Philadelphia may have been home to Monday night’s series opened against New York, but Yankee fans made their presence felt throughout. The raucous New Yorkers were loud and proud, and their team gave them plenty to get loud about.
Perennial MVP candidate Aaron Judge went deep twice, their starter Luis Gil kept Phillies hitters off balance, and the fans wearing red-headed toward the exits in the eighth – leaving a sea of white/grey shirts reveling in the home fan’s despair. Let’s see how we got there.
Wheels fell off
Starting pitcher Zack Wheeler seemed nothing like his normal self this evening. Wheeler managed to scratch and crawl his way through five innings, surrendering seven earned runs in the process. His specialty is his combination of stuff and location. Tonight, the location was lacking as he left 11 of his 64 strikes middle-middle, and the Yankees would not waste those opportunities.
Tonight was the second time Wheeler allowed seven or more runs since June 16 at the Orioles and the third time he’s failed to make it to inning No. 6 during that same seven-start stretch. It was the fifth time in the Phillies ace’s career that he allowed three or more home runs in an outing, with the last coming in that June game in Baltimore.
When speaking with reporters post-game, Phillies manager Rob Thomson spoke about the thought behind leaving Wheeler in despite facing Judge with one out in the fifth and two men on base. Thomson said he was “trying to get him through the inning – if I can. We had basically four innings of pitching without using our leverage guys, and that was the fifth inning. That’s really what it comes down to. And his pitch count was still okay and there’s nothing wrong with his back.”
Phillies hitters caught in-between
The Phillies’ offense did score four runs but sputtered along the way. There were a few missed opportunities, but some positives that cannot be overlooked.
The first Phillies run came on a fielder’s choice grounder from Trea Turner that easily could’ve been an inning-ending double play in the third. Brandon Marsh would add a run in the fourth via a solo homer 0 his 11th of the season.
Philadelphia would have momentum once again in the sixth frame after Marsh ripped a single down the line to force Gil from the game. With one out, runners on first and third, and a new pitcher in the game, J.T. Realmuto would ground into an inning-ending double play on the first pitch he saw. Granted, it was a middle-middle pitch according to MLB Gameday, but they left that opportunity on the table. By that point, the game was out of hand, but it felt like the air was sucked out of the building as the Yankee fielders jogged off the field to end the frame.
Now for the positive. Brandon Marsh recorded two hits and two RBIs. Bryson Stott showed signs of beginning to turn things around, lofting two lightly struck singles to center field. Bryce Harper didn’t use any expletives in this one despite going 0-for-4. Thomson was asked about what he’s seen from Bryce and his struggles, but his response was positive:
“Actually, ya know, tonight I thought it was better because he lofted a couple of balls in the air, into the outfield, in the middle of the field. Usually when guys do that, and I’ve said this before, it looks like they’re getting their stroke back.”
Other notes
We went through Wheeler’s struggles, but there were some other interesting notes from tonight’s game – regardless of result:
- Aaron Judge went 2-for-5 with 2 HRs and 3 Ks. That is the first time he’s done that in a game in his career. He previously has two-and-two four times.
- This was Judge’s 37th career multi-homer game, and the third this season.
- Yankees pitchers threw 11 pitches that ended up middle-middle, and Phillies hitters could not take advantage the way their opposition did. Philly fouled off 9 of those 11, missing another and Turner grounded the other into the aforementioned fielder’s choice.
Hays and Marsh both misplaced ball off of walls in this game. As Marsh moves back to playing center field on a more regular basis, there will be some adjusting needed to the caroms. Hays is brand new to playing at Citizens Bank Park, so an adjustment is expected there, as well.
Tonight was a classic ‘flush it and forget it’ type of game, but the Phillies will need to bounce back in a big way the next two days to avoid losing their fifth straight series – matching their season total prior to this current streak. Tomorrow’s game will feature Aaron Nola (11-4, 3.44 ERA) face off against Gerrit Cole (3-2, 5.40 ERA). Tuesday’s game starts at 6:40.
Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
