn’t get on base. Once again, the Phillies failed to give Harper a chance to hit with runners in scoring position.
Hoskins has struggled defensively this season, but the Big Fella came up big when Rogers lined a hard-hit ball over his way. He reached out to make a fabulous diving catch for the second out of the fifth inning.

Joe Girardi opted to play the infield in with one out and a runner on third. The decision almost paid off as Adam Duvall hit a broken-bat line drive right at Bohm, but the ball tipped off his glove and into left field. Miguel Rojas scored easily from third and the Marlins doubled their lead in the sixth.

The Phillies got on the board with a solo shot from McCutchen. It was his 250th career home run, an accomplishment that apparently did not warrant the attention of the crowd (see Segura’s 200th double). Nonetheless, it’s an amazing feat for one of the better players of the previous decade.

It’s an alarming trend this year: Things seem to unravel when Brandon Kintzler pitches for the Phillies. He allowed three straight singles. The third one surrendered was against the opposing pitcher Rogers, who fooled Bohm and Hoskins into coming in on the bunt. His hit, which was the first of his career, got past Bohm and into left field.
Sam Coonrod, who came into this game allowing five of six inherited runners to score this season, limited the damage to just one. Jazz Chisholm Jr. hit a ball in front of the plate that both Coonrod and Knapp pursued. Knapp tried to tag the runner Garrett Cooper but was unable to reach him. Coonrod went on to pick up three consecutive outs to keep the Phillies within two.
Connor Brogdon pitched a scoreless eighth inning. He allowed a hit on his first pitch to former Phillie Corey Dickerson but was able to induce a double-play ball against Cooper.
Once again, the Phillies failed to score after the bottom of the order reached base safely in the eighth. Pinch hitter Brad Miller grounded into a double play and McCutchen was robbed of a hit after a superb diving stop from Rojas.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

Zach Eflin: 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 89 pitches

There was a pitcher’s duel at Citizens Bank Park and unfortunately, Rogers got the better of Eflin. It was a prototypical Eflin start: He went at least six innings, gave up a healthy share of hits, leaned mostly on his sinker and slider and got outs in key spots. It’s his 11th consecutive start in which he has thrown at least six innings. Our own Jonny Heller says that he is the only pitcher in baseball with nine starts of six innings or more.

Eflin has proved himself to be imperative to the Phillies’ success going forward.

Trevor Rogers: 7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO, 1 HR, 98 pitches

Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Trevor Rogers

Phillies hitters roughed him up in his first outing against Philadelphia last September, but things are different for the 23-year-old. After tonight’s game, Rogers’ ERA sits at 1.74. He was able to entice the Phillies to swing early and as a result, he threw into the eighth with a pitch count in the 90s. The New York Mets, when healthy, probably have the best rotation in the division right now. Miami’s rotation has the brightest future with Rogers, Sandy Alcántara, Sixto Sánchez, Pablo López, and last year’s first-rounder Max Meyer all in for the years to come.

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