GAME
RECAP: Phillies Sweep Diamondbacks 9-8
Pinch-hitter Tyler Goeddel drove in the go-ahead run in the top
of the 10th inning to lift the Phillies to a 9-8 win and a series sweep over
the D-backs at Chase Field on Wednesday afternoon. Peter Bourjos and Cody Asche had consecutive one-out singles
against Arizona reliever Silvino Bracho (0-2), who took the loss, followed by
Goeddel's sacrifice fly to deep right that put Philadelphia ahead for good. The
Phillies had a season-high 17 hits. "I can't say enough about the
guys," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "In Minnesota, San
Francisco and here, we just kept responding. When we gave up runs, we came back
and scored runs. It was a whole different team that left Philadelphia. It's
kind of like old times, but we are hitting better." After Arizona scored
three runs in the seventh to take a 7-4 lead, Philadelphia immediately
responded with four in the eighth, all of them charged to reliever Daniel Hudson, and
took an 8-7 lead on a sacrifice fly by Asche, who drove in three runs. The
D-backs tied it at 8 in the bottom of the inning on an infield RBI single by Jean Segura. "Coming
into the eighth inning with a three-run lead, that's just unacceptable for me
to give that up," Hudson said. "I need to get better, and I don't
know how it kind of just flipped the way it did, for me personally. I've been
put into some big situations and haven't performed well recently." Jeanmar Gomez (3-2)
earned the win in relief for the Phillies, who have won three straight for the
first time since May 12-14 and secured their first sweep since April 29-May 1. Cesar Hernandez collected four hits and Freddy Galvis added three, while Brett Oberholtzer worked the 10th for his first career
save. Jake Lamb homered and Michael Bourn had four hits for the D-backs, who lost
their fifth game in a row and fell to 13-28 at home this season. D-backs
starter Archie Bradley allowed three runs on eight hits in
six innings, posting his third quality start in six outings this month.
Phillies starter Zach Eflin also went six innings, allowing four
runs (three earned) on six hits. Neither starter factored into the decision. "I
think it was important on this road trip to kind of take a deep breath, get
away from the home ballpark a little bit and get some different views,"
Asche said. "Get the offense rolling and hopefully, we can keep that going
into July and into the All-Star break, and we'll see where we go from
there."
PHILS PHACTS:
- Eflin pitched in with a big hit -- a double -- in the top
of the fifth. The hit was the first of his Major League career. He later
scored on a double by Asche to cut Arizona's lead to 4-3. "I finally
got that first one," Eflin said. "That was a good feeling. It
was 0-2, and I put a good swing on it. It was a lot of fun."
- One of the hottest hitters in baseball, Bourjos scored the
game-winning run and finished 2-for-5 in the series finale at Chase Field.
He racked up six hits in the series, including the crucial one-out single
in the 10th inning and a two-run home run in the first inning.
- "He was told that this was a big year for him, and he has to
do something to show us that he deserves to be with us in the future, and
he's certainly making a good effort and he looks much better at the plate.
Everybody is fighting for jobs, and they want to prove that they want to
be here in the future." -- Mackanin, on Asche.
- Hellickson is 1-2 with a 5.45 ERA in six starts -- a
span of 33 innings -- against the Royals in his career. He's struck out 25
and walked nine.
- Kennedy is seeking back-to-back wins for the third time
this year.
NEXT
GAME:
The Phillies' record
only tells part of the story of their season. Yes, the club is coming off its
first series win since May, but the pitching staff has thrown nine shutouts
this season, the most in the Major Leagues this season. Peter Bourjos has been
the hottest hitter in baseball during the last few weeks, and the team's
offense ranks among Major League leaders in extra-base hits, average, slugging,
OPS and runs since it went on the road on June 21. Now, the Phillies are coming
home after nine games on the road. After Thursday's day off, the Philllies will
send Jeremy Hellickson, who allowed just one earned run in six innings Saturday
at AT&T Park, to the mound against Ian Kennedy and the Royals in the first
of three games at Citizens Bank Park on Friday. Kennedy struck out 11 while
giving up three hits, one walk and one run against the Astros in his last
outing.
PHILS PHACTS:
Road Trip MVP – Phillies
outfielder Peter Bourjos returned to Arizona and hit like he
owned the place. The veteran has been feeling comfortable on the road a lot
lately. Bourjos finished 2-for-5 and scored the game-winning run in the 10th
inning in the Phillies' 9-8 victory that completed a sweep in the series
finale at Chase Field on Wednesday. The Phillies won five of the nine games on
the road trip, and Bourjos is a big reason why. "Bourjos was probably the
MVP of our trip," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "The guy just
turned it on and started playing like an All-Star." Overall, the
outfielder racked up six hits in the series against the D-backs, including a
two-run home run in the first inning to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. He
hustled out an infield single with the game tied at 8 in the 10th and scored
the deciding run on a sacrifice fly to right field by Tyler Goeddel.
"I think the hitters are having better at-bats, and the pitchers are doing
a good job of keeping us in games," Bourjos said. "You can really see
the offense starting to take shape, and a lot of guys are starting to feel
comfortable in the box and figure some things out." Bourjos finished the
nine-game road trip with 17 hits in 36 at-bats. He's hitting .471 with three
doubles, two triples, two home runs and eight RBIs in 17 games since June 12.
It's been quite a turnaround. He was hitting .192 with a .501 OPS in 161 plate
appearances through June 11. He's also raised his batting average to .262. "I
think I was trying to do too much," Bourjos said. "I'm starting to
realize that you don't have to swing hard to hit the ball hard." Bourjos,
who was claimed off of waivers last December, grew up near Chase Field in
Scottsdale, Ariz. He said most of his family was in attendance for Wednesday's
game, including his father Chris Bourjos, who sat among the baseball officials
behind home plate taking notes. "I live here in the winter time,"
Bourjos said. "My dad is a scout and the Diamondbacks are one of his teams
he has to cover, so he matched up against us, of course."
See You In 2017 – The
season is over for Phillies right-handed pitching prospect Mark Appel. Appel,
ranked No. 4 on the Phils' Top 30 Prospects list,
underwent a season-ending surgery to remove a posterior bone spur in his right
elbow Wednesday in Philadelphia, according to the club. The recovery period is
four to six months. Appel is expected to make a full recovery, and he should be
ready for Spring Training. With Houston, Appel went 16-11 with a 5.12 ERA in 54
appearances (53 starts) in the Minor Leagues, including a 4.48 ERA in 12 starts
last season with Triple-A Fresno. He was acquired by Philadelphia on Dec. 12 in
the seven-player deal that sent Ken Giles to Houston. This season, Appel went
3-3 with a 4.46 ERA in 38 1/3 innings for Triple-A Lehigh Valley, with 34
strikeouts and 20 walks. Appel, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 Draft by the Astros,
was placed on the disabled list at Triple-A with a right shoulder strain on May
27. Then, the issue with the elbow surfaced as he began his throwing
progression while recovering from the shoulder injury. The club said Appel's
shoulder is fine.
Today
In Phils History – 80 years before Mike Lieberthal made his MLB debut
with the Phillies another catcher was in the news as, in 1914, the
federal appeals court ruled that catcher Bill Killefer was allowed to stay with
the Phillies ending a long court battel with the Federal League. In 1932, Chuck
Klein set the MLB record for the most homeruns by the end of June, 24,
following a 2 homerun performance. 6 years later, the Phillies lost their final
game at the Baker Bowl. Vice President Richard Nixon attended a Phillies game
at Shibe Park on this day in 1960 as part of a fundraising campaign for the
Presidency. In an interesting piece of franchise history, on this day in 1967,
catcher Cookie Rojas was brought in to pitch the 9th inning of a
Giants blowout which resulted in Rojas having played at least 1 game at every
position for the Phillies during his career. 20 years later, Steve Bedrosian
picked up his 13th consecutive save on his way to the Cy Young award. In 2004,
Jim Thome hit his 15th homerun of the month setting a new franchise record
for June and tying the overall record set in 1923 by Cy Williams (it was also
the 44th homerun by the Phillies that month setting a new team record).
Three years later, J.A. Happ made his MLB debut with the Phillies. And,
finally, happy birthday to Chan Ho Park (1973) and Cody Asche (1990).
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 35-45 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 49-57-2 on this day. I expect
the Phillies to finish in the bottom half of the division but not last in the
NL East by finishing the season with a 77-85 record.
No comments:
Post a Comment