Phillies bullpen stellar in huge win over Cardinals

Final Score: Phillies 5, Cardinals 3

There were plenty of them in the month of June, but the Phillies opened July with another all-around great effort to take game one of a crucial three-game set against the St. Louis Cardinals. Darick Hall and Rhys Hoskins both homered and Mickey Moniak picked up his second-career extra-base hit with a double in the fifth.

The Phillies bullpen, which posted a 3.67 ERA in June, threw five shutout innings in relief of Bailey Falter. Every Cardinal hitter that wasn’t named Paul Goldschmidt or Nolan Arenado combined to go 1-for-24 in Friday’s game. Arenado became the second visiting player in four years to hit for the cycle against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies haven’t had a player hit for the cycle in more than 18 years.

It didn’t matter in the end. The Phillies (41-37) are now 1.5 games behind the Cardinals (43-36) for the final wild card spot in the National League.

The Perfect Gameplan

The Phillies bullpen and Rob Thomson deserve credit for giving the Phillies offense a chance to erase an early 3-0 deficit. Bailey Falter, who was good to throw around 85 pitches, struggled against Goldschmidt and Arenado and was taken out of the game in the fifth to ensure he wouldn’t face them a third time. While Arenado was able to pick up a double and a single to complete the cycle, Goldschmidt struck out twice in his final two at-bats against Phillies relievers.

Nick Nelson, José Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti, Seranthony Domínguez and Brad Hand combined to strike out 10 hitters over five shutout innings. Domínguez was called upon to face the heart of the order in the eighth and worked around a single and an error by third baseman Matt Vierling to get out of the inning without any runs coming across to score.

Friday’s game was the first time since 1901 the Phillies bullpen had thrown five scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts, per the team.

Hall of Pain

Darick Hall has three hits. All three of those hits are home runs. According to ESPN Stats, he’s the first Phillie in the last 100 years to hit three home runs in his first three games. His third one was big as it gave the Phillies a 4-3 lead in the sixth.

All Darick does is homer. pic.twitter.com/JLWIv0S0pL

— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) July 2, 2022

Hall wasn’t the only Phillie to homer thrice in three days. Rhys Hoskins extended the lead to two with a solo shot off Johan Oviedo’s first pitch of the night.

Shibe Vintage Sports Notes

• Prior to Friday’s game, the Phillies designated outfielder Óscar Mercado for assignment. Mercado’s only appearance as a Phillie came as a pinch-hitter/defensive replacement in Thursday’s victory over Atlanta.
• The Phillies have hit 101 home runs in the first 78 games of the season. Per Elias Sports Bureau, the Phillies have reached 100 home runs in the fifth-fewest amount of games in team history. The 2009 Phillies were the fastest to 100 as it took them 68 games to reach that mark.

Ticket IQ Next Game

• Saturday, July 2 vs. St. Louis Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park
• 4:05 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP

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