Final Score: Rangers 7, Phillies 0
For the first time in the Rob Thomson era, the Phillies have lost back-to-back games. They dropped their third game of the season against the Texas Rangers (32-35) by a final of 7-0. They are now 36-33.
Without Bryce Harper, the Phillies offense was held scoreless and went 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position. It’s the fifth time the Phillies have been shutout this season.
Rangers starter Martin Perez shut down the Phillies for the second time this season. He now has 13 shutout innings against Philadelphia in 2022 after posting a 4.50 ERA in six previous outings.
With a 3-0 deficit, the Phillies tasked Jeurys Familia with getting five outs. He escaped the seventh with an inherited runner on first with a strikeout-throwout double play, but he allowed four runs off two home runs in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Gibson solid against former club
Kyle Gibson was cruising through the Rangers lineup up until the fifth inning when Nathaniel Lowe and Jonah Heim went back-to-back to give Texas a 2-0 lead. Lowe’s home run was a rocket that sailed over the left center field wall in quite a hurry while Heim’s was a high drive that creeped just over Nick Castellanos’ outstretched glove.
Overall, Gibson was solid in his first outing against his former club. He went 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs while striking out four. Tuesday marked Gibson’s third-consecutive quality start. He now has a 4.06 ERA in 2022.
Matt Vierling’s frustrating night
Two tough strike calls and a timely play in the outfield led to a pretty frustrating night for Matt Vierling. A nine pitch at-bat with two outs ended on a questionable strike three call by home plate umpire Charlie Ramos.
His next at-bat featured a called strike that was even farther inside for strike two. The call was a bit more consequential as Vierling had runners on first and second with one out. Vierling did square up a pitch from Perez and hit into the left-center field gap. The ball held up just enough for the left fielder Kole Calhoun to make a diving grab to possibly save two runs from scoring.
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