The Phillies (61-33) donned their City Connect threads for the final time before the All-Star break as they began a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics (36-60). This game was mostly one to forget for the Phils, though, as they lost 6-2.
After sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers with a combined score of 19-5, the Phillies became the first MLB team to win 60 games. The Athletics came into their former home city from way back in the day (shoutout to John Foley) in last place in the AL West. Still, they’re now a normal bad team instead of the disastrously bad team they were last season, so the Phillies couldn’t totally afford to coast.
The Phillies started Weston Wilson in left field and Cristian Pache in center against left-handed starter Hogan Harris. Wilson was called back up as Whit Merrifield was released, ending his unsuccessful stint in Philadelphia. Despite on-and-off rain throughout the day, the game started on time.
Suarez fights ’til the end
Ranger Suarez’s grip on the NL Cy Young award has loosened after allowing more earned runs in his past two outings than he did in his first 10. He still came into this start with a great 2.58 ERA, offering one more chance for a strong performance before making his All-Star Game debut.
Suarez coaxed ground balls to shortstop from his first two batters, which manifested into a double play after Trea Turner flubbed the first one, and then struck out Brent Rooker on four pitches. His next inning took just six pitches and featured a three-pitch K from Shea Langeliers.
Suarez ran into some trouble in the third inning. After A’s shortstop Max Schuemann beat out a dribbler to Turner, Suarez surrendered a walk and two hard-hit singles that allowed Oakland to take the lead. He got hosed on a ball call that should have been a strike but regardless, the A’s got hot. They launched another small-ball attack in the fifth inning, scoring another run. Had Nick Castellanos not perfectly tracked down a line drive, the floodgates could have really been burst open.
Suarez’s velocity was down across the board, averaging over a tick lower on his go-to sinker. The average exit velocity on his sinker for this season was 87.9 MPH. In this game, it was 97.7 — an increase of nearly 10. Despite not having his best stuff, Suarez did what he always does: fight and scrap his way to the end.
The sixth inning came and went without any more progress from the Athletics thanks in part to a liner taking a flight path right to Edmundo Sosa’s glove. He completed six innings and was one allowed run away from a quality start, nothing six strikeouts and 55 strikes in 97 pitches. For as shaky as he was, he really battled and gave his team a perfectly fine chance to lead the game. But…
Phillies leave meat on the bone
The Phillies ferociously feasted on the A’s pitching, getting multiple base runners in each of the first three innings and forcing them to tap into their bullpen by the fourth. But the Phils didn’t finish their meals, having way too little to show for how badly they beat up on Harris.
Opening the game with a four-pitch walk to Kyle Schwarber all on pitches way outside, an eight-pitch Turner at-bat that ended in a shallow flyout, and a five-pitch walk to Bryce Harper led to an early mound visit. Alec Bohm lined a 99.5 MPH hit that had an expected batting average of .870. A shaky transfer from Schuemann made Schwarber think it was a dropped ball but the ruling instead was a lineout double play.
Nick Castellanos worked a nine-pitch at-bat that resulted in a groundout, further pushing Harris’ pitch count. Wilson got off to a nice start by drawing a walk and swiping second base. That set up a double from Cristian Pache that cracked the egg in the scoring column. Turner could have done more damage with the bases loaded but popped out to foul ground.
After Harper and Bohm each got on to begin the third inning, Castellanos hit into a double play. Edmundo Sosa at least got Harper home but more self-inflicted wounds kept the Phillies from putting their foot on the gas. The blend of bad luck and bad execution tasted like vinegar for the Phillies, whose offense would eventually grind to a halt for a third of the game. Try as they did to rev it back up, it just wouldn’t go.
Relievers rise, relievers fall
The A’s hung on for dear life and lived to tell the tale after yanking Harris from the game.
Osvaldo Bido pitched three innings in relief of Hogan, facing the minimum amount of batters in that time frame and allowing only one base runner. Schwarber’s single was quickly extinguished by Harper hitting into an unassisted lineout and double play to first base. Of the seven balls he allowed in play, three were ground balls and two were pop flys. He averaged 94.6 MPH on his four-seam fastball.
The Phillies’ Jose Ruiz meanwhile, made the comeback job even harder when Lawrence Butler hit a two-run, pinch-hit home run off him. Another great defensive play from Castellanos, a snag on a low, quickly descending liner, got Ruiz his first out. His final out came on a lineout, too.
The frustration boiled over in the eighth inning when home plate umpire David Rackley tossed Trea Turner, who didn’t like the low strike three call that was still technically the correct call. Rackley had been hearing it from the Phillies all night, including from Schwarber after the previous at-bat, but decided to make an example of Turner, lazily throwing up his right hand to signify the ejection.
The Phillies found some life after a Harper walk, a Bohm single, and a Castellanos full count. A fly ball soared to right field in a hurry but landed in the glove of Butler. With an expected batting average of .490, the chances of the Phils starting to get a comeback going was almost a coin flip. But as it had all night, luck abandoned them — as did the W.
The Phillies’ next two games against the A’s are scheduled for 4:05 P.M. EST on Saturday and 1:35 P.M. EST on Sunday. Then, it’s off to Texas for the All-Star festivities.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Derik Hamilton)
