Phillies Fall To Cardinals In Extra Innings

GAME RECAP: Cards Outlast Phils 4-3

Randal Grichuk does not want to get sent back to the Minors -- and he's playing like it. Jhonny Peralta led off the 11th inning by hammering a double into left. An out later, Grichuk followed with a two-bagger of his own, driving home Peralta and giving the Cardinals a 4-3 lead that St. Louis top prospect -- per MLBPipeline.com -- Alex Reyes closed out in the bottom half of the inning on Friday at Citizens Bank Park, earning his first career save. The win was the Cardinals' fifth in a row and gave them a two-game lead over Pittsburgh for the second National League Wild Card spot. The double was Grichuk's third hit of the game. He finished a triple shy of the cycle after homering down the left-field line in the second and adding a single in the fifth. He's hit safely in all seven games he's played in since being recalled from Triple-A Memphis, driving in nine in that span. "We all know what he's capable of doing," Cardinals second baseman Jedd Gyorko said. "He's just got to get a little more consistent. As far as talent or stuff like that, you're not going to find someone with more talent than what he's got. He's just going to keep getting better and better. He's gonna be a guy we rely on going down the stretch here." Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez allowed a two-run, game-tying blast off the bat of Gyorko in the ninth inning to blow his fourth save of the year and erase a stellar outing from Adam Morgan, who outdueled Adam Wainwright, tossing six innings of one-run ball. Odubel Herrera and Freddy Galvis led off the sixth with back-to-back blasts to open up a 3-1 Phillies lead off Wainwright. The dingers followed Wainwright's complaint about the mound condition after he slipped delivering a pitch to Herrera. He wasn't the same after the grounds crew manicured the mound. After the homers, Wainwright issued walks to Aaron Altherr and Ryan Howard but he escaped, erasing Altherr on a double play and Howard on a caught-stealing. "We just didn't capitalize on scoring opportunities," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We had our chances. A man on third base with less than two outs twice. We couldn't get him in. We couldn't make contact." Overcoming home runs and mound troubles, Wainwright tossed his first quality start after four tries. He got back on track with six innings of three-run ball against the Phillies after having given up six and seven runs, respectively, in his last two starts. "I'm still not where I want to be," Wainwright said. "I'm patiently, slash, impatiently waiting on my good stuff to come. I know it will come. But today was significantly better than last time out for sure."

PHILS PHACTS: 

• Mackanin said before the game that Morgan "has to start doing something" to keep a job in the big leagues, pointing to his 1-7 record and 6.62 ERA heading into the game. Morgan delivered, and he allowed two or fewer runs in six or more innings for the first time in nine starts, dating to May 21 against Atlanta. "I don't really want to look at it that way," Morgan said, asked if he considers these final few weeks make-or-break for him. "I just want to take advantage of the opportunity. I feel like once you start looking back, like, 'Oh, gosh, I've really got to do good here to stay in the big leagues,' I feel like the mind wanders. It's pretty simple. I'm trying to take advantage of the opportunity and give the team a chance to win every time I go out." 
• Gomez has been one of the Phillies' best stories of the season, beginning the season as a middle reliever only to become their closer in early April. He entered the game having saved 32 games in 35 opportunities, but he could not put away Gyorko in an eight pitch at-bat in the ninth. "He hung a split to Gyorko," Mackanin said. "It was center cut. He's been so good for us this whole year. He's been very good for us. I can't fault him."
• Dating back to Aug. 5, the Phillies have homered in 13 consecutive games for the first time since homering in 14 straight games from May 27-June 9, 2013. The team has 19 homers in those 13 games.
• Tommy Joseph, pinch-hitting for Howard, ripped a ball into the left-center-field gap off Kevin Siegrist in the eighth inning and stretched a single into a double, at least initially, after he was called safe on Grichuk's throw. The Cardinals challenged, and after a two-and-a-half minute review, the call was overturned. "It was so close," Joseph said. "I felt myself hit the bag with Kolten [Wong] tagging right away. That was a tough play."
• Matheny challenged for a second time in the ninth inning on a tailor-made double-play ball. The Phillies didn't turn two, but Matheny challenged that Emmanuel Burriss's foot came off second. It did not, the umpires confirmed.
• The Phillies challenged a call that Stephen Piscotty was hit by a pitch in the 10th inning, but the replay official confirmed the call.

NEXT GAME:

Right-hander Jeremy Hellickson (9-7, 3.65 ERA) returns to the mound Saturday at 7:05 p.m. ET against the Cardinals after tweaking his back Aug. 10 at Dodger Stadium. Hellickson had been scheduled to pitch this Wednesday against the Dodgers in Philadelphia, but the Phillies pushed back his start a few days to make sure his back was healthy. He said it is.

PHILS PHACTS:

Making His Case – Pete Mackanin did not mince words Friday afternoon when asked if Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan needed to prove he belongs in the big leagues. "That might be a question that doesn't need to be asked," the manager said. "Darn right, he has to do something." Mackanin pointed to Morgan's 1-7 record and 6.62 ERA entering Friday night's 4-3 loss in 11 innings to the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. Morgan lost a Spring Training competition to be the team's fifth starter, but when he was promoted in April to replace Charlie Morton, who suffered a season-ending groin injury, he struggled. He recently rejoined the rotation to replace Zach Eflin, who had season-ending knee surgery Friday. "He has to start doing something," Mackanin said. "One and seven with a six ERA is not good. I think he's better than that, but he has to start showing it. It's cut and dried." Morgan delivered against the Cardinals and stood in line for the win until Jeanmar Gomez blew his fourth save of the season in the ninth. Morgan allowed five hits, one run, two walks and struck out three in six-plus innings. "I was thrilled about the way Morgan pitched," Mackanin said afterward. "He looked almost masterful with his changeup, keeping them off balance." It was the first time since May 21 that Morgan allowed two or fewer runs in six or more innings, when he allowed two runs in six innings against the Braves. He went 0-5 with a 7.65 ERA in eight starts in between. "I don't really want to look at it that way," Morgan said, asked if he considers these final few weeks make-or-break for him. "I just want to take advantage of the opportunity. I feel like once you start looking back, like, 'Oh, gosh, I've really got to do good here to stay in the big leagues,' I feel like the mind wanders. It's pretty simple. I'm trying to take advantage of the opportunity and give the team a chance to win every time I go out."

Unable To Close The Door – Jeanmar Gomez has been one of the Phillies' best stories this season. He entered the year as a middle reliever and only out of desperation became the team's closer in early April. He took to the job surprisingly well and entered Friday night's 4-3 loss in 11 innings to the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park having saved 32 games in 35 opportunities. But Gomez blew his fourth save in the ninth inning when Cardinals shortstop Jedd Gyorko hit a game-tying, two-run home run to left field. Gyorko fouled off three consecutive pitches before hitting the eighth pitch from Gomez -- an 86-mph splitter -- out of the park. Gomez left the clubhouse immediately after the game, which has happened before following blown saves, so he could not discuss Gyorko's at-bat. "He hung a split to Gyorko," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It was center cut. He's been so good for us this whole year. He's been very good for us. I can't fault him." Gomez certainly has been solid this season, but his long-term future as the Phillies' closer will be interesting to watch. One reason the Phillies received little to no interest in him before the Aug. 1 Trade Deadline -- despite numerous teams needing bullpen help -- is that he does not miss enough bats. Teams love power arms in the bullpen, but Gomez entered the game getting swings and misses on only 6.8 percent of his pitches, which ranked 215th out of 228 pitchers who have thrown 50 or more innings this season, according to FanGraphs. His 5.98 strikeouts-per-nine innings average ranked 207th. That argument has many people thinking setup man Hector Neris could be the Phillies' closer at some point. Neris gets swings and misses on 15.6 percent of his pitches, which ranked seventh in baseball. He averages 11.26 strikeouts per nine innings, which ranked 14th. Neris struck out Tommy Pham on three pitches to start the eighth. Stephen Piscotty grounded out on the first pitch for the second out, and Matt Carpenter flied out on the first pitch for the third out to end the inning. Five pitches, three outs. Impressive. "Neris threw a heck of a good inning," Mackanin said. They needed another one in the ninth.

Tattered Rotation – The Phillies will enter the offseason hoping that two of their top young pitchers will be healthy and ready to pitch by Spring Training. The team announced Friday afternoon that right-hander Zach Eflin had season-ending surgery to repair the patellar tendon in his right knee. He will be immobilized for the next six weeks, which will allow a stress fracture in his right foot to heal. Eflin is expected to have the same surgery on his left knee in six weeks. "It seems like that's where it's headed," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said about the second surgery. "If everything proceeds according to plan, he should be no problem for Spring Training. We'll see. "The hope here is that it's going to alleviate the problem and that he's not going to have to deal with it. And in just talking candidly with Zach last night, while not excited to undergo the knife today, he was pretty excited about the possibility of coming to Spring Training next year pain-free for the first time in his life." Eflin, 22, said he has had knee problems since he was 10 or 11 years old, a problem the Phillies said they have known since they acquired him from the Dodgers in December 2014 in the Jimmy Rollins trade. But they also said they also did not believe two knee surgeries were an eventuality. "There was not an imminent surgery looming when we talked about Zach Eflin in Spring Training, for example," Klentak said. "But we know that it's something he's battled and knew it was a possibility that one day this would come, but didn't know if or when, specifically." Before the Phillies placed Eflin on the 60-day disabled list, they placed right-hander Aaron Nola on the 60-day DL on Wednesday because of a low grade sprain of his UCL and a low grade strain of his flexor pronator tendon. He received a PRP injection into the elbow Monday. Nola will not throw for four weeks. The Phillies hope to see improvement at that time. They said surgery for Nola is not a consideration at this point. "Would we like all these guys to pitch a full season and reach certain benchmarks and accomplish all their goals? Well, yeah," Klentak said. "We want that for all of our players. A lot of our guys have made a lot of progress this year. Injuries to pitchers, that's part of how baseball works." The Phillies acquired Jeremy Hellickson and Charlie Morton last winter to stabilize an inexperienced rotation. Hellickson could return next season, if the Phillies make him a qualifying offer and he surprises them and accepts it. But even if Hellickson returns, it seems likely the Phillies will acquire another veteran starter in the offseason. "I think that's the plan," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I think that's what we have to do. We have to make at least some progress for next year and you know, the younger guys, they have to do something to get promoted. We're not going to run guys up here if we don't think they're ready. So it's going to be interesting to see what happens over the winter and then what happens in the spring." Eflin went 3-5 with a 5.54 ERA in 11 starts. He got hit hard in his big league debut against the Blue Jays in June. He posted a 2.08 ERA in seven consecutive starts from June 19-July 22 before posting a 13.85 ERA in his final three starts. "I'm not overly concerned about Nola ,and I'm not concerned about Eflin, because he's had that for a long time, and I think with it behind him now and getting it taken care of, he's got to feel good about that," Mackanin said. "I expect him to be 100 percent, probably better than this year. Nola, time will tell. Perhaps the time off will really help him."

Likely To Stay – Chase Utley enjoyed an unforgettable homecoming this week at Citizens Bank Park, and the way Ryan Howard has played lately, he could receive an even warmer farewell in a few weeks, too. Howard opened the season in a platoon with Darin Ruf, but he moved into a reserve role following the arrival of Tommy Joseph in May. Howard hit .148 with 11 home runs, 25 RBIs and a .555 OPS in 208 plate appearances through July 1, but he has hit .338 with eight home runs, 18 RBIs and a 1.116 OPS in 71 plate appearances since. "If he keeps hitting like he's hitting, somebody's going to want him," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I'm happy for him. I like him. I never expected Howie to be my best friend while he was going through [the benching]. It's not fun doing that kind of thing, but the bottom line is I pull for him. He's a great guy. I'd like to see him succeed and go on and play as long as he wants to play. I'm hoping it works for him." Howard was a topic of conversation Friday after Major League Baseball cleared him and Nationals first baseman Ryan Zimmerman of any wrongdoing following an investigation of the Al Jazeera documentary "The Dark Side" that claimed in December that Howard and Zimmerman took performance-enhancing drugs. "I'm happy it's over," Howard said. "It's something that weighs on you, when you get stuff like that. I'm happy to put it behind me and keep going." But Howard, despite his recent play, is expected to finish the season with the Phillies. The Phillies might see more value in having the iconic first baseman finish the year with them and continue to mentor the team's young players than give him to a contender for a miniscule return. That said, the Phillies are expected to exercise the $10 million buyout on Howard's $25 million club option for next season. "Until somebody is not in our uniform, I always expect they're going to be here the next day," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. Like Mackanin, Klentak also is happy to see Howard turn around his season. "I know especially early in the year, it was a trying year for him," Klentak said. "To see the way that he has handled all of that, and continued to grind, continued to work hard and to earn the playing time and now to be performing as well as he is for the last month or so, it's a really good story. If this is in fact Ryan's last year in Philadelphia, he's helping to write a nice end to it."

Welcome Back – Infielder Emmanuel Burriss rejoined the Phillies on Friday after the team optioned Taylor Featherston to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies made room for Burriss on the 40-man roster when they placed Zach Eflin on the 60-day disabled list following surgery on his right knee. Featherston hit .115 (3-for-26) with one double, one RBI, two walks and 11 strikeouts in 19 games with Philadelphia. Burriss hit .121 (4-for-33) with one double, one triple, one walk and seven strikeouts in 27 games earlier this season. Phillies second baseman Cesar Hernandez did not start for the second consecutive game after fouling a ball off his foot earlier this week. "We did give him an X-ray on the foot just to rule out any fractures, and there are no fractures," Phillies general manager Matt Klentak said. "He should be available if we need him, we're just trying to give him some extra rest."

Today In Phils History – The Phillies welcomed back George McQuillan on this day in 1915. In 1951, Richie Ashburn recorded 8 hits in a double header (still the last Phillie to accomplish the feat). 4 years later, following a complete game shutout the day before, the Phillies brought in Robin Roberts in the 9^th inning to face Dodgers pinch hitting pitcher Don Newcombe. The Phillies snapped a 23 game losing streak with a win over the Braves on this day in 1961. The Phillies picked up, via trade, Al Oliver on this day in 1984. 2 years later, Juan Samuel became the second player in franchise history to score the only run in an extra inning game via homerun when he took that night’s starter Mike Krukow deep in the 10^th.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 57-66 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 49-57-1 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.

Cubs Shock The World, Dodgers Force Game 5

YESTERDAY IN POSTSEASON PLAY:

History was made last night as the Cubs continued to win, eliminating a Cardinals team that won a MLB best 100 games during the regular season. The right pieces seem to be falling into place and performing… how far can this team go? In the other game of the night, Clayton Kershaw dominated the Mets forcing a decisive game 5 matchup to determine who will be facing the Cubs in the NLCS. This postseason is just starting to get interesting.  

Cubs Eliminate Cardinals 6-4

For the first time in the history of Wrigley Field, the Cubs clinched a postseason series at home, edging the mighty Cardinals, 6-4, in Game 4 of the National League Division Series. The Cubs now can party as they wait to see whether they'll face the Mets or the Dodgers in the NL Championship Series, which opens on Saturday. "We beat the Cardinals -- these guys are like our older brothers and they've been kicking sand in our face for 100 years," Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein said. "There's a lot of similarities to when [the Red Sox] knocked off the Yankees in '04. This one just gives us a nice date on Saturday." Javier Baez joined the young Cubs power corps with a three-run home run, Anthony Rizzo delivered a tiebreaking solo shot with two outs in the sixth and Kyle Schwarber nearly reached Lake Michigan with a leadoff blast in the seventh to spark Chicago to victory and a 3-1 Series win. Despite posting the best record in baseball, St. Louis, which had reached the NLCS the last four years in a row, now heads home. "It's disappointing," said Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright, whose comeback season ended with two scoreless innings in relief on Tuesday. "We don't set our sights in Spring Training for getting in the postseason just [to] go home in the first round. That's never what we aspire to do or be. It's painful when you lose, for sure. I can't get away from all the things we overcame this year to even get here. But losing is losing. It's never easy. There's nothing we can do. We have no regrets. We absolutely went about this thing the right way. We left it all on the line, and we got beat." Baez was filling in for injured shortstop Addison Russell, and all manager Joe Maddon wanted was solid glove work from the 22-year-old. Baez added some punch as the Cubs became the first team in postseason history to have four players 23 or younger hit home runs, joining Kris Bryant, Schwarber and Jorge Soler, who each connected on Monday in Game 3. Baez's blast came off Cardinals right-hander John Lackey, who was starting on short rest in the postseason for the third time in his career. "He hit a tough pitch, especially that time of the day with the shadows," Bryant said of Baez's blast. "I couldn't see the ball my first at-bat and he goes up there and hits a three-run homer." Rizzo's home run came off an 0-2 pitch from Kevin Siegrist, and was his second in as many games against the Cardinals' lefty. Rizzo is the first player in Cubs postseason history to smack a go-ahead homer in the sixth inning or later of a series-clinching game. "You can't pitch like that in the postseason," said Siegrist, who had kept Rizzo without an extra-base hit in 22 regular-season plate appearances. "There's no excuse for that. I'll learn from it. I'll be better next year for it." This was only the third time the Cubs have won consecutive postseason games at home. They also did so in 1907 in the World Series against the Tigers and again in 1984 against the Padres in the NLCS. Chicago entered this postseason 0-11 all time in any series in which they lost Game 1. "This is a team that was as impressive to watch from Day One as any team I've ever been around, and just a collection of skill and fight and character and just all the way across the board from the veteran guys leading to the young guys figuring out a way to contribute," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "It was a special group." Both starting pitchers -- the Cubs' Jason Hammel and Lackey -- completed just three innings, and this marked the second time a team has clinched an NLDS in which the starter hasn't completed more than three innings. Wainwright exited after 2 1/3 innings in 2012 as the Cards defeated the Nationals in Game 5. Chicago scored 14 runs combined in Games 3-4, and all but one came on a home run. The other was courtesy of pitcher Hammel's RBI single in the second inning of Game 4.

Dodgers Dominate Mets 3-1

Desperately needing a win to stave off elimination, Clayton Kershaw thrust his postseason troubles aside with a brilliant performance Tuesday in National League Division Series Game 4, firing seven innings of three-hit ball in a 3-1 Dodgers win over the Mets. "I don't think anyone was going to outpitch Clayton Kershaw tonight," Mets third baseman David Wright said. "I wish we could have won here, obviously so that we could prepare for the next round and do it in front of our fans. But Kershaw was just a beast tonight. It was going to be tough to beat him when he was on like he was. Hopefully we can take care of business in L.A." Pitching on three days' rest, Kershaw battled early before settling into one of the better postseason grooves of his career in the middle innings. After Daniel Murphy homered with one out in the fourth, Kershaw did not let another runner past first base. He struck out six of seven batters during one stretch, snapping his five-game postseason losing streak.

POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS: Read my post from October 6^th to see how many I have gotten wrong!

CURRENT POSTSEASON PICTURE:

American League Division Series

Kansas City and Houston tied 2-2

Game 5: Wednesday, October 14, at 8:00 PM

Toronto and Texas tied 2-2

Game 5: Wednesday, October 14, at 4:00 PM

National League Division Series

Chicago Eliminated St. Louis 3-1

NLCS Game 1: Tuesday, October 13, at 4:30 PM

New York and Los Angeles tied 2-2

Game 5: Thursday, October 15, at 8:00 PM

National League Championship Series

Chicago at TBD

Game 1: Saturday, October 17, at TBD

American League Championship Series

TBD at TBD

Game 1: Friday, October 16, at TBD

PHILS PHACTS:

Breaking Ground – Four months after the Phillies dedicated four new and renovated baseball fields at FDR Park, there was a ceremonial groundbreaking on Tuesday for the next phase of its Urban Youth Academy: an indoor-outdoor facility in South Philadelphia. A 7,500 square foot extension will be added to the existing building to create a new training facility. Parts of the existing Marian Anderson Recreation Center will be renovated to create space for fitness training, educational and vocational programs. Among the dignitaries in attendance were Mayor Michael Nutter, Major League Baseball's vice president of youth and facility development Darrell Miller, Phillies chairman Dave Montgomery, Councilman Kenyatta Johnson and Deputy Mayor Michael DiBeradinis. "This is an incredible example of the city partnering with community organizations and the private sector to renovate a recreation center in the community that lacks abundant public play spaces. The new classrooms, fitness center and equipment at the [center] will benefit 8,000 players receiving free baseball and softball instruction on a regular basis," Nutter said. "The city supports the Urban Youth Academy's mission to use baseball and softball to teach young people about teamwork and responsibility, all while teaching them to be active and healthy in these spaces. By providing our young people with a fun and fulfilling environment in their own neighborhood, we're also giving them the tools to learn, to connect and to grow with successful, caring adults who give back to the community on a regular basis." Philadelphia joins Compton, Houston, New Orleans and Cincinnati as cities with UYAs. A facility in Kansas City has also been announced. Montgomery noted that leftfielder Pat Burrell, who last played for the Phillies in 2008, contributed seed money and that current first baseman Ryan Howard and his wife, Krystle, stepped up when additional funding was needed. Also contributing was the Baseball Tomorrow Fund, a joint effort between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association. "These projects take time, and Philadelphia was no exception," Miller said. "We wanted to do something here in the baddest way. You have to understand, the Phillies have been in the trenches 20 years. They've been committed from the very beginning to make sure kids have an opportunity to play baseball. "We now have the opportunity to take it to the next level. We're not doing anything different. We're just going to do it bigger and better and we're going to have a lot of fun with it. The facilities are going to be big league." Montgomery also introduced Dr. Mahlene Duckett, whose father, Mahlon, was a Philadelphia native, a Negro League star and the last surviving member of the Philadelphia Stars. When he passed away at the age of 92 this summer, the family asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to the Philles' Urban Youth Academy. Miller became passionate when discussing the impact these academies can have. "Major League Baseball wants to make sure every child who wants to pick up a bat or a ball or a glove and wants to play catch, or play the game of baseball or girls' softball, gets an opportunity to play," he said. "Our youth deserve tremendous facilities. They deserve the opportunity to play the game at the highest possible level. They deserve great coaching. They deserve mentoring. They deserve the opportunity to play the greatest game ever created. It's a hard game to play. It takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication. It's all about work. It's all about individual determination. It's the fabric of what our great nation has been built on. And that's hard work. That's what makes great baseball players. That's what makes great softball players. That's what makes Major League contributors to our society." He caught himself, stopped and smiled. "I'm preaching," he noted. "But the Pope was just here and I'm following his lead. We have a lot to do on this field and on this front throughout America."

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies finally put an end to the season finishing in last place in the NL East with a record of 63-99. Given the departures, aging stars, injuries, and bipolar performances this season, this has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, there are some former Phillies still making headlines in the playoffs this year.