GAME
RECAP: Rockies Rock Phillies 11-2
National League Final Vote candidate Trevor Story launched his 20th and 21st home runs
to tie the NL rookie record before the All-Star break, and his four RBIs led
the Rockies to an 11-2 victory over the Phillies at Coors Field on Thursday
night. Dave Kingman (1972) and Albert Pujols (2001) also hit 21 before the All-Star
break as rookies. Story has three more games against the Phillies to eclipse
that number. "It's good to see him swinging the bat," Rockies manager
Walt Weiss said. "He really hit those two balls tonight. He had a great
at-bat with the walk. He's done that a few times here recently. Unbelievable
first half. What a way to start the career." The Rockies jumped on the
board early, scoring in four of Phillies starter Adam Morgan's five
frames. Nolan Arenado hit an RBI double in the first and Mark Reynolds homered to lead off the second before
Story hit a three-run homer in the third and a solo shot in the fifth. Colorado
added five more in the seventh off Edubray Ramos on
singles by DJ LeMahieu and Brandon Barnes and a three-run double by Reynolds. Rockies
starter Chad Bettis had his best start and second quality
start since May 17. He held the Phillies to two runs on seven hits over 6 2/3
innings with five strikeouts and one walk. Ryan Howard homered off him to right-center in the
second and drove in Maikel Franco two innings later on a single to left.
"I think all-around it was a great team win," Bettis said.
"Honestly, I think we got our offense back and for the most part did our
job as a pitching staff. I think I could've been a little bit better in the
sense of executing a couple pitches to Howard, but that's part of
baseball."
PHILS PHACTS:
- Morgan hardly
had an easy assignment, rejoining the rotation at Coors as the team skipped Aaron
Nola's turn to give him a mental break. Morgan
allowed nine hits, six runs and three homers in five innings. He has
allowed 16 homers in 66 1/3 innings. His 2.17 home runs per nine inning
rate is second in baseball among pitchers with at least 60 innings, behind
only Kansas City's Chris
Young (3.90
homers per nine innings). The Phillies optioned him to Triple-A Lehigh
Valley after the game. "Lately, it hasn't been fun," Morgan
said. "I've been putting a lot of pressure on myself. And this break
coming up, I feel like will be good. And also going down there and being
able to work on things and not feel so much pressure ... like I said, it
can only go up from here."
- Howard had one of his finest moments at Coors, hitting a two-out
double to score two runs in the ninth inning in Game 4 of the 2009 NL
Division Series. The hit tied the game as the Phillies took the lead one
batter later. Howard homered in the second inning Thursday for his 369th
career homer, moving him into 78th place on the all-time list with Ralph
Kiner and Todd Helton.
- The Phillies are expected to activate right-hander
Andrew Bailey from the disabled list Friday. He has been on the 15-day
disabled list since June 23 with a strained left hamstring.
- Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard homered Thursday. He
entered the series hitting .306 (44-for-144) with nine doubles, one
triple, nine home runs, 31 RBIs and a .936 OPS in 36 career games,
including the postseason, at Coors.
- Rockies center fielder Charlie Blackmon entered
Thursday hitting .318 since coming off the DL on April 29.
NEXT
GAME:
Rockies shortstop
Trevor Story will know if he has made the National League All-Star team as the
winner of the Final Vote a few hours before Friday night's game against the
Phillies at Coors Field. Story entered Friday narrowly in third place behind
the Pirates' Starling Marte and the Giants' Brandon Belt in a close race.
Either way, Story will face Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez (7-2, 3.34
ERA). Velasquez missed much of June because of a strained right biceps, but he
has more wins this season than any Phillies pitcher had in 2015. Velasquez
duels Rockies right-hander Jon Gray (5-4, 4.81). He is 3-0 with a 5.05 ERA at
home, and it's his first time facing the Phillies.
PHILS PHACTS:
Back
Up, Back Down – Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan emerged from Pete Mackanin's office
nearly 40 minutes after the final out of Thursday's 11-2 loss to the Rockies at Coors Field. Morgan
had just been optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, but he also had a long talk
with Mackanin and pitching coach Bob McClure about everything that has gone
wrong this season and everything that needs to go right to have another
opportunity to pitch with the Phillies. Morgan allowed nine hits, six runs and
three home runs in five innings and fell to 1-7 with a 6.65 ERA. "It was
the truth and I needed to hear it," Morgan said. "They shot me
straight, which is all you can ask for as a player. My point of view right now
is I can only go up from here." Morgan has allowed 16 home runs in 66 1/3
innings. His 2.17 home runs per nine innings average is second in baseball
among pitchers with at least 60 innings, behind only Kansas City's Chris Young (3.90 homers per nine innings). It
also is more than half a homer more than he averaged last season, when he went
5-7 with a more respectable 4.48 ERA in 16 starts. "I've been making a lot
of mistakes," Morgan said. "I haven't been making any excuses, but I
just need to get better." He also needs to clear his mind. "Lately,
it hasn't been fun," Morgan said. "I've been putting a lot of
pressure on myself. And this break coming up, I feel like will be good. And
also going down there and being able to work on things and not feel so much
pressure … like I said, it can only go up from here." Morgan's season has
not gone according to plan. He pitched well in Spring Training, but narrowly
lost the No. 5 starter's competition to Vince Velasquez,
who is 7-2 with a 3.34 ERA. Morgan started the season in Triple-A, but joined
the rotation in April when Charlie Morton suffered
a season-ending hamstring injury. He struggled and got bumped to the bullpen
late last month when Velasquez rejoined the rotation after spending some time
on the disabled list. Morgan got the call to pitch in place of Aaron Nola, whose turn in the rotation got
skipped Thursday in an effort to clear his mind after his own recent struggles.
Morgan will join the IronPigs' rotation. He hopes to remain a starter, although
he acknowledges he is open to anything if it means an opportunity in the big
leagues. Morgan has some people rooting for him. In fact, Mackanin explained
why he and McClure had such an unusually long postgame conversation with him. "Bob
McClure and I really like this guy," Mackanin said. "We know he's a
fighter. We know how much it means to him. He's sincere and dedicated and he's
a very likable guy. We're trying to give him as much positive reinforcement,
but at the same time let him know what he needs to do to become
successful." Phillies right-hander Andrew Bailey is expected to be activated before
Friday's game, taking Morgan's spot on the roster. He has been on the DL since
late last month with a strained left hamstring.
Bullpen
Boost – The Phillies have at least a couple of roster moves coming this
weekend. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said before Thursday night's 11-2 loss
to the Rockies at Coors Field that he expects right-hander Andrew Bailey to be activated from the 15-day
disabled list before Friday night's game. Bailey has been on the DL since June
23 with a strained left hamstring. Left-hander Daniel Stumpf is expected to be activated Sunday. He
is finishing an 80-game suspension for testing positive for a
performance-enhancing drug that first gained notoriety with East German
athletes in the 1960s. "I don't think the players, I don't think they're
going to be standoff-ish to him," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
"He said he didn't know he was taking anything, so you've got to give him
the benefit of the doubt. It's not like he knew that he was cheating on
purpose. I don't see any issues there. Maybe I'm wrong." Asked if he feels
for a player that will lose his job to Stumpf, knowing he tested positive for
PEDs, Mackanin said, "Once again, I have to assume that he didn't know
anything. If I knew for a fact that he consciously did that … I wouldn't be
happy with it. But I give him the benefit of the doubt."
Where’s
Kevin Millar? – Carlos Ruiz loves the cowboy lifestyle. He owns a
ranch with horses and cattle back in his native Panama, and anybody that has
seen his Instagram account (carlos_ruiz_rios) has seen his affinity for horses
and cowboy attire. That passion prompted him to purchase cowboy hats for the
Phillies to wear on their trip Wednesday from Philadelphia to Denver. Teammates
posted numerous photos of their getups to social media. "It was a great
day," Ruiz said before Thursday's 11-2 loss against the Rockies at Coors
Field. "We played real good baseball [in a 4-3 victory over Atlanta]. It
was a hell of a game. Then everybody was happy wearing the cowboy hats. It was
something different. We try to get everybody to relax, you know? Everybody
enjoyed it." Ruiz got a cowboy hat during the team's recent trip to
Arizona, which triggered the idea to have everybody wear them. "Other guys
were saying that they liked it," Ruiz said. Ruiz asked Phillies
left-hander Adam Morgan if he should buy one for everybody.
Morgan said yes. Ruiz later approached manager Pete Mackanin to see if he would
wear one. "I don't like clown hats," Mackanin said. "I don't
want that stuff." But cowboy hats are cool, so he agreed to wear one. Ruiz
also asked Mackanin about relaxing the dress code for the flight. Team
personnel have to wear dress shirts and dress pants when flying, but, hey,
cowboys wear jeans, right? So Mackanin gave everybody the OK to wear jeans,
tying the ensemble together nicely. Of course, it was just a normal outfit for
Ruiz, who occasionally rides horses in the offseason. "When I retire, I'll
have plenty of time to do that every day," Ruiz said.
Today
In Phils History – In 1898, Red Donahue threw the 2nd no
hitter in franchise history. When Gavvy Cravath was named as, the recently
fired, Jack Coombs replacement at the helm in 1919 the players staged a near
mutiny. 5 year later, the Phillies split a 26 inning double header against Cincinnati
without committing a single error. In 1934, Euel Moore became the only member
of the Chickasaw Nation to appear in MLB pitching the Phillies to victory.
Schoolboy Rowe, being the last player to enter the All Star game for the NL in
1947 became the first player to appear in the mid-summer classic for both
leagues. 5 years later, Curt Simmons leads the NL to victory in the All Star
game in front of his home crowd. In 1992, hits his 3rd pinch hit
homerun of the year tying the Phillies rookie record. During a rain delay in
Colorado in 2007, the entire Phillies bench assisted the ground crew in
covering the field during the windy storm the karma from which helped in their
victory once the game resumed. 4 years later, Juan Perez struck out the side in
the 10th inning on 9 pitches becoming the first player to achieve the
extra inning feat since 1923.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 40-47 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 44-51-0 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.
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