Martinez, Red Sox tee off on Phillies

Final Score: Red Sox 11, Phillies 5

Coming off of series win against the struggling Chicago Cubs, the Phillies got a wake-up call tonight. There was hope early on in this one as Philadelphia got out to an early lead twice. Both leads did not last very long as the Boston Red Sox took advantage of Vince Velasquez’s mistakes. It also didn’t take long before Boston blew this game wide open and out of reach.

After a hot start with back-to-back extra base hits, Velasquez squandered the lead. He got into trouble in the first inning allowing two runs but limited the damage. The Phillies picked him up with two more runs of their own in the second inning. It was still not enough as everything fell apart in the blink of an eye. Boston posted seven combined runs in the second and third innings and never looked back.

All but three hitters in the Red Sox starting nine did not record an RBI and only one hitter did not record a hit. Six hitters had multi-hit nights and eight hitters came around to touch home plate.

Tomorrow, Matt Moore will be tasked with helping the Phillies even up the last series before the All-Star break. Martin Perez will be on the bump for Boston looking to build upon what has been one of his better seasons to date.

Top Plays

• The Phillies bats stayed hot to start off this series. Jean Segura wasn’t fooled by Garrett Richards’ slider and hit it high off the green monster for his 45th career triple to lead off the game. He has now reached base safely in 30 of his last 32 starts.
• J.T. Realmuto did not waste any time bringing Segura in to score with a double on the first pitch of the at-bat. That pitch was a slider in almost the exact same spot as the slider to Segura.

• To the moon. Kiké Hernández got a hold of a high fastball and tied things up on the third pitch of the bottom of the first. That makes it five home runs for Hernandez in his past 12 games. Velasquez would surrender one more run in the inning.

• Alec Bohm put the Phillies back on top 3-2 in the top of the second. Thanks to Didi Gregorius advancing to second on an outfield error, Bohm had the opportunity to drive him in. Bohm came into the game hitting .278 with runners in scoring position.

• Velasquez got into another jam in the second inning and J.D. Martinez did not miss a meatball. This bomb went 400 feet to the opposite field.

• To start off the third inning, Rafael Devers made Velasquez pay for another meatball. He topped Martinez and went 419 feet to center field. Velasquez would allow one more RBI single before Joe Girardi pulled him with one out in the inning.

• Enyel De Los Santos didn’t have much better results against Boston’s lineup. Following an RBI single from Alex Verdugo, Martinez smoked a fastball to the opposite field again this time for a ground-rule double to make it 9-3.

• They just kept pouring it on. Hernandez blooped an RBI ground-rule double down the right-field line. That was his tenth RBI in his last twelve games and it put the Red Sox up 10-3 in the bottom of the fifth.
• One inning later, Christian Vazquez made it 11-3 with an RBI single. He is seventh among big league catchers with 34 RBIs this season.
• The Phillies cut the lead to six in the top of the seventh. With a single, walk, and groundout, they got runners in scoring position. J.T. Realmuto scored one run with a groundout of his own and Bryce Harper scored another with a two-out single.

• Ronald Torreyes was the Phillies best pitcher tonight ,throwing a one-two-three inning on just five pitches.
• Former Phillie Brandon Workman closed the door with a nine-pitch ninth inning.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

Garrett Richards: 5 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 SO, 85 pitches

It’s been a disappointing season for Garrett Richards. That continued in the first couple of innings tonight. His command was not there. He couldn’t quite get the movement he wanted to get on his off-speed pitches. Despite that, he settled in as the game moved on and didn’t allow a run after the second inning. With the run support from the Red Sox lineup, he looked much more comfortable.

Vince Velasquez: 2.1 IP, 6 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO, 74 pitches

This outing was about as ugly as it gets. On the third pitch of the game, Velasquez surrendered a towering home run to Kike Hernandez. He missed both in the zone and out of the zone tonight walking four batters and allowing three home runs in just 2.1 innings. He could not hit his spots and it’s hard to have success when that’s the case.

Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: J.D. Martinez

It’s been quite the bounce back season for Martinez and nothing changed tonight. His 18th home run was a three-run shot that put the Red Sox back in the lead 5-3 in the second inning. His RBI double in the bottom of the third extended the lead to 9-3. He was a tough out all night long.

Ticket IQ Next Game

• Saturday, July 10 vs. Boston Red Sox at 4:05 p.m. ET
• Fenway Park
• NBC Sports Philadelphia
• 94 WIP

MORE FROM PHILLIES NATION

1. Brian Barber On Mick Abel: ‘He’s Exactly What We Thought He Was Going To Be’
2. Joe Girardi Is Feeling The Heat
3. Brad Miller On Zack Wheeler: ‘It’s Cy Young, MVP – It’s All Of It’
4. Exec On Gabe Kapler: ‘He Learned A Lot Of Lessons’ From Time With Phillies
5. Phillies Announce New Date For Roy Halladay Number Retirement Ceremony
6. Sinclair Broadcast Group Makes Bid To Buy NBC Sports Philadelphia, Other Local Networks
7. A Fire Sale Isn’t Coming, But Selling Some Pieces May Make Sense For Phillies
8. John Kruk: Jimmy Rollins Is The Second Best Phillie Ever, Hall Of Fame Worthy
9. Former Minor League Star Dylan Cozens Now Chasing NFL Career
10. Phillies 2021 Walk-Up Songs

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1080357394