Final Score: Phillies 18, Diamondbacks 2
Wednesday felt like a game the Phillies had to win. Entering September — a notoriously brutal month the last few seasons — on a four game losing streak, particularly when three of them came in blowout fashion against the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates and Arizona Diamondbacks, wouldn’t have felt ideal. That’s especially true after wins by the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers earlier in the day meant the Phillies would’ve slipped to the third Wild Card, their lead down to two games.
Bailey Falter and the Phillies’ offense made sure that suboptimal circumstance was avoided. A solid start by the former and an all-game onslaught by the latter did more than enough to ensure it, and though it didn’t quite erase Chase Field’s designation as a house of horrors for the Phillies, it allowed them to at least head into the final month of the season with a shred of momentum.
They’re 73-58, half a game up on the Padres and three up on the Brewers.
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The Phillies took an early lead in the first inning while still finding a way to make it unfulfilling. Kyle Schwarber led off with a single and Rhys Hoskins hit a reviewed-and-upheld double off the padding down the right field line to put two in scoring position with no outs. A subsequent double-error on an Alec Bohm grounder gave the Phillies the lead and an opportunity for more.
The lead remained at one, thanks in part to Bryce Harper’s strikeout with runners on the corners and no outs. But Harper came up in the third in that same situation, and this time, he came through:
Harper then showed off his hustle by racing home on an RBI bloop single by Jean Segura that doubled the lead again:
And Matt Vierling extended his hitting streak to eight with an RBI of his own:
Meanwhile, Falter retired the first 10 Diamondbacks hitters he faced, before Jake McCarthy broke up the budding perfecto with a homer in the fourth. The Phillies got that run back and then some in the fifth, as Segura earned his second RBI single and Brandon Marsh’s first triple as a Phillie (the day after his first homer as a Phillie) really broke things open.
J.T. Realmuto piled on with an RBI ground rule double in the sixth and Kyle Schwarber went the other way for a run-scoring single in the seventh to bring the lead to double digits.
Falter, meanwhile, was the polar opposite of what the Phillies got from Ranger Suárez and Aaron Nola the last two nights, but his night came to an abrupt end in the seventh. After retiring Cooper Hummel on a force out to set a career-high with 6 ⅓ innings, Falter got a visit from a trainer and quickly exited.
It’s unclear what Falter aggravated. What is clear is that with Zack Wheeler still on the shelf and Falter hitting his stride his last few starts, him needing to miss any time would be bad news for the Phillies.
Nick Nelson relieved Falter and got the final two outs of the seventh, and the Phillies exploded for seven more runs in the eighth. Vierling and Marsh singles, plus doubles by Edmundo Sosa, Hoskins and pinch-hitter Garrett Stubbs (against a position player, but who’s counting), were the RBI hits that brought the Phillies to a season-high 18 runs.
Nelson finished the ballgame off, totaling 2 ⅔ innings to end it.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Tommy Henry: 4.0 IP, 7 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 4 BB, 4 SO, 0 HR, 85 pitches (50 strikes)
Henry did a nice job escaping further damage in the first and seemed to maintain his groove in the second with a couple strikeouts on nasty sliders, but his night deescalated from there. His ERA jumped from 3.25 to 4.83.
Bailey Falter: 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 SO, 1 HR, 83 pitches (62 strikes)
Falter slightly one-upped the length of his previous three outings (six-inning quality starts) by lasting a new career-high of 6 ⅓ on Wednesday. Unfortunately for Falter and the Phillies, the night ended in abrupt and concerning fashion, with the apparent injury forcing him out of the game.
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