In as much time as it took Trea Turner’s line drive to deflect off San Francisco closer Camilo Doval’s glove, the Giants saw a win slip right out of their hands.
The Phillies bats were silent from the second inning through the eighth on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. But in a pivotal game against the Giants with serious National League wild-card implications, none of that mattered in the bottom of the ninth.
With a raucous South Philly crowd behind them, the Phillies rallied to load the bases in the final frame, and Turner — the struggling star who’s been turning it around with plenty of support behind him — finished the job as he smacked a liner up the middle that deflected off Doval and into shallow center field. Two runs came around to score to complete an impressive 4-3, come-from-behind victory.
In a potential playoff preview that certainly had some postseason tension and excitement, the Phillies (69-57) helped cement their status as a near surefire playoff team. They’re in sole possession of the first wild-card spot in the NL, sitting 3 1/2 games ahead of the Cubs and now four games ahead of the Giants — who are tied with Arizona in the third spot — after taking the first two of this three-game series.
The Phillies are looking like the best team in the NL wild-card race, and they’re creating the separation in the standings to prove it.
Phillies starter Taijuan Walker ran into trouble during a shaky top of the first inning on Tuesday, which started with a botched flip to the right-hander by first baseman Alec Bohm on a grounder, but managed to limit the damage to one run on a fielder’s choice.
That set up an opportunity for Bryce Harper to hit a two-run laser of a home run to right-center in the bottom of the first to put Philadelphia up 2-1. On the mound, Walker then seemed to settle in before the fifth inning rolled around.
A two-run double off the bat of Joc Pederson just glanced off the glove of center fielder Johan Rojas to give the Giants the lead in the top of the fifth, building a one-run San Francisco lead that held until the last pitch of the game.
Left-hander Kyle Harrison, a top prospect making his major-league debut, started for San Francisco and allowed just the homer to Harper as he tossed 3 1/3. In typical Giants fashion, they strung together a bullpen game to limit the Phillies offense for most of the night. Four Giants relievers combined for 4 2/3 innings of two-hit, no-run ball heading into the ninth.
Philadelphia’s bullpen was just as sharp after taking over for Walker in the sixth inning, a scoreless seventh inning from fireman José Alvarado fresh off the injured list being most notable. And when Doval entered to get the save for San Francisco, the Phillies bats rewarded their relievers’ efforts
Bryson Stott led off the bottom of the ninth with a hit by pitch, followed by a base hit by Brandon Marsh. When Marsh stole second base, the Giants intentionally walked leadoff batter Kyle Schwarber to bring up Turner.
And although its been a season filled with low moments, the $300-million shortstop delivered in that moment, driving home Stott and Marsh to ignite the crowd and steal a win.
Philadelphia will go for a series sweep against the Giants on Wednesday afternoon as it looks to keep building its wild-card positioning.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Tuesday, Aug. 23 vs. San Francisco Giants at Citizen Bank Park
- 4:05 p.m. Eastern
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94WIP
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