Tuesday night felt a lot different than Monday night did in Philadelphia. No, it wasn’t a masterpiece by any means. There were still frustrations to be had watching the Phillies superstar-laden lineup struggle once again, but the Philly faithful stayed in their seats the entire night. Even as the game dragged deep into the night and the innings flipped to double-sigits, there was no mass exodus as there was during Monday night’s blow out loss.
Starting pitcher Aaron Nola did enough and left as the pitcher of record with a chance to earn a win, but the bullpen couldn’t hold it. Jazz Chisholm Jr. struck again (twice), and the Phillies lost 7-6 after 12 innings. Let’s get into it.
Phillies’ outfield defense kept it close
Phillies outfielders are going through an adjustment period. Newcomer Austin Hays has played left field every day since joining the club which has forced Brandon Marsh over to center field and Johan Rojas to the bench. In Monday night’s contest, the naked eye may have made it seem like they both misplayed balls, although the ball that Marsh chased down bounced in a way he or I have never seen before.
Last night was different. The Phillies outfield was busy – the four men that played there combined to record 15 outs. Brandon Marsh recorded 10 fly-ball outs himself – eight in center and two in right in inning No. 10.
Nick Castellanos made some strong plays on the run in right, and Hays made a diving catch off the bat of Yankee catcher Austin Wells, but the night belonged to Marsh. He made catches in the alley, a catch in foul territory on a full sprint after shifting to right field in the 10th, and caught one right up against the wall to end that same inning. The bearded outfielder showed a ton of emotion after making what, at the time, was a game-saving grab.
Austin Hays makes his mark
The Phillies’ newest offensive player, Austin Hays, got out of the box slow, recording two hits in his first 12 at-bats wearing his new uniform. On Tuesday, he recorded another two hits, including a three-run shot – his first as a Phillie – to give his club a three-run lead.
After the homer and the highlight reel catch on a liner with an exit velocity of 100.2 MPH it looked like this would go down as the Hays game – maybe even the ‘new guy’ game as it was likely Carlos Estévez would have come in for the save, but it was not meant to be. Hays added another RBI in the 11th to keep Philly in it for one more frame, but they came up short after a near four-hour night.
All Jazz-ed Up
The turning point in the game came during inning No. 7. Matt Strahm started the frame and promptly walked Juan Soto and Aaron Judge. After striking out Wells, Chisholm Jr. stepped to the plate. After hitting two home runs last night and another the inning prior, he would add to his impressive start to his Yankees tenure with yet another long ball – this time on a hanging slider from Strahm. Despite leaving the National League East, Jazz was not done with the Phillies. Tuesday was his fifth career multi-homer game, and his second this season – both coming in the first two games here in Philadelphia.
After the team traded Gregory Soto prior to the game, they were down an arm in the bullpen. José Alvarado had thrown just three pitches the inning prior in relief of Nola. He did his job by forcing Alex Verdugo to ground out with two men on base to end the frame. I asked Rob Thomson post-game if he thought about going back to the big left-hander in the seventh:
“Not really. He hasn’t done that all year, one. Also, we feel like we’ve got the game in hand at that point and there’s kind of an energy dump – whenever a guy gets out of that situation right there, sometimes it’s tough for him to go back out. I thought we were fine with Strahmy, he just walked two hitters to start the inning and hung a breaking ball to Chisholm.”
In Conclusion
Phillies fans are frustrated, and they have a right to be. After sweeping the Dodgers prior to the All-Star break, they have now lost five straight series – matching their total from the rest of the season prior to this stretch. When asked if he can pinpoint what has gone wrong these last five series, Thomson said “Well pitchers are walking a lot more people. The bats have gone silent, but that will change. It’ll change.” Change might be needed, whether it be in the lineup or the order of pitching – the club has lost 10 of their last 14 games. Something’s gotta give.
Despite this rough stretch, Philadelphia still holds the No. 1 record in the National League, and are tied for the best mark in the majors. They still have one more against the Yankees, a 12:35 start on Wednesday, before they leave for a west coast trip. Tomorrow will see the Yankees Nestor Cortes (4-9, 4.13 ERA) duel it out against the Phillies Cristopher Sánchez (7-6, 3.05 ERA).
AP Photo/Duane Burleson
