GAME
RECAP: Phils Fluster Fish 4-3
Games are starting to run out on the Marlins' playoff
chances, and the Phillies are thoroughly happy to take on the role of spoiler
as they develop their own young talent. On Tuesday night, left-hander Adam
Morgan kept
Miami off stride, allowing one run in six innings, and Philadelphia held on for
a 4-3 victory at Marlins Park. Odubel Herrera had two hits, reached four times and
scored three runs for the Phillies, who have taken the first two games of the
series, while the Marlins dropped their fifth straight and 10 of 11. With 23
games remaining, the Marlins are struggling to stay in reach of the second
National League Wild Card spot, falling to six games behind St. Louis. "A
big part of it is catching a team when they're scuffling," said Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin. "[The Marlins] have been scuffling, and we took
advantage of it. These last two games reminds me of games we were winning early
in the season where we'd scuffle, scratch and claw and come out on top." Morgan
had lost nine straight decisions, the longest skid in the Majors this season,
and hadn't won since beating the Phillies on May 10. Herrera recorded his 33rd
multi-hit game of the season and 18th on the road. The sluggish Miami offense
came to life in the eighth inning. Ichiro
Suzuki belted
his first career pinch-hit home run, a two-run drive to right off reliever Hector
Neris. The Marlins threatened with two on and two out in
the inning before Neris struck out Jeff Francoeur. And they threatened again in the
ninth, putting runners on first and second with one out against closer Jeanmar
Gomez after
third baseman Maikel
Franco's throwing error. But Gomez ended the threat by
striking out Dee
Gordon looking. The Phillies scored twice off Jose
Urena in
the first inning, on Tommy
Joseph's sacrifice fly and Freddy
Galvis' RBI single. Herrera had a triple and scored on
Joseph's double, making it 3-0 in the third, and Galvis knocked in a run in the
fifth. "This team is grinding it out, it was big," said Morgan, who
came into the game getting an average of just 2.67 runs per nine innings of
support over his nine-game losing streak -- lowest of any NL starter. Adeiny Hechavarria had an RBI single off Morgan in the
fifth, and the Marlins received a boost in the inning when Giancarlo
Stanton, reinstated
on Tuesday after sustaining a Grade
3 left groin strain on Aug. 13, delivered a pinch-hit single. Stanton
immediately was removed for pinch-runner Robert
Andino, who was stranded.
PHILS PHACTS:
- For a team
with recent trouble scoring runs, the Phillies wasted little time getting
on the scoreboard. They put the first three batters of the game on base,
with two of them scoring. Cesar
Hernandez and
Herrera opened with consecutive singles before Franco drew a walk to load
the bases with no outs. Joseph followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring
Hernandez, and Galvis sent Herrera home with single to make it 2-0. "That
was huge," Mackanin said of the fast start. "It was nice to jump
out to a 2-0 start, and then we added on after that. But we still left 11
men on base. We had opportunities to score more runs and blow it wide
open, but we didn't." Urena was tagged for four runs in five innings.
"Early on, it didn't seem like we had a whole lot going on,"
Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "Jose, they got him early. He was
out of the zone, and it basically seemed like he was up more today than
we'd seen in the last couple of outings. More balls up in the zone, more
offspeed up in the zone, more unfavorable counts, things like that."
- In addition
to his contributions at the plate, Herrera made a nice running catch of a
long fly ball in center field off the bat of Jeff Francoeur in the second
inning that kept the Marlins off the scoreboard. That's because the next
batter, J.T.
Realmuto, lined what could have been an RBI double.
Instead it became just a two-out hit, and Realmuto was left stranded. "Defense
made some awesome plays behind me, helped me minimize the damage," a
grateful Morgan said.
- In his
remarkable career, Ichiro has collected 3,019 big league hits in 9,646
at-bats. On Tuesday night, the 42-year-old celebrated another first. When
he connected off Neris in the eighth inning, it was his first career
pinch-hit home run. Ichiro's drive over the wall in right field pulled
Miami to within 4-3. According to Statcast™,
the home run landed a projected 369 feet away with an exit velocity of 97
mph. It also was Ichiro's first home run of the season. Ichiro is now one
hit shy of matching Rafael Palmeiro (3,020) for 26th on MLB's all-time
list. "It gives us a little bit of life," Mattingly said.
"So that was obviously big for us."
NEXT
GAME:
Jeremy Hellickson (10-8, 3.88 ERA) takes the mound on
Wednesday at 7:10 p.m. ET to wrap up the series at Marlins Park. The
right-hander is looking to shake off his last two outings in which he gave up a
combined nine runs over 10 innings.
PHILS PHACTS:
Ending The Skid – It
was a long time coming, but Phillies starter Adam
Morgan got
just enough run support to come out a winner in Tuesday's 4-3
decision over the Marlins. The lefty went six
innings and gave up just one run on five hits. He struck out five, and for the
second consecutive outing, he did not walk a batter. Morgan came into the game
having lost nine consecutive decisions while posting a 6.72 ERA over his last
15 games, which included 13 starts and two relief appearances. It was the
longest losing streak in the Majors this season, and longest by a Phillies
pitcher in a single season since Kyle Abbott, who dropped 11 consecutive
decisions from April 10-July 6, 1992. Hugh Mulcahy holds the franchise record
for consecutive losses. He dropped 12 straight from Aug. 4-Sept. 23, 1940. Continuing
to develop a two-seam fastball, which Morgan began throwing upon his recall
from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, is making a big difference in his game. "The
two-seamer, the changeup and he's keeping the ball down better," said Phils
manager Pete Mackanin. "He needed to make a change and pitch differently
than he had in the past, and he's starting to do that." The new pitch is
paying dividends for Morgan, who said he still has some work to do with it. "It
definitely can get better, more consistent. For now, I'll take it," said
Morgan, who struggled with the idea of adding a new pitch mid-season.
"You've got to buy into it. You can't go into it half-hearted. It was one
of those things where I needed a pitch that goes away to righties and into
lefties that gets them to mis-hit it." What makes Morgan's big league
streak even more unusual is that upon being called up from Triple-A, Morgan had
a six-game win streak going. He allowed three runs or fewer in each of those
six starts with the IronPigs, and had a 2.72 ERA over that span. Morgan was
named International League Pitcher of the Week prior to his recall for the week
of Aug. 1-7, after going 2-0 with a 1.23 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 14 2/3
innings. "It's been the same game plan; keep it down, keep it
simple," said Morgan, whose game plan for the Marlins remained just as
simple. "Don't try to do anything too crazy. This is an aggressive team. I
just went out and executed." Morgan said he stayed focused through the
tough times as hard as that was at times. "I wouldn't say that I lost
confidence," he said. "It did get tough there for a while. But you
can't lose confidence; you can't lose belief in yourself. You do that and this
game will kick you out real fast." Besides, it hasn't been all on Morgan.
He'd only gotten 20 runs of support in 67 1/3 innings. That's 2.67 runs of
support per nine innings, the lowest for any National League starter. On
Tuesday, four runs were enough to give Morgan his first win since May 10.
Asher Returns – Phillies
utility player Darnell
Sweeney was
outrighted to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday, and it was made official after
Tuesday's 4-3 win that right-handed pitcher Alec
Asher will
take his place on the roster. Asher, just off an 80-game suspension for
performance-enhancing drug use, will get the start on Thursday when the
Phillies open a four-game series in Washington. The 24-year-old from Lakeland,
Fla., was a fourth-round pick by Texas in the 2012 Draft and acquired by the
Phillies as part of the Cole
Hamels trade.
With Phils starter Vince
Velasquez shut
down for the rest of the season and the team in need of arms to finish out the
year, Asher could be an option to fill that spot in the rotation. Asher
scuffled with the Phillies late last season, posting an 0-6 record with a 9.31
ERA in seven starts. He got a no-decision in the only game the Phillies won
during that span. Over 29 innings, Asher yielded 30 runs on 42 hits, including
eight homers. He struck out 16 and walked 10. Opposing batters hit .339 over
that stretch. In five Minor League seasons with the Rangers and Phils,
"The Big Cat," as the 6-foot-4, 230-pounder is also known, has put
together a 32-33 record with a 3.39 ERA. This season in the Minors, he went 4-2
with a 2.37 ERA, with 46 strikeouts and 10 walks over 64 2/3 innings. "I
haven't seen him," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I've heard
he's now throwing a very good two-seam fastball, which he didn't have last
year. I'm anxious to see him." Asher fills the 40-man roster spot opened
up when Sweeney was outrighted. Sweeney cleared waivers and will finish out the
season with the IronPigs, where he hit .232 in 443 plate appearances this
season. Sweeney was acquired by the Phils as part of the Chase
Utley trade,
but the 25-year-old struggled last season with the team, hitting just .176 in
37 games. He played second and third base, as well as all three outfield
positions. "He's got to hit, it's pretty simple," Mackanin said.
"Improve his defense. At this level you have to produce. Numbers matter
and he doesn't have numbers." Mackanin said that while Sweeney still
possesses great potential, it hasn't been realized yet. "At some point you
have to live up to your potential," Mackanin said.
Howard Nominated – Ryan
Howard's legacy is secure, both for his works on the
field with the Phillies and off the field in Philadelphia. Howard has been
nominated for Major League Baseball's Roberto
Clemente Award. The league announced
the 30 club nominees Tuesday for its annual recognition of a player who best
represents the game of baseball through extraordinary character, community
involvement, philanthropy and positive contributions, both on and off the
field. Each club nominates one player to be considered for the award in tribute
to Clemente's achievements and character by recognizing current players who
truly understand the value of helping others. Wednesday marks the 15th annual
Roberto Clemente Day, which MLB established to honor Clemente's legacy and to
officially acknowledge local club nominees of the Roberto Clemente Award. Clubs
playing at home on Wednesday will recognize their local nominees as part of
Roberto Clemente Day ceremonies. Visiting clubs will honor their nominees
before another September home game. Beginning on Roberto Clemente Day, fans are
encouraged to participate in the new process of selecting the winner of the
Roberto Clemente Award by posting any nominee's voting hashtags to MLB's
official social media accounts, @MLB on Twitter and Facebook.com/MLB. Howard's
hashtag is #VoteHoward. As part of the league-wide celebration, the Roberto
Clemente Day logo will appear on the bases and official dugout lineup cards,
and a special tribute video will be played in ballparks. The original
"Commissioner's Award" for philanthropic service was renamed in 1973
in honor of Clemente, the Hall of Famer and 15-time All-Star who died in a
plane crash on New Year's Eve 1972 while attempting to deliver supplies to
earthquake victims in Nicaragua. Howard's works in the community are almost too
numerous to mention. He and his wife, Krystle, created The Ryan Howard Big
Piece Foundation in 2013. The foundation focuses on "engaging children,
specifically those who lack athletic and educational opportunities, in the
fundamental area of literacy." Its first program, "The Ryan Howard
Reading Challenge," challenged students in a Philadelphia public school to
read 20 minutes a day, seven days a week. The program resulted in more than one
million minutes of reading by students, which Howard used as an incentive to
award the school a grant for a new reading room. The interactive,
baseball-themed room, dubbed "Howard's Homeroom," is filled with
books, computers and iPads for students to read, create and dream. Howard
raised $75,000 to provide the room by holding events on his off-days. Of
course, the new Phillies Urban Youth Academy was unveiled this summer in South
Philadelphia, and it was named the Ryan Howard Training Center. "It's been
our passion to give back to our community, especially when it relates to
baseball and education," Howard said in July. "It's an extreme honor
to be part of something we hope will help thousands and thousands of
kids." Ryan and Krystle wrote a children's book series called "Little
Rhino." Howard and Krystle invited students for a pregame "Little
Rhino Read-Along," where he and his teammates acted out scenes from one of
the books. The performance shared the joy of reading with K-5 grade students
and raised funds for The Phillies Urban Youth Academy. Ryan and the Phillies
will soon announce his significant and long-term commitment toward the
construction of the Academy's educational building. Ryan's reading program will
also be announced as a featured part of the curriculum.
Today
In Phils History – In a battle of the titans, the Phillies and Pirates
faced off on this day in 1901 with the Phillies having lost 10 in a row and the
Pirates having lost 9 (the Phillies won the game). 10 years later, in his
rookie year, Pete Alexander defeated 44 year old Cy Young who was playing his
last season in MLB. With a homerun off of Don Newcombe at Crosley Field in
1959, Wally Post had recorded at least 1 homerun in every NL park. Greg
Luzinski hit his 1st MLB homerun into the 500 level at the Vet on
this day in 1971. That same day, Mike Anderson appeared in the resumed portion
of the game which was started on August 1st and suspended in the 12th
inning… given the original start date of the contest this is considered his
first game despite appearing in 7 games the week prior. The following season
Steve Carlton defeated St. Louis for his 100th career win and 23rd
victory of the season setting a new franchise record for lefties… he also
brought his season strikeout total to 272 surpassing Jim Bunning's team mark of
268 set in 1965. In 1996, Scott Rolen is hit in the hand ending his season 1 at
bat shy of losing his rookie status… he would win rookie of the year the
following season. The next year, Expos shortstop Mark Grudzielanek hit his 49th
double of the year against the Phillies breaking the NL record set by Phillie
Dick Bartell in 1932. Finally, 1 notable MLB debut occurred on this day in 1980
when Marty Bystrom took the mound for the Phillies.
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 62-76 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 55-65-1 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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