Categories: 2021 Postgame Recaps

Sluggish Phillies drop another series to the Marlins

Final Score: Marlins 6, Phillies 0

For the first time in years, there was a hint of optimism surrounding a Vince Velasquez outing. He had allowed only one earned run in each of his last three starts. Maybe he was starting to turn a corner.

Vince Velasquez left his start before it even began on Thursday. (Ian D’Andrea)

Then about 20 minutes before first pitch, Velasquez walked down the dugout steps. He felt numbness in his right index finger. He had surgery to deal with the issue on his right middle finger back in 2017.

David Hale came in to start in his place. It was a bullpen game and it went as well as everyone expected. Both Hale and Matt Moore surrendered long home runs. Archie Bradley struggled in relief. Miami’s starter Sandy Alcántara shoved through six innings and the Phillies managed only three hits all game.

Top Plays

Miguel Rojas opened up the scoring with a home run to left field off Hale, who pitched three innings. Zack Wheeler came in to pinch-hit for Hale in the next half inning as the Phillies operated once again with a short bench. J.T. Realmuto is still nursing a bone bruise and Segura was under the weather but came in on a double switch later on.

Garrett Cooper launched a two-run home run off Moore that was stuck in a cloud for a few moments. It came down and landed in the second deck of left field. Andrew McCutchen’s reaction tells the story.

With Archie Bradley in to pitch, Miami scored twice in the sixth inning to stretch the deficit to five. Corey Dickerson and Cooper doubled and tripled to begin the frame. Nick Maton had trouble catching a ball in the infield, resulting in a hit for Brian Anderson.

An unearned run scored in the seventh off of Bradley. Alec Bohm struggled to catch a one-hopper near the third-base line. If the official scorer ruled it a double, Cooper would have been a single away from the cycle. Brandon Kintzler came in and stranded the runner at second. Kintzler and Ranger Suárez combined to throw a scoreless eighth and ninth inning.
In an attempt to fire up his team, Brad Miller was ejected by home plate umpire Dan Iassogna for arguing a strike three call in the ninth. He’s glad the game was out of reach. If the Phillies came back, they would have had to put Knapp at first and Marchan behind the plate. Or Zach Eflin in left field. Who knows.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

David Hale: 3 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 49 pitches

The Phillies are blessed to have gone this long without any significant injuries to their starting rotation. No other team in the division can say that. With that said, Hale was retained to eat innings in this situation. Three is the max he could go and while Girardi’s hands were tied, the decision to let Hale face the top two hitters a second time through came back to bite.

Sandy Alcántara: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 3 BB, 9 SO, 100 pitches

Baseball fans around the world took note of all the starting pitchers scheduled to throw Thursday night. A no-hitter tonight would have marked a third-consecutive day with a zero in the hit column for a team for the first time in MLB history. Alcántara seemed like one of the likelier choices to throw a no-no and he had that going up until the fourth inning. The 25-year-old’s career ERA against the Phillies is down to 2.44.

Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Garrett Cooper

Second-deck home runs at Citizens Bank Park are rare for some reason. Cooper torched a curveball that hung inside in the fourth for a long two-run home run. He went 2-for-4 with three RBIs in today game.

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