The Phillies came off a series win against the Pirates to face the worst team in all of baseball by win total, the Detroit Tigers. From all angles, it looked like the perfect opportunity to get hot before facing the Braves in Philly.
The Phillies seemed determined to lose at least one of these two games, but the mediocrity of the Tigers didn’t allow that.
Without further adieu, let’s see what happened in Detroit.
Game 1: JUST END ALREADY
Phillies watched what top trade candidate Matthew Boyd could do firsthand. The young lefty pitched well, but not overwhelming. Through 6 innings, Boyd allowed 2 walks and 5 hits culminating in 2 earned runs. He missed bats more times than not, as he struck out 8 Phillies.
The Phillies might have been in trouble had it not been for ace Aaron Nola. In 7 innings of work, Nola limited damage, allowing only one earned run on 4 hits and a walk. There was an error the 1st inning by Scott Kingery that led to an unearned run. Nola wouldn’t factor into the decision as the game wasn’t halfway over by the time he exited.
The Phillies only offense in the normal 9 innings of the game came on a 2-run home off the bat of…
*puts on glasses* uugghhh….hey Liam, Matt is this right?
Liam: Dunno, who’s Roman Quinn? Not Familiar to me.
Matt: Yeah, it’s right. First homer in 105 at bats.
Me: Man what? Didn’t Nick Castellanos just complain how difficult it was to hit a homer in Detroit?
Matt: Well when you hit it 434 ft it usually goes out of the park.
Me: HE HIT IT HOW FAR?! Hold up I’m wasting the reader’s time with this bit. I gotta get back to the piece.
Anyway, this game would end up going 15 long and excruciating innings. Needless to say, the Phillies bullpen put up a lot of 0’s. Adam Morgan, Nick Pivetta, Hector Neris, Juan Nicasio, and Jose Alvarez allowed just 3 hits and 3 walks. Pivetta impressed in his new bullpen roll, going 3.2 innings without allowing a hit.
It took Phillies batters until the 15th to score again. Former Phillies not-so-great Daniel Stumpf allowed a leadoff triple and Rhys Hoskins pulled through with an RBI single.
Jose Alvarez went out for a second inning to close the game without any control of his changeup. Somehow this didn’t hurt the Phillies.
Phillies win 3-2 (15).
Oh yeah. Brad Miller and JT Realmuto did this to give the Phillies the chance to win.
Game 2: Nicky’s Dub
This game almost didn’t happen as Gabe Kapler caused a meltdown among fans before the game even started. He put this lineup together.
Some notes:
An outfield of Nick Williams, Roman Quinn, and Adam Haseley is an outfield of backups and backup to backups. Just insane how injuries and {REDACTED} have changed an outfield.
SINCE WHEN DOES JT REALMUTO PLAY FIRST???
JT Realmuto’s foray into the world of first base yielded the fist run of the game. He took Jordan Zimmerman deep in the 4th for his 12th homer of the year.
The 5th inning provided a truly shocking moment as Nick Williams hit his second homer of the season. Yes, that Nick Williams who is now hitting .165.
The Phillies only needed the 1 run, but would end up with 4. Rhys Hoskins would hit his 4th triple of the year, totally normal for a first baseman.
On the other side of the ball, Vince Velasquez actually pitched well. Over 5.2 glorious innings, Velasquez allowed 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out 9. Inline for the win, the bullpen closed it down for the Phillies.
Phillies win 4-0.
Sidebar Stats
In their 5 games against the Pirates and Tigers, the Phillies didn’t allow a single home run. Despite that, the Phillies have still allowed 16 more home runs than any other National League team with a grand total of 169.
Brad Miller was put on the injured list with a hip flexor strain. Sean Rodriguez was reactivated.
Phillies moved up 2 games in the division thanks to the Royals sweeping the Braves in a 2-game set. They are now 5.5 games back of the NL East.
Rhys Hoskins hit in the 2 hole for just the 5th game this season in the 1st game against Detroit. In the 2 hole, Hoskins is slashing .333/.520/.611.
Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports
