GAME RECAP: Phillies
Edge Pirates 3-2
Teams should know not to run on Jeff Francoeur. With
pinch-runner Steve
Lombardozzi on third and one out in the ninth inning on Wednesday night at
Citizens Bank Park, Pirates shortstop Jordy Mercer lifted a
fly ball into foul territory down the right-field line. Francoeur caught the
ball and came up throwing. Lombardozzi barrelled down the line, but the
strong-armed Francoeur's throw beat the pinch-runner to the
plate, ending the game and winning it for the Phillies, 3-2. "We're
aware of the player. We're aware of the arm," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle
said of Francoeur. "It's an aggressive play, a play we have a chance to
score a run on. He's going to the wall, has to come off the wall to make the
throw … he made an excellent throw." Phillies starting pitcher Cole Hamels went seven
innings, allowing just two runs and five hits while striking out nine. Jonathan Papelbon
recorded his seventh save of the season after throwing a scoreless ninth
inning. The save was his 113th with the Phillies, which set the franchise
record for career saves. "As an outfielder who likes to throw, you live
for that kind of moment," Francoeur said. "Especially for Paps, it
was a big one if we got it." The loss ended the Pirates' four-game winning
streak, knocking the team back down to .500 at 17-17. The losing pitcher for
the Pirates was Francisco
Liriano, who allowed three runs and struck out six in seven innings of
seven-hit baseball.
OTHER NOTES FROM THE DAY:
·
The Phillies held a moment of silence prior to the game in honor
of the at least seven passengers who were killed in the Amtrak train that
crashed in Philadelphia Tuesday night. The accident happened during Tuesday's
game about 10 miles north of Citizens Bank Park. Both the Pennsylvania state
flag and the flag of the city of Philadelphia were flown at half-mast
Wednesday.
·
After seeing leads evaporate half an inning after earning them
multiple times in the last week, the Phillies managed to build a response of
their own in the fifth inning Wednesday night. Hamels allowed two runs in the
fifth inning, only to see his offense pick him up in the bottom half to the
tune of three runs. Liriano had retired the previous 10 Phillies he had faced
prior to the inning, but allowed two singles and a double to start the home
half of the inning. Carlos
Ruiz, Ben Revere
and Freddy Galvis
provided the RBIs. "That was big coming right back," Phillies manager
Ryne Sandberg said. "We strung four hits together. The guys came up big
getting the hits together and put the three spot up there. Once again I think
that played big for the rest of Cole's outing."
·
The Pirates had a run taken off the board in the fifth inning
after what appeared to be an infield single for Starling Marte was
overturned by instant replay. The replay showed that third baseman Cesar Hernandez's throw
made it into Ryan Howard's
glove barely before Marte's foot landed on the bag. The replay took about 34
seconds and ended a two-run fifth for the Pirates.
·
Hamels had thrown 108 pitches through six innings, but Sandberg
chose to keep stand by his starter and throw him one more inning. Hamels proved
his manager's thinking correct, setting down the Pirates on seven pitches in
the seventh, all either ending in the strike zone or in play.
·
Hamels is 10-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 16 starts when the Phillies have
scored three or more runs for him the past two seasons.
·
"Yeah, you know if
there's one way to do it, that's the way to do it. Go out in an exciting
way." -- Papelbon, on Francoeur's catch and throw to end game, giving
Papelbon the franchise's saves record.
·
The Phillies will be
looking to end a 10-month streak of not winning a Thursday game, as the
Phillies are winless in their last seven Thursday outings and haven't won since
a 6-5 victory over the Houston Astros last Aug. 7. Before this streak, the
Phillies had won their last eight Thursday contests.
·
Philadelphia's afternoon
air will be a welcoming experience for Pedro Alvarez, the Major League's leader
in day-game home runs dating back to 2012 with 38. Alvarez has hit five home
runs in 2015, four of which have come in the daytime.
·
The Pirates have won 14
of their last 18 series finales, including seven of 10 this season, while the
Phillies are just 2-8 this season in the last game of a series.
NEXT GAME:
For the second time in
three days, a former Phillies pitcher will return to Citizens Bank Park as the
Pirates and Phillies round out their four-game set. Vance Worley will take the mound
for the Pirates in just his second start back in Philadelphia after pitching 29
games at the ballpark in three years. Worley is 2-2 in 2015 with a 4.63 ERA in
six starts for the Pirates and can attribute a lot of his struggles to his high
batting average against, as he has allowed 41 hits in 35 innings. Going against
Worley for the Phillies will be Aaron Harang, looking to continue his strong
start to his Phillies career. Harang is just 3-3 on the season, but has been a
hard-luck loser twice, having allowed one and two earned runs in two of those
losses. Harang's 2.38 ERA and 1.015 WHIP are both best among Phillies starters.
PHILS PHACTS:
Papelbon Sets Record In Dramatic Fashion –
Jonathan
Papelbon sure loves drama. The only thing that might have topped the way he
finished Wednesday night's 3-2 victory over the Pirates
at Citizens Bank Park would have been if he entered the game wearing the pink
Ric Flair robe that normally hangs in his locker. "Aw, man," Papelbon
said afterward. "I don't even know what just happened." Papelbon
earned a Phillies record 113th save in dramatic fashion. The Pirates had the
tying run on third base with one out -- Papelbon's errant throw on a pickoff
attempt sent Steve Lombardozzi from first to third -- when Jordy Mercer hit a fly
ball down the right-field line. Phillies right fielder Jeff Francoeur caught
the ball in foul territory and threw out Lombardozzi at the plate to end the
game. "Yeah, you know if there's one way to do it, that's the way to do
it," said Papelbon, who bumped Jose Mesa to second place on the franchise's
all-time saves list. "Go out in an exciting way." Francoeur is known
for his strong arm, but the Pirates essentially forced him to make a perfect
throw. He did. "The only thing that made that a little tougher is that the
wind kind of kept blowing it toward the railing over there," Franceour
said. "So, I was trying to make sure I was there, but when I caught it I
felt pretty good about my chances. "It felt real good. A long time ago
here I let one go and threw it in the stands. I'm usually good for one of those
a year, and I'm glad it wasn't tonight." Papelbon stashed a bottle of
Johnnie Walker Blue Label in Francoeur's locker as a pretty fantastic thank
you. "That's Blue Label," Francoeur said. "That's even better
than a porterhouse." Francoeur earned it because Papelbon's accomplishment
is pretty significant. He already is Boston's all-time saves leader (219),
which makes him one of two pitchers in baseball history to lead two franchises
in saves. Robb Nen is the other. He recorded 108 saves for the Marlins and 206
saves for the Giants. Papelbon is 12-10 with a 2.37 ERA and 113 saves in his
Phillies career. He has performed as well as expected, but he also has had a
rough go in Philadelphia. The Phillies have disappointed, and he has upset fans
with some of his words off the field and some of his actions on it. But lately,
Papelbon said he has been humbled by his pursuit of the saves record. "It
means a lot to me, honestly it does," he said. "Like I've said
before, I came here to try to win championships and you know, this
organization, we're not in that realm of thinking, we're trying to do some
other things. For me, it's an opportunity to keep on getting for work every day
and trying to do the best I can in helping out these guys in the bullpen as
much as I can. Just come in and have fun and despite the circumstances we're
in, come here ready to work every day."
Replay Saves Lead – It
took five innings Wednesday night for the Pirates to get on the scoreboard
against Cole Hamels --
and only 34 seconds for their third run to be taken off the board. And that
replay review decision will live forever in the National League standings, so
to speak, because it presented the Phillies with their margin of victory in the
3-2 win over the Bucs. Philadelphia
manager Ryne Sandberg's successful appeal of a fifth-inning play at first base
resulted in a replay review reverting the Bucs' lead from 3-0 to 2-0. Seconds
after Andrew McCutchen
had given the Bucs a 2-0 lead with a bases-loaded single with two outs in the
fifth inning, Starling
Marte appeared to add to it with an infield hit. With Josh Harrison on third,
Marte sent a dribbler to third baseman Cesar Hernandez, whose
throw to first was ruled tardy by first-base umpire Dale Scott as Harrison
scored. Pirates manager Clint Hurdle immediately braced for Sandberg's
challenge. "He's going to challenge a call when a run is involved like
that," Hurdle reasoned. "No, I didn't have a bad feeling. I just know
they're going to get the call right," Hurdle added. "That's the
nature of the game we're playing now. One way or another, they will get the
call right." The review immediately was significant: The Phillies rallied
in the bottom of the fifth for three runs against lefty Francisco Liriano,
taking a 3-2 lead that held up.
Offense Comes Alive In Fifth – There
was no doubt in Carlos
Ruiz's mind. He was making it to second base. "I kind of hit it to the
right side," Ruiz said. "The outfielder had to turn around to get to
it and throw to second and I was like, 'I feel like I can make it.'" With Cesar Hernandez and Jeff Francoeur on first
and second base, respectively, with no outs and the Phillies trailing by two in
the fifth inning, Ruiz yanked a ball into left field, scoring Francoeur. From
the way the ball was hit, it looked like a simple RBI single. But Ruiz put his
head down and rounded first, making it to second after left fielder Starling Marte hesitated
getting the ball in. The double was the last of three consecutive hits to start
the fifth inning. The hits came at a particularly vital time as in the previous
half-inning Phillies starter Cole Hamels had
surrendered the first two runs of the game to put his team at a deficit. But
the Phillies rallied behind their starter, scoring one run on those three hits
and adding two more later in the inning off a Ben Revere groundout
and a Freddy Galvis
single. Those three runs turned out to be the difference in the Phillies' 3-2 win. "That was a big
situation," Ruiz said. "I'm real happy that I made it to second and
we came back and made that game." For the Phillies, Wednesday's win did
more than snap a four-game losing streak. It ended a streak of four games where
the Phillies scored runs in one inning to either seize or trim the lead, only
to allow the other team to regain or expand its lead in the next half-inning. Not
only did the Phillies not let this happen, they turned things around and did
this to the Pirates, something of which Francoeur was cognizant. "Winning
that game was big," Francoeur said. "The way we've been in games and
been in games, to turn it around and do it to someone else was nice." Phillies
manager Ryne Sandberg said he thought the runs had another effect: spurring
Hamels to rebound from his bad inning. In Sandberg's view, the run support
helped Hamels "turn things up a notch." With that lead, Sandberg said
Hamels was afforded the opportunity to be more aggressive with the strike zone.
This led to Hamels attacking hitters inside more, which Sandberg said was one
of the main reasons his starting pitcher was successful. But just as Sandberg
thought his hitters made that win possible for Hamels, so too did the hitters
believe the opposite to be true. "It was an outstanding game, to come back
and get the W for Cole, who was pitching real well," Ruiz said. "He
gave us the opportunity to keep the game close."
Rebounding From A Slow Start – Anybody
that wondered about Cole
Hamels' slow start in April can relax. Hamels is just fine. Contending
teams with starting pitching problems are most certainly noticing. Hamels
allowed five hits, two runs, one walk and struck out nine in seven innings
Wednesday night in a 3-2 victory over the Pirates
at Citizens Bank Park, which snapped the Phillies' four-game losing streak. "He
was sharp all the way through," Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg said. Hamels
went 0-2 with a 5.00 ERA in his first three starts this season. He allowed an
eye-popping seven home runs in 18 innings. But in his last five starts, Hamels
is 3-1 with a 2.72 ERA. He has allowed just one home run in 33 innings. "It's
just going out there and feeling confident with every pitch that I have,"
Hamels said. "I'm trying to establish strikes to both sides of the plate
with whatever pitch. When you're able to do that you're able to command each
inning." Hamels allowed two runs in the fifth inning to hand the Pirates a
2-0 lead, but the Phillies scored three runs for him in the bottom of the fifth
to make it 3-2. Hamels had thrown 108 pitches through six innings, six fewer
than his season high. But Sandberg figured he would keep his ace in the game
with the way Hamels had been going. He said it did not matter that the Pirates'
eighth and ninth hitters were starting the inning. Even if it were the heart of
the order, Hamels was going to pitch. Hamels responded with a perfect,
seven-pitch inning. "It's kind of what we train for, go deep in a
ballgame," Hamels said. Hamels is 10-0 with a 2.30 ERA in 16 starts when
the Phillies have scored three or more runs for him the past two seasons. It is
remarkable what just a little bit of run support will do for an ace. "Once
we got the three runs it looked like he turned it up a notch," Sandberg
said. "Nice for him to have run support."
Working On A Comeback – If
Triple-A Lehigh Valley right-hander Phillippe Aumont returns to the big leagues
as an effective starter, it would be one heck of a story. Aumont's career as a
Phillies relief pitcher had stalled because he could not throw strikes on a
consistent basis. In fact, his Phillies career could have ended, but he cleared
waivers in March and the Phillies sent him to Minor League camp. There, he slowly
started to reinvented himself as a starter. The Phillies actually made him a
starter when they acquired him in the December 2009 Cliff Lee trade. It
lasted one season before they returned him to the bullpen. But Aumont threw
seven scoreless innings Wednesday in a start against Columbus. He is 1-1 with a
1.29 ERA in four starts with the IronPigs, allowing 16 hits, three earned runs,
five walks and striking out 16 in 21 innings. It is a remarkable turnaround. "Phillippe
told me he's extremely happy to be back in the rotation," Phillies
director of player development Joe Jordan said. "He looks like it. There's
a tempo to what he's doing. He used to take forever between pitches. He's
crisp. He has some big misses, but he gets right back in the zone. Seven strong
innings today, really. He had an above-average, maybe well above-average
fastball. Above-average breaking ball. Two Major League pitches. "He's
just in a great frame of mind. Right-handed hitters had no chance on his
breaking ball today. He locked up about five or six. He was 94-96 mph with his
fastball. They just couldn't pull the trigger on the breaking ball." Could
this really happen? Could Aumont, who is the only remaining piece from the Lee
trade, really return and contribute in the future as a starter? "He didn't
look out of place today at all," Jordan said. "We're staying with it.
We're committed to it. We're going to try to find out. He looks the part."
Crowded Outfield – A
baseball team can only play three players in the outfield at once. Soon, this
number might be too small for Ryne Sandberg and the Phillies. When Cody Asche was sent down to Triple-A Lehigh Valley
Monday night, a statement was made in the Phillies organization that he is a
left fielder moving forward, no longer a third baseman. And if Asche is to move
to the outfield upon his return to the Majors, there would seem to be a few odd
men out between Minor League options Asche and Domonic Brown and Major Leaguers
Ben Revere, Grady Sizemore, Darin Ruf and Jeff Francoeur. According
to Sandberg, no decisions have been made yet as to who will occupy these
positions if and when Asche and Brown are called back up. "I would say
when all of the players are here, who will be here, that's when the wheels will
turn," Sandberg said. "Until that point, it's all a little bit hypothetical
of who will be here and who will be on the roster. So once that day comes, then
I'll get the mind there on how to use guys and get them into games and
lineups." The Phillies have one more outfielder on their active roster,
center fielder Odubel
Herrera. Herrera seems to be set in his position, as Sandberg said Monday
that Herrera is his center fielder and Revere may be able to fill in when
Herrera needs an off-day, but rarely more often than that. That leaves six men
to fill two positions, and with Asche going down to learn left field, it would
be safe to say that position will be his eventually. The corner-outfielder
situation gets slightly more complicated considering that of those four options,
only Francoeur and Ruf bat right-handed. With Chase Utley and Ryan Howard already
plugged in as every day left-handed bats in the lineup and the switch-hitting Freddy Galvis swinging
lefty against right-handed pitching, inserting two more left-handers into the
lineup every day shifts away from the balance Sandberg prefers. Regardless of
this fact, Sandberg still remains tight-lipped on what his decision will be
once this positional saturation is actualized. "It is a lot of guys, a lot
of left-handed hitters," Sandberg said. "We'll see. We'll see as
moves are made down the road. We'll see who's actually on the roster and we'll
go from there."
THE BEGINNING
The
Phillies are starting the season as expected and are now at the bottom of the
NL east at 12-23. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and performance
this spring, don’t expect their competitive place in the standings to last. All
time, the Phillies are 44-48-0 on this day.
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