Phillies news and rumors 10/10: Jeff Hoffman speaks after giving up game-winning home run to Austin Riley

Jeff Hoffman was the losing pitcher in Game 2 of the NLDS. (Photo by John Adams/Icon Sportswire)

The Philadelphia Phillies were up 4-1 and eight outs away from taking a 2-0 Division Series lead over the Atlanta Braves on Monday night. Zack Wheeler then surrendered a two-run home run to Travis d’Arnaud, shrinking the Phillies’ lead from three runs to one.

After d’Arnaud’s homer, Wheeler was pulled in favor of José Alvarado. The left-hander picked up back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning, keeping the Phillies ahead by a run.

Alvarado started the eighth with another strikeout of nine-hole hitter Michael Harris II. He was then pulled and Jeff Hoffman was in to face the top of Atlanta’s daunting lineup.

The right-handed reliever hit the first batter he faced, Ronald Acuña Jr., with a first-pitch fastball to put the tying run on base. Acuña advanced to second on a groundout by Ozzie Albies.

So, with two outs and the tying run on second, Hoffman was tasked with getting one more out with the right-handed Austin Riley up to bat.

Atlanta’s third baseman fouled a first-pitch, a down-and-in slider for strike one. He then took a fastball up-and-out of the zone to even the count at 1-1. On the next pitch, Riley let it fly on a 97.8 mph four-seamer in the heart of the zone, but swung and missed. 1-2. Hoffman was one strike away from getting out of the jam.

The next two pitches of the at-bat, a slider in the dirt then a fastball, were both taken to draw a full count. Acuña advanced to third on the ball in the dirt, but subsequently, that didn’t matter.

The sixth pitch of the at-bat was another down-and-in slider. But it caught a little too much of the plate, and Riley took advantage.

He launched the ball 376 feet out to left field for a go-head homer that ended up being the game-winning homer.

After the game, Hoffman briefly spoke with the media. When asked if the pitch he gave up the homer on went where he wanted it to go, the right-hander responded, “I haven’t got a chance to look at it yet. It was in the zone, though.”

He was then asked if he was trying to be in the zone. Hoffman replied, “I was trying [to make] a good pitcher’s pitch with a base open and for [the home run] not to happen.”

If you go back and watch where catcher J.T. Realmuto was set up, it looked as though he wanted the slider to be down-and-out of the strike zone to get Riley to chase.

As previously mentioned, Hoffman got Riley to swing-and-miss at a 97.8 mph four-seam fastball on the third pitch of the at-bat after he took one up-and-out of the zone on the previous pitch.

The reliever was asked if he wanted the slider or maybe a four-seamer up in the zone on the pitch he surrendered the home run on. Hoffman responded, “[Riley] had a good take on a four-seamer later in the at-bat. I got him with two of them early, but he had a good take on it. [The] slider felt good in that situation.” He added, “Good hitters hit.”

Hoffman will remain important for the remainder of this series. He’s likely going to face the top of Atlanta’s order again in another high-leverage situation. The Phillies like him for those spots. He’ll just have to execute a little bit better than he did on Monday night whenever that time comes.

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