Final Score: Phillies 8, Brewers 3
Baseball is a fickle game. Even the best of teams and players go into slumps, which makes it that much more rewarding when they get hot. Right now, Rob Thomson’s Phillies are on a tear, putting up runs with ease and showing a ton of energy in the dugout while doing so.
The Brewers jumped on the board in the bottom of the first with a solo homer, but the Phillies immediately responded by loading the bases in the second, and they tied it on a Bryson Stott groundout.
The game was tied at one until the top of the fifth, when Corbin Burnes exited the game. The Phillies again had the bases loaded, and J.T. Realmuto gave them the lead with a sacrifice fly. Didi Gregorius was the next man to the plate, and he doubled the Phillies lead on a ball that he wasn’t fully intending to hit.
Connor Brogan allowed a leadoff home run in the sixth inning to make it 3-2, but the Phillies got the run back when Bryce Harper demolished a baseball for his 15th trip around the bags this season.
Kyle Schwarber doubled the lead with a two-run bomb, his 15th, with two outs in the eighth inning, tying Harper for the team lead and for fifth in all of baseball.
Odúbel Herrera added a homer of his own in the top of the ninth.
The Phillies have now hit a home run in the ninth inning in four straight games.
James Norwood allowed a run in the ninth on an Andrew McCutchen RBI single, but he got Jace Peterson to ground out (the play was called safe, reviewed, and eventually overturned to an out) to end the ballgame.
Working counts
The Phillies were able to knock reigning Cy Young award winner Corbin Burnes from the game with one out in the fifth inning, a career high four walks, and a pitch count of 113.
Burnes walked Nick Castellanos to lead off the second inning, and he came around to score and tie the game. The other three walks came in a six and two eight pitch at-bats. Although runs were hard to come by, the Phillies’ approach of seeing pitches knocked the Brewers’ ace from the game early, which opened up the floodgates for the Phillies offense.
Gregorius hot since returning from IL
Didi Gregorius was reinstated from the injured list on Sunday afternoon, and he immediately made an impact by singling with two outs in the ninth to extend the ballgame and bring Bryson Stott up to win it for the Phils. Since his return, Gregorius is 5-for-13 with two triples and an RBI double.
The Phillies’ middle infield has been decimated with injuries over the past week, with Jean Segura, Nick Maton, and Johan Camargo all going on the IL, and Gregorius’ return could not have come at a better time. He’ll be in the lineup every day, and he has a big role to play with Segura’s bat out of the lineup.
He’s been sending the ball up the middle, with both triples going to center field, and that’s the approach the Phillies need from him. Home runs are great, but this lineup doesn’t lack power hitters. A guy who puts the ball in play and gets on base for his teammates to bring him home is extremely valuable, and that’s the role Gregorius has filled this past week.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
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