GAME
RECAP: Dodgers Down Phillies 7-2
Chase Utley had no home runs, grand slams or
curtain calls on Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. But the Dodgers still
rolled to a 7-2 win over the Phillies -- extending their lead in the National
League West to 1 1/2 games over the Giants. Adrian Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to right field
in the fourth inning and a two-run blast to right in the seventh to lead the
way. Justin Turner added a two-run homer to left-center
in the fifth. "The length of the lineup is impressive right now," Turner
said. "We're a tough lineup to pitch to one through eight. Anyone can hit
a ball over the fence and do some damage. It's fun going up there knowing you
can hang a crooked number every inning." The Dodgers have scored 22 runs
in the first two games of this series. They've done so on seven home runs,
including two-homer games from Utley on Tuesday and Gonzalez on Wednesday. "Adrian's
been under the radar," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. "But
tonight, huge night. Two homers, drove in five. … Good things are
happening." The Dodgers also worked out of a jam in the sixth, when the
Phillies loaded the bases with none out. Left-hander Grant Dayton got three consecutive flyouts to end
the inning. Right-hander Jake Thompson pitched just five innings as Phillies
starters have logged fewer than six innings in eight consecutive games, tying a
franchise record. "Just kind of lost the feel for working down in the zone
and both sides of the plate," Thompson said. "That's not a good
problem to have against those guys."
PHILS PHACTS:
- Thompson
threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of the 24 batters he faced, which
tells the story of his night. He allowed five hits, five runs, four walks
and two home runs as he fell to 1-2 with an 8.79 ERA in his first three
big league starts. "Young pitchers tend to overthrow and try to make
perfect pitches," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Once you
gain that poise and composure, you start understanding how important it is
to locate those pitches. It's hard to make the perfect pitch."
- The rookie hit his 16th homer, a solo shot into the
upper deck in left field in the sixth. Phillies first basemen have 31
homers this season, which is tied with the Indians for the most in
baseball. "Tommy hit that ball in the upper deck, which was nice to
see," Mackanin said. "I wish the bases were loaded on that at
the time. We swung the bats well. We just didn't come through in the
clutch."
- "It was a baserunning mistake. If you're on third base and
you're not going to go because it would have been too close ... you stay
heads up and the minute you see that ball go to second base, you score. He
just shut it down a little bit early." --Mackanin, on Franco not scoring on a flyout to right in the
sixth, when Dodgers right fielder Reddick threw to second on the play.
- Cesar Hernandez has reached
base safely in 23 consecutive games. He has hit .348 with a .464 on-base
percentage in that stretch. It is the longest on-base streak by a Phillies
player since Darin Ruf reached
safely in 33 games from Sept. 25, 2012, to Aug. 6, 2013.
- The Phillies challenged a call with two out in the ninth inning,
when Odubel Herrera appeared to beat a throw to first from Utley. First-base
umpire Jerry Meals had ruled Herrera out, but the call was overturned
after a brief review.
- Jake Thompson was unable to complete six innings on
Wednesday and the Phillies tied a franchise record. It was the eighth
consecutive game their starter didn't pitch six innings and the first time
it's happened since 1999.
- Cesar Hernandez has reached safely in 23 straight games
for the longest streak by a Phillies hitter this season. Peter Bourjos
reached safely in 22 straight games from June 16 to July 15. Over the
streak, Hernandez is hitting .356 (32-for-90), including his first home
run of the stretch on Tuesday.
- Stripling has had quite a bit more success in his
limited action out of the bullpen. He made three long-relief appearances
in July, posting a 1.54 ERA over 11 2/3 innings. In his 10 starts,
Stripling has a 4.61 ERA.
NEXT
GAME:
Dodgers right-hander Ross Stripling will square off against
Phillies righty Jerad Eickhoff on Thursday in the finale of a three-game series
at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies should be happy to see the Dodgers leave
town, as they've managed just one win in five games against Los Angeles this
season. Dodgers second baseman Chase Utley likely won't harbor similar
feelings. He has mashed against his former team since homering in his first
at-bat against the Phillies in Los Angeles. In his return to Philadelphia,
Utley hit two home runs, including a grand slam, to cap an eight-run seventh
inning on Tuesday night. Utley and Frank Thomas are the only players to homer
twice in their first games back in a city where they previously hit 200 or more
home runs. Thursday's finale will be the sixth and final meeting between the
clubs this season. The Dodgers have taken full advantage of a rebuilding
Phillies club since its last postseason appearance in 2011. Los Angeles has won
12 of its 15 games at Citizens Bank Park dating to the start of 2012.
Additionally, the Phillies have dropped 10 of their last 13 to the Dodgers and
six of their last seven. Stripling (3-4, 4.07 ERA) will make his third start
since transitioning from the bullpen back into the rotation. Eickhoff (8-12,
3.82) shut out the Rockies for five innings, but gave up three runs in a sixth
inning where he only recorded two outs in his last start.
PHILS PHACTS:
Rotational
Shortcomings – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin answered a question about his
bullpen on Wednesday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park, when he quickly segued
into a discussion about the rotation. "We just need our starters to get
out of that rut where we're not getting six, seven, eight innings," he
said before a 7-2 loss to the Dodgers. "We're trying to
develop nine-inning pitchers. But it has not happened like the Phillies had
hoped, particularly lately. Rookie Jake Thompson yielded five hits, five runs,
four walks and two home runs in five innings in his third big league start. He
threw first-pitch strikes to just 10 of 24 batters as he fell to 1-2 with an
8.79 ERA. "He's 22 years old and made some mistakes," Mackanin said
of the Phillies' No. 5prospect.
"The interesting thing is that he doesn't walk that many people, but he's
got nine walks in [14 1/3] innings. I attribute that to the fact he's 22 years
old and his first go around at the big league level. Pitching is all about
repeating your mechanics and making good pitches. In time, he'll get
there." Mackanin said Thompson simply might be trying to impress too much,
trying to follow up an impressive run at Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he went
8-0 with a 1.21 ERA in his final 11 starts with the IronPigs. "I wouldn't
say I'm trying to impress," Thompson said. "I'm just trying to get
outs regardless of who I'm facing. Just trying to be too fine, falling behind,
especially to those guys in the middle of the lineup. That's a terrible place
to be." Phillies starters have pitched fewer than six innings in eight consecutive
games, tying a franchise record last done in 1999. They also have not thrown
seven or more innings in a game since July 26 in Miami, when Jerad
Eickhoff gave
up one run in seven innings. That is 19 consecutive games without a starter
pitching seven innings. Phillies starters have a 7.05 ERA in that stretch,
falling short of logging six innings 16 times. "We have to get it going
and get back on track and pounding the strike zone, getting ahead early and
running the counts deep, and getting outs early in the counts," Mackanin
said. The Phillies' rotation looked pretty good early in the season, but the
past few weeks have been quite a contrast. Aaron
Nola will
finish the season on the 60-day disabled list with an injured right elbow. Zach
Eflin might
not pitch again this season because of knee issues. Vince
Velasquez has
struggled recently, posting a 7.24 ERA in his last five starts. Thompson, who
is the No. 67 overall prospect according to MLBPipeline.com, has not
pitched more than five innings in his three starts. "Mentally I'm
fine," Thompson said. "It's kind of how pitching goes. Every now and
then you struggle with stuff. I dealt with it in Lehigh. I had a terrible first
month of the season, partially due to the same thing -- erratic fastball command.
We'll get in the bullpen and get it ironed out."
Nola
Done – Aaron Nola's season
is finished. The Phillies announced on Wednesday they've placed Nola on the
60-day disabled list with an injured right elbow to make room on the 40-man
roster for right-hander Frank Herrmann. The
Phils promoted Herrmann from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace left-hander Elvis Araujo, who
was optioned to the IronPigs. "I'm pretty confident right now that
everything is going to heal correctly, and by Spring Training, I should be good
to go," Nola said. But Nola's recovery is not entirely certain. Dr. James
Andrews examined Nola on Monday in Alabama. The righty has a low-grade sprain
of his UCL and a low-grade strain of his flexor pronator tendon. "At this
time nobody is talking about surgery," Phillies general manager Matt
Klentak said. Nola also received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection on
Monday, and he will not throw for four weeks to allow the PRP injection to
work. "We'll ramp him back up at that point to see how he responds,"
Klentak said. If everything goes well, Nola is expected to be ready by Spring
Training. If he does not respond, what is the next step? "We haven't gone
down that road yet," Klentak said. "Right now, nobody is suggesting
that surgery is the way to go on this, and we feel good about the fact that
there's a consensus among all the doctors that have seen him." Nola
finished 6-9 with a 4.78 ERA in 20 starts this season, and he went 1-5 with a
9.82 ERA in his final eight starts. Interestingly, Nola said he does not think
the injured elbow had much to do with his recent struggles. "I think it
was unrelated," Nola said. "Before the last game, everything felt
good. My arm felt good. I don't think this had to do with any of the previous
starts before then. Just overall my body felt really good leading up to that.
It was just something that happened. ... I had some real bumps in the road
there. But I want to learn from those, I want to learn from the challenges I
had. The experiences that didn't go well, I want to learn from them and kind of
build on those." The Phillies have used this season to look at their young
starters. The results have been mixed. Jerad Eickhoff has been steady, but Nola struggled
mightily before landing on the DL. Zach Eflin has patellar tendinopathy in his knees
and it is unclear if he will pitch again this season. His results have varied. Vince Velasquez dominated
early, but he has a 7.24 ERA in his last five starts and has struggled recently
to pitch deep into games. Velasquez's workload is being monitored closely. He
said he could make "three or four more starts" before the end of the
season. Klentak said the Phillies do not have a specific day targeted as his
final start. "More than anything it reinforces the position that we've
taken for most of the last year about the importance of starting pitching
depth," Klentak said about the rotation's performance. "For four
months, this team's starting rotation was about as healthy as any starting
rotation in baseball, and for the last two, three weeks it's been something
less than that. That's kind of the nature of our game." Expect the
Phillies to make a qualifying offer to Jeremy Hellickson after the season. If he accepts, they
will have at least one veteran in the rotation. If he rejects the offer, expect
them to pursue at least one more veteran starter. "We need to figure some
more things out," Klentak said. "It's fairly reasonable to expect
that every offseason we'll be looking to add starting pitching depth. There's a
lot of different ways to skin that cat. But I think realistically this
offseason will be no different than any other."
Crawford
Dealing With Injury – Phillies top prospect J.P. Crawford remains sidelined with
an injured oblique, but it probably will not affect his chances of being
promoted to the big leagues before the end of the season. Crawford, 21, has not
played since Aug. 9 after tweaking the oblique while making an acrobatic play
in the field for Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He is hitting .258 with nine doubles,
one triple, three home runs, 25 RBIs and a .681 OPS in 306 plate appearances with
the IronPigs. "J.P. is day to day," Phillies general manager Matt
Klentak said on Wednesday. "I expect he'll be back in the lineup in Lehigh
sometime in the next couple of days. He's been playing catch. He's been hitting
off a tee. He's been doing a lot of work on the side. We're just trying to be a
little careful with him and make sure he doesn't re-aggravate it." Crawford
is the No. 3 prospect in baseball, according to
MLBPipeline.com. He could be the Phillies' everyday shortstop as early as next
season, but the Phils might not promote him until 2017 because of 40-man roster
considerations. The Phillies have to protect multiple prospects before this
year's Rule 5 Draft. The list includes 12 of their Top 30 prospects, according
to MLBPipeline.com: Nick
Williams (No.
3), Dylan Cozens (No. 7), Mark
Appel (No.
11), Andrew Knapp (No. 12), Ricardo Pinto (No. 16), Nick
Pivetta (No.
18), Elniery Garcia (No. 20), Malquin Canelo (No. 22), Carlos Tocci (No. 23), Ben
Lively (No.
24), Jose Pujols (No. 27) and Alberto
Tirado (No.
29). There are others not on that list, too. Crawford does not have to be
protected yet, so keeping him off the 40-man roster until next year would allow
Philadelphia to protect an additional prospect it feels is at risk of being
selected in the Rule 5 Draft.
Today
In Phils History – In his 1886 debut, Charles Ferguson gets the win
over Boston and go on to collect 12 more victories and 4 ties in 16 games. 20
years later, Kitty
Bransfield hit an inside-the-park grand slam against St. Louis. In 1909, Arlie
Latham became the oldest player in MLB history to walk and steal a base when
the Giants inserted the coach into the lineup against the Phillies. In 1960, the
Braves Lew Burdette threw a no hitter against the Phillies with only Tony
Gonzalez reaching base when he was hit by a pitch in the 5th inning.
Larry Bowa hit his 1st MLB homerun on this day in 1972… he had
amassed 1,745 plate appearances before hitting the inside the park homerun at
the Vet. Steve Carlton and Tom Seaver faced off for the last time in 1981 with
Seaver, once again getting the victory and improving his head to head record to
12-2. In 1990, Tommy Greene made his Phillies debut. 5 years later, the
Phillies sent 4 Kevins to the plate against the Giants (Stocker, Elster, Flora,
and Jordan). 2 years later, for only the 2nd time in franchise
history, the Phillies hit 2 grand slams in the same game as Mike Lieberthal and
Billy McMillon both connected against the Giants. Lieberthal once again etched
his name in Phillies history on this day in 2006 when he caught his 1,125th
game passing Red Dooin as the all-time leader in games caught and celebrated
the milestone by throwing out 2 baserunners and connecting for a homerun in a
loss to the Nationals.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 56-65 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 44-62-0 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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