GAME RECAP: Red Sox Route Phillies 9-2
David Ortiz went deep, Wade Miley went the distance and the Red Sox relied
on a huge inning to secure a 9-2 win over the Phillies on Saturday at Fenway
Park. Miley allowed both runs on five hits and tallied eight punchouts in the
first complete-game effort of his career, improving his record to 11-10 in the
process. The left-hander carried a perfect game into the fifth before Jeff Francoeur ended his bid with a bloop single.
"He was just on the attack from the first inning on," said Red Sox
interim manager Torey Lovullo. "A little bit of a hiccup after we had the
eight-run inning. There was a little bit of a pause there. But all in all, that
was the only time he got nicked up. He was in control of all of his innings,
pitch count-wise. A complete effort by him." Ortiz mashed career home run
No. 496 around the Pesky Pole in the fourth inning, the slugger's fourth in
eight games, to cap off an eight-run outburst by Boston. Phillies rookie Alec Asher faded early in his second Major League
start and finished charged with seven runs, eight hits and two balks in 3 2/3
innings. Right-hander Jerome Williams
completed 3 1/3 frames of one-run ball in mop-up duty. Catcher Carlos Ruiz provided the only Philly offense with a
two-run single in the fifth. "Asher [was] up in the zone. No command of
his secondary pitches," Phillies interim manager Pete Mackanin said.
"In his defense, it's his second Major League start, in Fenway Park. So
there's something to that. It's a big deal for him."
OTHER
NOTES FROM THE DAY:
- After only giving up one hit in his
first time through the Boston order, Asher quickly collapsed in his second
go-round, allowing seven of the nine batters he faced to reach base in the
fourth. Asher's outing came to an end when Bogaerts cleared the bases and
left him still searching for his first career win at 0-2. "I thought
the first three innings went really well," Asher said. "I
started elevating the ball a little too much that last inning and it came
back to hurt me."
- Coming into the game with the bases
loaded and one out, Phillies closer Ken Giles did his best to make the most of a
non-save situation by inducing groundouts from Bogaerts, which scored an
inherited runner, and Ortiz. It was the 24-year-old's first appearance in
seven days. "I wanted to get him in the game," Mackanin said.
"That's the best thing that worked out for us, he only threw six
pitches and he got some work on the mound."
- "I've seen Miley before. That's
the best I've seen him. He pitches extremely well. Nine innings, worked
fast, changed speeds, used both sides of the plate, kept the ball down. He
did a great job." – Mackanin.
- After dropping the weekend series
Saturday, the Phillies have a 1-11-2 series record against the Red Sox
since 2004, and they have not won a series in Boston since July 1999.
- Although Mackanin repeated his wish
to give Cody Asche a
majority of the starts at third base moving forward, he sat him against
Red Sox lefty Wade Miley on
Saturday. Asche is hitting .237 with just three extra-base hits off
southpaws this season. "He'll get the brunt of the playing time. I
didn't want to play him against a lefty because he needs to build his
confidence back up," Mackanin said.
- The Double-A Reading Fighting Phils
captured their first Eastern League Eastern Division title in 15 years on
Thursday night with a 2-1 victory over Binghamton. In addition, Reading
catcher Andrew Knapp earned League Player of the Month honors after
batting .404 with nine doubles, eight homers and 28 RBIs in August.
- Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval
is day to day with back stiffness. He was a late scratch on Friday and
remained out of the starting lineup Saturday.
NEXT
GAME:
Phillies rookie Jerad Eickhoff will continue to make his case for
the 2016 rotation on Sunday afternoon, when he clashes with fellow first-year
starter Eduardo Rodriguez and the Red Sox, who will be seeking a sweep of the
three-game series at Fenway Park. All three of Eickhoff's Major League outings
have been quality starts. The 25-year-old threw six shutout innings agains the
Marlins to win his Aug. 21 debut, and then tossed two solid games against the
Mets, allowing three earned runs in back-to-back starts. Through 19 innings, he
has fanned 15 and walked only four. Rodriguez faces the Phillies for the first
time in his career. The left-hander comes in with a 3.77 ERA over his last
seven starts, all but one of which saw him limit the damage to three or fewer
earned runs. Opposing players are batting .158 against his changeup this
season.
PHILS PHACTS:
2nd Not As Good As 1st
– A rookie making his second career start in the
historic confines of Fenway Park would be a natural source of excitement for
any young player. For Phillies right-hander Alec Asher, the energy of the moment might have had
him a little too adrenalized during Saturday's 9-2 loss
to the Red Sox. The Boston bats rocked Asher for seven runs on eight hits and
two walks over 3 2/3 innings, with an overwhelming majority of that damage
coming in his final frame. The first three innings were scoreless and allowed
Asher to more or less match his dominant counterpart, Red Sox lefty Wade Miley. But in the fourth inning, seven of nine
batters reached base against the 23-year-old, erasing his early excellence and
instead leaving him 0-2 to start his big league career. Did his emotions affect
the outcome? "There was a little bit," Asher said. "This is a
neat park. It still only being my second start, I think there were maybe still
a little emotions. But you just try to work past it the best you can."
With the game's 4:05 p.m. ET start time, hitters from both clubs had to contend
with awkward shadows cast over the infield. Their dissipation coincided with
Asher's shaky fourth inning, perhaps also explaining the drastic drop-off in
his outing. "The first three innings with the shadow, both sides you could
tell they didn't see the ball well," Phillies interim manager Pete
Mackanin said. "Once that shadow got past the mound, then it was a
different story and everybody started seeing the ball better." In
addition, Asher was called for two balks -- one in which he started and stopped
his delivery, and one in which the ball simply fell out of his sweaty hand.
Both were possible indicators of what Mackanin called being
"overfocused," though Asher maintained that they were simply
accidents. "I didn't feel like I balked," Asher said of the first
call. "I watched video and there was a little sway." Asher could have
stemmed the tides of Boston's scoring in the fourth had he been able to record
one more timely out. But he surrendered a couple of hard-hit balls down the
foul lines, and ultimately, the rookie accepted the loss as a learning
experience and will try to keep from overcomplicating his approach moving
forward. "You try to take the human element out of it," Asher said.
"You try to just go see what you need to work on, what pitches you execute
and go about it like that."
Winter Ball? – With
Phillies third baseman Maikel Franco
hard-pressed to return from a left wrist fracture before the season ends,
interim manager Pete Mackanin would like to see the 23-year-old play in one of
the Caribbean Leagues this winter. Franco, who is not expected to resume any
baseball activities before he is re-evaluated by doctors on Tuesday, should be
counted upon heavily in Philadelphia next season. The Dominican slugger has
slashed .277/.340/.490 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs in 77 games for the
Phillies this year. "I think it's always good for players to play winter
ball. Especially young players," Mackanin said on Saturday. "The more
experience you gain, the better off you're going to be. It makes you a better
player. You're going to learn from that." Mackanin speaks from experience,
having played for three teams across five seasons in the Venezuelan Winter
League. He first joined the league in 1973 as a shortstop for the Leones del
Caracas and later returned to manage the Aguilas del Zulia for two seasons,
guiding them to a Caribbean Series championship in 1989. He called his
experience a fruitful one -- even if he had fruit thrown at him from time to
time. "There's certainly a lot of pressure down there," Mackanin
said. "You learn how to deal with the pressure because having oranges
thrown at you and the occasional bottle when you make an error is a good
learning experience, as long as you don't get hurt." In addition to
dealing with the nuances of a different league -- Mackanin cited a higher
number of pitchers who rely on breaking balls -- he said players can benefit
from the leagues' high-energy atmosphere, which offers a taste of the tension
faced in the big leagues. "It's all about winning there," Mackanin
said. "There's no development. Win, and if you don't play well, you're
out. They get rid of you. So that pressure in itself is enough to help you
manage the pressure when you get to the big ones. It's valuable as far as I'm
concerned."
Third Time’s The Charm – Pete Mackanin has paid his dues. He's 64 years old and in
his 47th year of making a living in professional baseball. Is he about to get
his due? Mackanin is an interim manager at the big-league level for the third
time in his career, this time taking over the Philadelphia Phillies 75 games
into the season after Ryne Sandberg stepped down. Mackanin has never been a
full-time big-league manager, but perhaps the moment has finally arrived. The
Phillies lost 14 of the first 17 games Mackanin managed, but they are 24-20
since, and scouts have been impressed with the energy the Phillies have shown
on the field. Mackanin is one of four managers who took over a team in
mid-season this year. Craig Counsell's status was never in question. He was
given a three-year contract when he took over for Ron Roenicke as manager of
the Brewers, a team Counsell grew up around. His father worked on the business
side with the Brewers from 1979-87. Roenicke was fired after a 7-18 start that
came on the heels of the Brewers losing 25 of their final 34 games last season,
falling from first place in the National League Central to eight games out.
Miami interim manager Dan Jennings, meanwhile, is likely to return to the
general manager's job he held prior to being asked by Marlins owner Jeffrey
Loria to take over for ex-manager Mike Redmond after the Marlins' 16-22 start
to the season. Jennings initially lobbied to keep Redmond, but then relented
and took the job -- even though he had no professional managerial experience.
The Marlins are 40-57 since Jennings took over. Mackanin and Pat Murphy, who
replaced Bud Black in San Diego, figure to at least get serious consideration
to return next year, but no decisions have been made. Murphy is a former
college coach who was managing the Padres' Triple-A affiliate in El Paso when
Black was fired after a 32-33 start. The Padres are 33-36 since Murphy took
over. And then there is Mackanin, who had interim managerial opportunities with
the Pirates in 2005 and the Reds in '07. He took over for Lloyd McClendon after
a 55-81 start with the Bucs, and the team went 12-14 the rest of the season.
Jim Tracy was hired to take over full time in '06. A Reds team that was 31-51
under manager Jerry Narron to open 2007 went 41-37 under Mackanin, but Dusty
Baker was hired to manage the team in '08. Will Mackanin now get that chance to
be a big league manager without an interim title? Time will tell. First,
however, the Phillies will decide on how to restructure the front office. Andy
MacPhail will take over as team president in the off season. He has been
watching from afar, deciding -- among other things -- whether or not to retain
current general manager Ruben Amaro.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies have returned to their lackluster ways and regained their grip on last
place in the NL East with a record of 53-83. Given the departures, aging stars,
injuries, and bipolar performances this season, this could still end up
being the worst team in franchise history… at least that is something to hope
for this year! All time, the Phillies are 41-78-0 on this day.
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