Since his three-hit game against the Rockies last Wednesday, Phillies’ SS Trea Turner has been tallying hits sporadically over his last five games for a pedestrian start to the season. On Wednesday night, Turner put together his second multi-hit game of the young season and that second knock was the biggest of the game. A go-ahead solo home run with one out in the ninth inning on the first pitch he saw from Braves’ closer Raisel Iglesias to lead the Phillies to a 4-3 win over the Atlanta.
It was Turner’s first long ball of the season and his third-career home run against Iglesias.
“It’s more…finally I drove the ball. It was good timing, I got a pitch in the zone, took my swing and drove it,” Turner said on the at-bat.” Turner said via the Phillies postgame show on NBC Sports Philadelphia “I was just trying to use my legs a little bit more. Feel like I’ve been taking good swings but just missing. Just wanted to put my barrel on it and put a good swing on it.”
The Phillies’ lead almost slipped away in the bottom of the ninth. Jose Alvarado, called upon with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, allowed a pair of singles to put runners at the corners with two outs in the ninth. He escaped the Braves’ threat with a strikeout against catcher Sean Murphy on his 30th pitch, picking up his third save of the season to put a bow on the gritty win.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson liked the way his team battled against a tough team, but thought the hitters chased some pitches at the plate.
“Trea with the big home run, but I thought we got out of the zone a little bit more than we have lately,” Thomson said. “We got some walks, big home run by [Bryce] Harper.” Topper said on the postgame show. “It was nice to see a bounce back when they scored two in the bottom of the sixth and we scored two in the seventh. It was a really good ball game.”
Walker Battled
It wasn’t a pretty game for either starting pitchers, but Taijuan Walker and Grant Holmes gutted their way through the first four-plus innings of the game to keep it 0-0.
Walker was not as dominant as he was in his first outing of the season, with his pitch count climbing quickly, but he also was facing a more formidable lineup in the Braves. The righty-hander did not use his curveball nearly as much as he did in that start against the Rockies, throwing just five in his 94 total pitches. Using his cutter, sinker and splitter primarily, Walker battled his way through 4 2/3 scoreless innings scattering five hits with three walks and five strikeouts.
“He battled out of trouble in the second and third. He had a lot of stressful pitches,” Thomson said. “Our third [inning] was a long inning and we saw a lot of pitches, so he was able to get a second breath. Pitched well in the fourth. Because of the stressful pitches, probably a little gassed at the end.”
The 32-year-old has had to be near flawless in each of his first two starts, extending his scoreless innings streak to 10 2/3 innings to start the season as the Phillies’ offense has produced just one run of support while he’s been on the mound.
The Phillies are now 2-0 in both of Walker’s starts, the same record they were in his first two outings last year before going 4-13 over his final 17 starts. This season might be different with confidence continuing to build for the veteran.
“I feel like my stuff has been pretty good,’ Walker said. “It’s moving a lot more than last year and I’m trusting it more. Behind in counts, having confidence to throw my cutter behind 2-0, seeing the swings I’m getting, knowing I’m going to land it is big.”
Left-handed hitters had solid success against Walker last year, posting an .893 OPS. Walker said after this outing he feel believes he has a solid gameplan to attack lefties and still looking to fine tune another pitch to add to his six-pitch arsenal.
“I can throw any pitch and feel comfortable with it against lefties. I didn’t throw a ton of curveballs. Everything else was working today. Threw a lot of cutters and fastballs. Still getting the feel for the slider, haven’t thrown it to lefties yet, we’ll start adding that as we go.”
Walker’s teammates, like Harper, are in the pitcher’s corner knowing what he had to endure a season ago.
“He’s worked his butt of in the offseason and to come in here and have the confidence that he does,” Harper said. “I told him I’m happy for him. He’s been through a lot. Signed a deal with us, come here after a couple good years in New York and a tough last year for him. He threw great.”
Finding Ways to Win
The Phillies struck first in the top of the sixth inning courtesy of a Bryson Stott infield RBI single to make it 1-0. Responding quickly, the Braves tied and took their first lead in the game in the bottom half of the inning courtesy of an RBI single from Orlando Arica and a sacrifice fly from Michael Harris II to make it a 2-1 ballgame.
An inning later, Harper made an impact with his bat. After a one-out Turner single, the first baseman clubbed a clutch two-run home run for his second long ball of the season to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead. Atlanta’s third baseman Sean Riley responded with a solo blast of his own to tie the game up at 3-3.
With the tying-run at first in the eighth, Harper made a nice charging play on a bunt from Jarred Kelenic and zipped a throw to Turner covering second base to get the lead runner in Eli White to change the complexion of the inning.
“That’s a momentum killer right there,” Turner said. “We’ve been playing pretty good. We are doing a lot of things this year we probably haven’t done in the past and winning games,” Turner said.
The recipe has resulted in the Phillies winning another close game, with Wednesday’s contest marking the sixth straight game decided by two runs or less. The team is 4-2 during the stretch.
“You have to win the tough ones and win the ones you are supposed to,” Harper said on the postgame show. “We let the game get away yesterday [Tuesday]. Getting 1-1 right there and then tomorrow, so big win right there.”
*All quotes from Phillies Post Game Live via NBC Sports Philadelphia
Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
