If you’re a fan of sloppy baseball behind the plate and on the field, than Friday night’s Phillies vs Guardians game was just what you ordered. From the get-go, things weren’t pretty.
A sloppy start for the Phillies
The Guardians’ Angel Martinez was caught in a rundown but Bryce Harper held onto the ball allowing the stolen base. It directly led to the first run of the game after a David Fry single. An errant Trea Turner throw almost led to another free baserunner but an overturned call led to the 3rd out.
Just an inning later another bad Turner throw led to a 1st and 3rd situation. Bryce Harper also couldn’t dig the throw out of the dirt. Sanchez got out of it with a K and a Steven Kwan groundout.
The slop behind the plate reared its head in the bottom of the 2nd. Brandon Marsh struck out looking on a pitch that was outside but was called for a strike. Two batters later, Bryson Stott suffered the same fate on a ball even further out of the zone. Tension was already building against home plate umpire Rob Drake.
In the 3rd, the fielding circus continued. Harper tried to pursue a groundball but vacated 1st base in the process. Sanchez tried to rectify the mistake but dropped the throw to 1st. JT Realmuto was able to eventually erase the mistake with a caught stealing at 3rd base.
Mr. Drake made his presence known in the bottom of the inning. After another terrible called strike 3 on Turner, Kevin Long started barking on his players’ behalf. That got him ejected by Drake. The Phillies fans responded with a rain of boos.
It was back to the fielding miscues in the top of the 4th. Sanchez threw high to 2nd base on a would-be caught stealing. With runners on the corners, Bo Naylor bunted. Sanchez tried to get out at home but didn’t have a chance. If he had thrown to 1st, he probably would’ve escaped with 1 run. Instead, a 3rd run came around to score with 2 outs.
A topsy-turvy day at the office for the Phillies
All was silent until the bottom of the 5th. Bryson Stott homered off the 1st pitch that Ben Lively threw in the inning, making the score 3-1.
Cristopher Sanchez went 6 innings, allowing 3 runs (all earned, surprisingly). It was his 11th quality start of the season.
The Phillies’ last real chance came in the 7th. Stott singled with 1 out and Kyle Schwarber hit a long single to put runners at 1st and 3rd. Trea Turner came up with 2 outs but had his 3rd popup of the day.
Jose Ruiz, Jose Alvarado, and Orion Kerkering all had scoreless outings out of the bullpen. Ruiz got strikeouts for all 3 of his outs. It was the first time in July that he had multiple strikeouts in an appearance.
Perhaps the best closer in baseball, Emmanuel Clase recorded a quick 2 outs in the 9th. Bryson Stott continued his hot night with another single down the LF line. Weston Wilson struck out on 3 pitches for the 3rd out.
The Phillies fall to 64-39 on the season. Former rebuild Phillie Ben Lively gets the win for the Guardians.
Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire
