Philadelphia traveled up to Toronto for a homecoming of sorts. The city was home to the Phillies Triple-A team back in 1948-’50. Manager Rob Thomson grew up in Coronna, Ontario, Canada – just a three hour drive from Toronto – and lives around an hour away in Stratford during the offseason. Closer Jordan Romano is from Markham, Ontario – about a half hour trek will get you to the Rogers Centre. He also was drafted by, and played his entire big league career before this season for the Blue Jays.
While nostalgia is a wonderful emotion, there were more important things on the minds of the Phillies players – none more important than ending their four game losing skid. Despite their impressive record on 19-9 in the month of May, the last weekend left a bad taste in their mouths. You could tell by the way the club started the night – jumping out a 6-0 lead before the Blue Jays had a chance to bat. They would go on to win the game by a final score of 8-3.
Six-in-One
The Phillies offense jumped all over Toronto’s starter, Bowden Frances. Bryson Stott walked, Trea Turner smacked an opposite field home run, and a returning Byuce Harper returned to the lineup with some theatrics – going back-to-back with Turner. After Kyle Schwarber struck out, it was small-ball that pushed the rest of the runs across.
The rest of the inning went as follows:
- Single – HBP – Single (RBI) – Single – Strikeout – Strikeout (2 RBIs) – Flyout
11 batters came to the plate, Stott reached base twice, two home runs were smashed, and more than half their hits were recorded. Hell of an inning.
Half-dozen in the books for Cristopher Sánchez
Sánchez battled through six innings, despite not having his best control – especially as his outing extended. That had been a concern when digging into his numbers as of late. Did the club want to avoid pushing him early to help him stay strong later in the year? It might seem like a crazy question, but he is coming off two starts where he failed to complete six innings – something he prides himself on doing to help his team and save his bullpen.
Something else worth watching was his pitch counts – he was pulled before reaching 90 pitches in six of his last seven starts before tonight. When he got through the fifth tonight, it looked like those trends may continue. The left-hander sat at 86 pitches, and had given up a home run, walked two, and allowed some hard contact before escaping on a comeback grounder to end the frame and strand the bases loaded.
When he came back out for the sixth, it was a surprise. Then he started the inning allowing a single, but his manager stuck with him. Seven pitches later, and the sixth was complete. He made it.
Sánchez’s final line was not dominant, but it was strong: 6.0 IP | 1 ER | 4 H | 4 BB | 4 K
His manager had high praise for the way his starter batted without having his best stuff.
“I thought he was okay…I would’ve liked to see a few more strikes out of him. I thought he got behind in the count a little bit. It was really good to see him go out in the sixth inning and attack,” Thomson said.
He expanded on why Sánchez’s stuff worked despite him not being his best, “The velocity was down a little bit tonight, so it just shows you that he can pitch without velocity because he’s got that great change-up, and the slider’s really improved…he just needs to attack with his fastball.”
Notable standouts for the Phillies
Trea Turner hadn’t been hitting for much power this season – by design. A conversation with his manager in the off-season led to a purposeful change in approach, trying to use his speed more often than his power to set the table for the middle of the lineup. While he had played that way the majority of the season, until last night – he switched things up. Turner hit two home runs, one to left field and one to right. The shortstop opened and closed the scoring with his power, and added an infield single just to flash some speed. Turner’s now up to seven home runs on the season, all of which have come on the road.
Thomson was asked about his shortstop’s night and he made sure to mention his good defense, as well, after a Turner error lost them the game on Sunday.
Alec Bohm finished with four hits on the night, the eighth 4-hit game of his career. His average is up to .277 on the season. He was hitting .221 at the end of April. The third baseman hit the ball hard to the opposite field three times, and got on via a dribbler down the third base line. He also played strong defense, even taking advantage of the artificial turf after a diving stop with a three hopper to get George Springer.
Harper returned with a bang – but that didn’t surprise Thomson. He was asked if anything Bryce does surprises him: “No, not really. Not anymore,” he said through a proud grin. The first baseman reached base three times in total, walking twice. Despite the power shown early, Harper told the media postgame that he is still working through his injury:
“Yeah, there’s swelling. I think it’s going to take a minute to get down, but I thought today was a good day for me to get back out there and get back in there. Harper told reporters in the clubhouse. “It’s definitely bruised still and all that kind of stuff, but we’re working through it.”
Philadelphia stopped their losing streak with authority. Tomorrow, they have a chance to win the series. Rookie Mick Abel (1-0, 0.00 ERA) gets another major league start after a strong performance against the Pirates back on May 18. He will be opposed by José Berríos (2-2, 3.86 ERA). The veteran right-hander has given up a home run to Harper across the four ABs they’ve had against each other. The power surge just might continue.
Mandatory Credit: Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
