Astros 10-Run Phillies in Woeful Series Finale

The weather Wednesday afternoon, despite being a muggy heat reaching 95 degrees, was the bright spot of the day for the Phillies.

Houston’s offense snapped out of their funk and dropped eleven runs on Philadelphia’s pitching. Yordan Alvarez recorded four hits, three of them being home runs. Phillies hitters didn’t record a hit until the eighth inning and dropped the game 10-0.

Let’s get into it.

Walker’s last dance?

Taijuan Walker has not performed as anyone would have hoped this season. After a tough start that saw him pitch to a 5.60 ERA through June 21, he went on the injured list with a blister on his finger. After a longer-than-expected time on the IL, he returned to the rotation on August 13. He has struggled through all of his appearances, peaking today as he allowed seven runs on 13 hits and one walk.

Since returning to the Phillies, Walker’s ERA has jumped 90 points to 6.50 – due to a 9.17 ERA over his last four starts. He was allowed to pitch through the end of the sixth inning Wednesday, in what was an obvious effort to save the bullpen for their upcoming series against the Braves.

One positive note – Walker threw a first-pitch strike to 20 of the 28 batters he faced. Four of the hits in the fourth inning were well out of the strike zone. Despite those facts, he still left the game with a 7-0 deficit.

Alvarez tied a career-high with three home runs (third time in his career) and four hits in the game (eighth time in his career), the Astros tied a season-high with 18 total hits, and this game felt over four innings before the Phillies offense recorded a hit.

Phillies Postgame

Rob Thomson was almost exclusively asked about Walker post-game. Below are some of his comments regarding Taijuan’s outing:

“I thought he was okay for the first couple innings, then lost finish in the fourth. There wasn’t a whole lot of hard contact early – the fourth there was. To his credit, he gave us the fifth and sixth and wanted to go back out there and save the bullpen. It was a rough day, all the way around.”

When asked about the conversations he had with Walker in the dugout after that tough fourth inning, Thomson said “I just wanted to make sure he was okay and he wanted to go back out. In the fifth inning, it was like 15 pitches so he still had some pitches left so I wanted to make sure he was okay again and wanted to go back out.”

Reporters asked the Phillies manager in a multitude of ways what the plan might be with Walker and if he would pitch in the rotation again this season. His answer was simple: “We gotta talk about it.”

Thomson was asked about how he feels about Walker’s visible frustration today, and the disappointment from the fans in the ballpark. He was candid with his emotions:

“I feel bad for him. I really do because I think all of you know how much I respect and love the players and he works extremely hard and he’s taken that time on the IL to try and try different things to gain velocity, to gain action on his split. There’s no lack of effort there. And so when guys give effort and it doesn’t work out or you don’t see the results, it hurts me and, and obviously it hurts him too.”

In Conclusion

The Phillies have a big series coming up against the Atlanta Braves. They are 5.5 games ahead of the Braves in the division, making these four games very important. You could see the importance in the way Thomson approached his pitching decisions – he confirmed as much for reporters post-game. They need all hands on deck for the next four games. The manager talked about the importance of this series after the game:

I always say that you gotta win at home, you gotta win in your division. If you want to win a division title, you have to win inside your division and at home. So, it’s a big series.”

Questions remain about the plans for the firth starter, but one thing is for sure – the lineup cannot strikeout double digit times four of every nine games if they want to hold off Atlanta down the stretch.

Photo Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports