Phillies Stave Off Cubs For The Win

GAME RECAP: Phillies Control Cubs 3-2

The Phillies needed brilliant efforts from Jerad Eickhoff and Jeanmar Gomez to beat the Cubs on Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Both delivered in a 3-2 victory over Chicago, preventing a season sweep, as the teams play the series and season finales Wednesday. Eickhoff allowed just two hits, one run, two walks and struck out eight over seven innings to give the Phillies just their fifth victory in their last 18 games. The Cubs threatened in the eighth inning when they loaded the bases with no outs, but Gomez replaced Hector Neris and allowed only one run to score to work out of the jam as he picked up his Major League-leading 19th save. "Wow," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "That was just a little loss for the Cubs, but it was a huge morale booster for us." Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard homered in his first start since May 31 to help the Phillies' offense. "It's good," Howard said. "I wasn't thinking about the week or the past 10 days, I was just thinking about that moment. I got a good pitch to hit, he hung me a breaking ball and I was able to hit it out."

PHILS PHACTS:

• Eickhoff pitched a gem in a game the Phillies sorely needed. It was just the third time this season a starter had pitched seven or more innings and allowed one or fewer runs against the high-octane Cubs offense. Eickhoff, who has a 2.76 ERA (10 earned runs in 32 2/3 innings) in his last five starts, struck out six of seven batters at one point. "He just made pitches," Cubs outfielder Jason Heyward said. "All night I feel like we had good at-bats, got to 3-2 counts a lot. He was able to make some pitches and that was kinda it. We faced him recently. Hitters adjust, but he was able to make an adjustment tonight.
• Things looked bleak for the Phillies in the eighth when the Cubs loaded the bases with no outs, thanks to a Cesar Hernandez error and a couple hits allowed by Neris. But Gomez entered the game to pick up a six-out save and came up big. He allowed a sacrifice fly for the first out. Jason Heyward then hit a smash to Andres Blanco, who had just replaced Hernandez at second base. Blanco flipped the ball to Freddy Galvis, who threw to first to complete an incredible inning-ending and game-saving double play. "I said, this is the guy I want to face the top of that lineup right now," Galvis said about Gomez. "He trusts his stuff. His ball has a lot of movement right now. He controls the ball. That's why he is so good."
• "Nobody believes it. I was talking to Whitey [Blanco] and Jeanmar. This is going to sound weird, but he has no emotions. He's like really chill when he pitches." -- Galvis, on what has made Gomez so effective as the team's closer.
• Howard has been a hot topic of conversation lately as Mackanin benched him last week and a fan threw a beer bottle at him Saturday. But Howard, starting for the first time since May 31, hit a solo home run to right-center field in the fourth inning to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. It was his 366th career homer, which ties him with Lance Berkman for 80th on the all-time list.
• Cubs reliever Clayton Richard caught Odubel Herrera between first and second on a pickoff move in the eighth inning. Herrera sped toward second after Richard tossed the ball to first baseman Anthony Rizzo. Rizzo fired a throw to beat Herrera to second, but Herrera dodged Zobrist's tag. The Cubs challenged and it took 2 minutes, 45 seconds to uphold the call. Maddon is now 7-for-15 on challenges this season.

NEXT GAME:

Phillies right-hander Vince Velasquez starts the series finale at 1:05 p.m. ET against the Cubs. Velasquez (5-2, 3.67 ERA) has not pitched more than five innings in each of his previous four starts, posting a 6.00 ERA.

PHILS PHACTS:

There’s A New Hoff In Town – If the Phillies had any chance to beat the Cubs this season, they needed one of their starting pitchers to pitch nearly perfectly. Jerad Eickhoff came close Tuesday night in a 3-2 victory at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed two hits, one run, two walks and struck out eight in seven innings. It was just the third time this season a starter had allowed one or fewer runs in seven or more innings against the high-octane Cubs offense. "That's as good as he's been all year," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. Eickhoff struck out seven batters through four innings. He struck out the side in the fourth, giving him six strikeouts in seven at-bats. It helped that he showed the Cubs a bit of a different look. Eickhoff threw a career-high 28 sliders. His previous high had been 25, which came in his previous start. He struck out three batters on the pitch Tuesday. He had struck out just five batters on sliders the entire season entering the night. Eickhoff's best pitch is his curveball. He entered the game with 40 strikeouts on that pitch. But the slider was working well Tuesday, so he kept with it. It has been a conscious effort on his part. It began a few starts ago following a conversation with Phillies pitching coach Bob McClure, and another talk with Phillies broadcaster Larry Andersen. Eickhoff threw his slider just 6.1 percent of the time in April and 14 percent of the time in May. That number is up to 26.6 percent through two June starts. "That was kind of the spark," Eickhoff said. "To key them off my fastball and curveball. It's a huge thing to think about, just a third pitch for the hitters."

Tough Save – Freddy Galvis looked up at the scoreboard in the top of the eighth inning Tuesday night at Citizens Bank Park to see exactly who Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez needed to beat with the bases loaded and no outs to pick up his 19th save of the season. He had to face the top of the Cubs' lineup with the Phillies holding a two-run lead. "I said, this is the guy I want to face the top of that lineup right now," Galvis said after a dramatic 3-2 victory. "He trusts his stuff. His ball has a lot of movement right now. He controls the ball. That's why he is so good." Gomez, who replaced Hector Neris, got Dexter Fowler to hit a sacrifice fly to left field for the first out. He then got Jason Heyward to hit a bullet to Phillies second baseman Andres Blanco, who replaced Cesar Hernandez in a double switch. Blanco slid to his right, backhanded the ball and flipped it to Galvis at second base. Galvis caught the relay, avoided the slide from Javier Baez and threw to first baseman Ryan Howard for the inning-ending and game-saving double play. "I don't give Gomez the only save," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I give Freddy and Blanco one, for turning that double play in the eighth inning. Wow. That was a special play." Blanco told Galvis afterward that he just wanted to knock down the ball. He did better than that and made a perfect flip. "I just tried to get away from the runner," Galvis said. "We were talking about the new rule at second base. If this happened last year, he might have killed me right there, you know?" Gomez pitched a scoreless ninth. The guy who entered the season as a middle reliever suddenly leads Major League Baseball in saves. "I didn't know what role I would have," Gomez said. "I just try to be ready." "Nobody believes it," Galvis said. "I was talking to Whitey [Blanco] and Jeanmar. This is going to sound weird, but he has no emotions. He's like really chill when he pitches. Whatever happens, happens. He's a Christian guy, so when he goes to the mound he says, 'I'm here, I'm going to throw the ball and that's it.' He has no emotions, so he's controlling himself in that moment. It's really good to have a closer without emotions like that. He can stay in the game, even if he gives up a homer or something like that. He stays in the game." And most of the time when he is pitching with a lead in the ninth, the Phillies win.

Defense Only Does So Much – The biggest reason the Phillies acquired Peter Bourjos in the offseason is they loved his defense. But his stellar defense and its benefits to a young pitching staff no longer outweigh his offensive struggles. "Unfortunately, yes," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "We were just talking about that. He has got to make a drastic change to his approach offensively. Because he just has that tendency to pull off the ball too much." Bourjos, who started 43 of the team's first 51 games, has started just one of the last eight after starting on the bench Tuesday night because he is hitting .196 with a .511 OPS in 158 plate appearances. There are 215 hitters with 150 or more plate appearances this season. According to FanGraphs, Bourjos' offensive production is next-to-last in baseball, above only Erick Aybar. Bourjos' wRC+ (weighted runs created plus) is 34. Aybar's is 13. According to Baseball Savant, 42.5 percent of pitches thrown to Bourjos this season have been breaking balls, which ranks eighth in baseball among 238 hitters that have seen 500 or more pitches this season. "Well, you know, he's got to make an adjustment," Mackanin said about Bourjos seeing a steady diet of breaking balls. "I love his defense. He has to make adjustments mechanically like a lot of our guys." Of course, Bourjos made a fine defensive play in the ninth inning in Tuesday's 3-2victory over the Cubs. He cut off a ball in right-center field to prevent the tying run from scoring. "Not too many right fielders would have cut that ball off in right-center like Bourjos did," Mackanin said. "I give him a save, as well. Defense really saved us."

Can’t Blame The Coaches – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin has talked plenty lately about his hitters' approach at the plate. He sees Maikel Franco and Peter Bourjos pulling off the ball. He sees Ryan Howard and Freddy Galvis chasing too many pitches outside the strike zone. He sees Cesar Hernandez mishandling offspeed pitches. Their struggles, among others, are why the Phillies rank 29th in baseball, averaging 3.24 runs per game. But Mackanin made it clear Tuesday he thinks Phillies hitting coach Steve Henderson is delivering the proper message to his hitters. "I listen to him, and I go in the cage and I watch what they're doing, and they are doing exactly what they need to be doing," Mackanin said. "And in the cage, they do it. The hard part is taking it into a game. You can only teach so much. "I've said this many times, but I can't teach you how to ride a bike. You got to get on it and feel it. Ice skate, I can't teach you how to ice skate. I can tell you how to tie your skates and push off, but you've got to figure it out." Coaches can be easy scapegoats, regardless of a team's expectations or talent level. Mackanin knows a coach can only do so much. "If you're a hitting coach and you're teaching a guy to do something, and he does it in the cage over and over again and then in the game he doesn't bring it, all you can do is show him the video," Mackanin said. "'Look it, you're not doing it. Let's do it.' And then they take it out into batting practice and do it and then in a game; it's uncomfortable. "It's like teaching a guy a [split-finger fastball]. On the side he says 'OK, that feels good.' Is he going to throw it in the game? Is he going to push it? Is he going to let it go? It's hard to do, but if you want to improve you've got to do it. If you don't do it, you're not going to improve."

Today In Phils History – It is all about the 2’s today. It starts in 1914 when Fred Luderus hit two home runs with the first being the result of the ball getting lodged in a hole in the brick wall for an inside-the-park home run. In 1968, outfielder Howie Bedell hit a sacrifice fly to collect his only RBI of the season which also ended Don Drysdale's record scoreless innings streak at 58 2/3 innings. While not known as a power hitter by any stretch of the imagination, Steve Jeltz hit 2 homeruns, 1 from each side of the plate, to lead the Phillies back from a 10 run deficit in 1989 against the Pirates. 7 years later, in the 1^st Phillies game shown on the Fox Network, Jim Eisenreich hit 2 homers in the loss to Houston. And, finally, the Phillies got 2 for 1 in 2005, when they traded Placido Polanco to Detroit for Ugueth Urbina and Ramon Martinez.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 29-30 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 48-57-0 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. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Having No Luck In Chicago

GAME RECAP: Cubs Dominate Phillies 4-1

Kyle Hendricks got all the run support he needed early, and the right-hander posted his second career complete game in the Cubs' 4-1 victory Saturday over the Phillies in front of 41,555 at Wrigley Field. "I didn't want him coming out of that game," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said of Hendricks, who went the distance for the first time since May 21, 2015, when he did so against the Padres. It was the second complete game by a Cub this season; Jake Arrieta did so when he no-hit the Reds on April 21. Hendricks is 2-1 with a 1.93 ERA in five home starts this year. "He was in total command of his pitches," Cubs catcher Miguel Montero said. Hendricks has been the odd man out, ranking second lowest in the National League in run support average entering the game. The Cubs were averaging 5.7 runs per game, second in the Majors behind the Red Sox, but apparently not on the days he pitches. On Saturday, Hendricks struck out six and scattered five hits, including a fluke double by Freddy Galvis to lead off the ninth that dropped in front of Jason Heyward in right. Galvis scored on a fielder's choice when Ryan Howard struck out. "Jason was trying to yell for [Ben Zobrist] to go get it, and I think 'Zo' thought he was yelling, 'I got it,'" Maddon said of Galvis' hit. "It was an impossible moment." Leading off the bottom of the first, Dexter Fowler homered off Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff, who also served up RBI doubles to Zobrist and Heyward. Eickhoff, who gave up four runs over six innings and took the loss, also hasn't gotten much offensive support. He struck out seven and issued one walk. "I feel like we took pitches we should have hit and we swung at pitches we shouldn't have swung at," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "I thought [Hendricks] gave us just enough -- not a lot -- but just enough pitches out over the plate, and we didn't capitalize."

PHILS PHACTS:

• The Phillies had their momentum stopped early after Odubel Herrera led off the game with a bunt single. Instead of giving the Phillies an early baserunner, Herrera got picked off when Hendricks threw over to first and Rizzo applied a quick tag. The Phillies didn't mount much of a scoring threat again until the ninth, and that's how it has gone lately. Philadelphia has scored a combined 22 runs in their past eight games, going 2-6 in that span. "He was going -- they've got some really fast guys," Maddon said. "Kyle does do a good job, and you saw it. He'll hold the ball and throw it accurately. Don't underestimate the importance of the tag. If you don't slap it down there, the inning is different."
• After his double, Galvis advanced to third on a Maikel Franco groundout, and with the Cubs shifting on Ryan Howard, was able to get a huge lead. Howard struck out swinging on a changeup in the dirt, and as Montero gathered the ball and threw to second to put out Howard, Galvis broke home and scored. Galvis was originally credited with a stolen base, but the scoring was changed to a fielder's choice. "Made my whole day," Mackanin said. "Burnt the shutout. I like to see a guy like that playing with that kind of energy."
• "He's got one error, and he's making every play there is. If he's not the best shortstop in the league, I'd like to see the guy that's playing as consistent defense as he is." -- Mackanin, on Galvis' defense.

NEXT GAME:

Vince Velasquez starts the series finale against the Cubs on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. ET. Velasquez is coming off his shortest outing, leaving after four-plus innings and surrendering three runs in a no-decision against the Tigers.

PHILS PHACTS:

Don’t Walk, Run It Off – Phillies shortstop Freddy Galvis sat at his locker with ice wrapped around his right ankle after Saturday's 4-1 loss to the Cubs, but this was no wounded man. Only a few minutes earlier, Galvis had raced around the bases, almost single-handedly accounting for the Phillies' lone run with hustle and heads-up baserunning. In the sixth, a 77-mph curveball from Cubs righty Kyle Hendricks hit Galvis on the bone just above his right ankle. Galvis took his time before heading to first, and trainers came out to check on him. Galvis stayed in, and good thing he did. In the ninth, Galvis led off with a shallow fly to right field. Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward lost track of the ball, and as it landed, Galvis turned past first and headed to second. He was credited with a double, but he was just getting started. After Galvis advanced to third on a Maikel Franco groundout to the right side, Ryan Howard came to the plate. The Cubs put a drastic shift on the left-hander, with no one close to holding Galvis on third. Galvis took his lead at least halfway down the line throughout the at-bat. When Howard swung and missed on an 0-2 changeup in the dirt, Galvis creeped toward the plate. Cubs catcher Miguel Montero gathered the ball and gave Galvis a quick check before firing to first to retire Howard. As soon as Galvis saw Montero begin to throw, he scampered home. "I was like, 'Let's go, that's it,'" Galvis said. Galvis slid in safely, beating Anthony Rizzo's return throw to the plate. He was initially awarded a stolen base, but the official scorer reversed the call to a fielder's choice after the game. The ruling wasn't as sexy as a steal, but the play still had plenty of impact. "Made my whole day," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Burnt the shutout. I like to see a guy like that playing with that kind of energy. … I'm thrilled the way he's playing hard. He's kind of taken a leadership role on the team, just with the way he goes about his business." He's also doing it with his defense, too. Galvis has made a handful of spectacular plays, and he has the third-best ultimate zone rating among shortstops in the Majors behind the Giants' Brandon Crawford and the D-backs' Nick Ahmed, per FanGraphs. "He's got one error, and he's making every play there is," Mackanin said. "If he's not the best shortstop in the league, I'd like to see the guy that's playing as consistent defense as he is." And as for the ankle, Franco said it's no concern. Good to play Sunday? "Oh yeah," he said.

Offensive Offense – After a 4-1 loss to the Cubs on Saturday, Phillies manager Pete Mackanin credited Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks, who threw a complete game. But he was more troubled with his hitters, whose inability to find a groove is beginning to prove costly. The Phillies have lost six of eight. "I feel like we took pitches we should have hit, and we swung at pitches we shouldn't have swung at," Mackanin said. "I thought [Hendricks] gave us just enough -- not a lot -- but just enough pitches out over the plate, and we didn't capitalize." In the past eight games, the Phillies have scored 22 runs. After Friday's 6-2 defeat, Mackanin faced the question that since feels increasingly pressing -- "Are you worried that the offensive shortcomings are starting to catch up with you guys?" Mackanin didn't change his expression or alter his tone of voice. He answered in a matter-of-fact fashion. "I won't say I'm worried about it," Mackanin said. "I've been conscious of it for the whole season." That's how Mackanin and the Phillies are treating it. Stick to the facts, which reveal things both good and bad about the club. First, the numbers suggest the Phils have a better record than they should. Based on the Pythagorean win-loss stat, the Phillies should have a winning percentage of .394. Instead, they are at .531. Philadelphia has won 26 games despite a minus-38 run differential. The explanation is the fact the Phillies are playing -- and winning -- an astounding amount of close games, going 14-4 in one-run contests. Despite Philadelphia's surprising start, the struggle of the Phillies' lineup is indeed nothing new. Their 158 runs rank 29th in baseball, as do their 36 home runs. Only the 14-34 Braves are worse in those categories. "At the least, we certainly would like to have more offense, a little more power," Mackanin said. "You look at the Cubs, the Tigers, they've got the home run. They've got power. They have threats to do damage. We haven't been able to do that." But the Phillies have had respectable starting pitching, and the bullpen in particular has been good as of late. The 'pen has surrendered only three earned runs in its past 19 innings, dropping its ERA to a season-low 3.66. So as much as the numbers are an indictment of the offense, there is also a testament to the club's pitching. The facts also show Tyler Goeddel, Peter Bourjos, Cameron Rupp, Odubel Herrera and Freddy Galvis have all raised their batting averages in May. And the part that matters most: The Phillies are 26-23, right in the thick of the National League East race. "I'm always concerned that it might catch up with us," Mackanin said. "But as long as our pitching does their job, we're going to be in as many games as they allow us to be in."

Today In Phils History – 20 years after the Phillies acquired Kirby Higbe from the Cubs, Gene Conley took a tough loss as when he tried to intentionally walk Joe Adcock he let a pitch get a little took close to the plate and Adcock drove in Hank Aaron with the winning run. 6 years later, as Charlie Hayes was being born in Mississippi, Dick Allen blasted a 510 foot homerun at Connie Mack Stadium against the Cubs. From the beginning of a career to the end, it was on this day in 1989, after hitting .203 in the early part of the season, Michael Jack Schmidt announced his retirement in an emotional farewell speech. Back to the blossoming of a career, in 2006 Ryan Howard hit his 18^th homerun of the season setting a record for the most homeruns by a 2^nd year player by the end of the month. Of course, the only memory that could top that of Schmidt’s retirement is that of Roy Halladay’s perfection during a 1-0 victory on this day in 2010. It was the 20^th perfect game in MLB history. Since then, the only quasi notable occurrence is the debut of Cesar Hernandez in 2013.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 26-23 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 40-56-0 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. Let the rebuild begin!

Phillies Bullpen Falters Against Cardinals

GAME RECAP: Cardinals Edge Phillies 5-4

Despite Ryan Howard's best attempts to propel the Phillies to another win in his hometown, the Cardinals stunned Philadelphia with a two-run ninth to celebrate their first walk-off win of the season, a 5-4 victory in front of 40,725 at Busch Stadium on Wednesday. The Cardinals entered the ninth behind by two, but immediately stirred against closer Jeanmar Gomez. Pinch-hitter Kolten Wong opened the inning with a seven-pitch walk and moved to third when pinch-hitter Matt Adams drove a ball off the top of the wall in center. Stephen Piscotty plated the tying run with an infield single before Matt Holliday snuck a single to left for the win. "That guy's a sinker ball pitcher, and I thought he might try to pitch me in," Holliday said after collecting his eighth career walk-off RBI. "So I wanted to see a pitch and was just trying to hit a ball hard. It was an important game for us to win." The blown save was Gomez's first in 10 opportunities. "I'm disappointed in the first hitter," Gomez said. "The first hitter I had the walk, he tied the game. I have to make a good pitch in that situation." While the Cardinals snagged a win, starter Mike Leake still hasn't. He retired the first 10 batters he faced before being ambushed in the fourth. A single and walk brought the inning to Howard, who belted a 2-0 pitch into the center-field grass for his 23rd career home run against the Cardinals. A solo homer from Odubel Herrera the following inning nudged the Phillies' lead to four and kept Leake winless in his first six starts with the team. Phillies starter Adam Morgan eased through four innings before being chased in a fifth-inning that saw the Cardinals score three runs with the help of two replay reviews. It marked the Cardinals' second comeback out of a four-run deficit this season. "You can absolutely build on it," Piscotty said. "It's a lot of fun to jump around kind of like idiots out in center field."

PHILS PHACTS:

• Howard's 421-foot home run to center field in the fourth was his second in as many nights. The native St. Louisan continues to feast on Cardinals pitching. He is hitting .336 with 23 home runs and 69 RBIs and is averaging a home run every 10.6 at-bats for his career against the Cardinals.
• Gomez couldn't convert his 10th save in as many opportunities. Piscotty's infield single scored Wong to tie the game and Holliday's walk-off single handed Gomez his first loss of the season. "I mean he's not infallible and like I said he got himself into a jam but I went out there and told him let's get a ground ball and get out of here," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "And he got us a ground ball so what else can he do? Ground balls find holes."
• Herrera has hit safely in all seven of his career games at Busch Stadium, going 12-for-28 in all. Before Wednesday, he had hit only one first-pitch homer in his career.
• The umpires ended up turning to replay four different times in Wednesday's game, totaling nine minutes and three seconds of stoppage times. The first two reviews helped the Cardinals to a three-run fifth inning. The umpires first went to replay to get a better look at Ruben Tejada's ground ball down the left-field line. After a 5-minute, 1-second review, Tejada was awarded a leadoff double.
• Tejada then came around to score on another play that was eventually reviewed to determine if Eric Fryer had slid in safe behind him. That call stood. Neither Mackanin nor Morgan used the seven-plus minutes of review time as an excuse for his fifth-inning struggles. "I don't want to make that as an excuse and I'm sure Adam doesn't because he's very accountable," Mackanin said. "And you know long innings are long innings no matter what the reason."
• The Phillies were awarded a ninth-inning single on a call that was overturned with replay, and crew chief Mark Carlson took the headset one final time in the ninth to confirm that Adams' drive to center hadn't cleared the wall. "There are just going to be those nights where you have one close play after another," Matheny said. "We have to take our time and look at it. We have the technology there. We're not out here to rush through this thing. We have to get it right."

NEXT GAME:

Jerad Eickhoff (1-3, 4.15 ERA) will be looking for his first win since April 13 in the finale of a four-game series Thursday at 1:45 EST. The right-hander has never faced the Cardinals and is coming off a no-decision against Cleveland in which he gave up three runs in six innings.

PHILS PHACTS:

Bullpen Buckles – Jeanmar Gomez has learned the exhilaration of getting the 27th out in a game. On Wednesday, the Phillies closer learned the agony of defeat. Gomez blew his first save attempt of the season, giving up two runs in the ninth as the Cardinals edged the Phillies, 5-4. Gomez (2-1) got into trouble right away, walking Kolten Wong to lead off the ninth. "I'm disappointed in the first hitter," Gomez said. "The first hitter I had the walk, he tied the game. I have to make a good pitch in that situation." Matt Adams drove a ball off the top of the center-field wall to put runners at second and third with one out. The Cardinals asked for a crew chief review to determine if it was a home run, but after 34 second review the call stood. Gomez then intentionally walked Aledmys Diaz to load the bases, but Stephen Piscotty's infield single off of Freddy Galvis' glove scored Wong to tie it. Carlos Martinez, pinch-running for Adams, strayed off third base on the play and was out in a rundown. Diaz advanced to third during the rundown. Phillies manager Pete Mackanin questioned crew chief Mark Carlson whether Cardinals third base coach Chris Maloney interfered, allowing Diaz to take third. "I asked and he said the third base umpire signaled it didn't interfere with the play," Mackanin said. Diaz then easily scored on Matt Holliday's single to left to end the game. After allowing the two runs, Gomez's ERA jumped to 2.70. "We walked five guys and three of them scored so the walks kind of hurt us," Mackanin said. "But like I said, Gomez walked the leadoff guy, which I wasn't real happy about, but then he had a situation to get a ground ball. That's what we wanted him to do, and he gave us a ground ball that found a hole." Gomez's struggles undid what had been a strong performance by the Phillies bullpen as four relievers had combined for four shutout innings to preserve a one-run lead. Colton Murray got the Phillies out of a two-on, no-out jam in the fifth. Starter Adam Morgan had already allowed three runs in the inning, but Murray got Holliday to ground into a double play and he got Randal Grichuk to ground to short. Andrew Bailey pitched around a two-out hit in the seventh and Hector Neris was aided by a great catch at the left field wall by Tyler Goeddel to rob Jedd Gyorko of extra bases. "For me, our team had battled all game and to have a blown save you feel bad because the whole team played hard," Gomez said. "You think about the mistakes you made today and try not to do it the next game."

Successful Split – Phillies manager Pete Mackanin calls Hector Neris' split-finger fastball an invisible pitch. More and more opponents may start to agree. Neris has gained confidence with the pitch with every outing this season. Combine his new-found willingness to throw the splitter in any count with a mid-90's fastball and it's a potent late-inning combination. Neris has racked up 27 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings with a 1.10 ERA. He struck out all three Cardinals he faced in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 1-0 Phillies win, setting the tone with his first pitch. "Yesterday the first pitch he threw to the first hitter he faced was a split for a strike," Mackanin said. "Once the hitter sees that, you can't sit on a fastball." Having the confidence to throw the split at any time is the biggest difference for Neris this season, which is exactly what the Phillies wanted to see. "It's such a good pitch," Mackanin said. "Last year, we kept thinking, boy if he could just get to that and use it more often, that it could be an effective pitch. But last year he was waiting, trying to get ahead with his fastball and he couldn't. He couldn't locate his fastball well enough to get ahead with it." Neris said he learned the split-finger from Jose Paulino, his coach in his native Dominican Republic. Phillies closer Jeanmar Gomez and Dalier Hinojosa are also starting to throw a splitter. They have asked Neris how he throws his. Neris actually has two different splitters: One goes straight down and the other tails. He said he can control it with his grip. "It's hard to lay off of," Mackanin said. "You can see the movement on the pitch. When it gets right into the zone and he keeps it down. He can keep it down in the zone and when a guy throws 93-94 [mph] like he does, you have to hit off the fastball and so you see it, you go after it and it just disappears on you."

Defensive Upgrade – Peter Bourjos burned his former team Tuesday night with his best weapon -- his glove. Bourjos' sliding catch in right field on a tailing line drive off the bat of Randal Grichuk in the fourth more than likely saved a run as Yadier Molina had a good jump off of first with two outs. Aaron Nola and Ryan Howard did the rest in the Phillies' 1-0 win over the Cardinals. "At first when it was hit I was like, 'Alright, I've got a good jump, I think I'm going to get there,' and then it kept slicing away, slicing away and that's when I was like, 'Oh boy, I think I'm going to have to dive for this,'" Bourjos said. Grichuk made sure he let his friend know how he felt about his glove work before Wednesday's game. "He was giving me a hard time about it," Bourjos said. "I just saw him in the dugout. I said you never hit the ball to right, hit it to left like you normally do. It was pretty funny." All kidding aside, Bourjos has brought a strong defensive component to the Phillies' outfield that the team has lacked in the past. "In the past, we've had outfielders who could catch the ball, but didn't have a lot of coverage," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "Now we've got guys who can cover a lot of ground. … Just that one play was one of the biggest parts, if not the biggest part, of the game." Bourjos, who has mainly played center field, has had to adjust to playing right and left for the Phillies. "I'm getting more and more comfortable out there," Bourjos said. "It's a process, it's a learning curve. In center you can see everything that's going on, the ball doesn't slice as much. In right and left the ball starts slicing and you can't see where the pitch is and start reacting a little sooner." Bourjos has struggled so far at the plate, hitting .169 in 77 at-bats. But Mackanin said he's won three or four games using his speed to make stellar catches. "He's got a great makeup," Mackanin said. "He knows what his job is and he doesn't take his at-bats onto the field, which we try to point that out to everybody. You don't have to point that out to him. He takes pride in his defense." Bourjos believes his hitting will come around. "I think I need to stay on top of the baseball and stay in right center," Bourjos said. "If I do that and put the ball in play, the average will start going up and I'll be able to help the team win on the offensive side too."

Today In Phils History – Today is not just known as the day that the Phillies acquired Robert Person in 1999, there are also a few interesting moments in team history. The first of which occurred in 1896 when Dan Brouthers went deep… the Phillies were the 10^th team for which he hit a homerun which is still a MLB record. In 1938, Wayne LeMaster got the loss despite only throwing three pitches before leaving with an injury thanks in part to the performance of Harold Kelleher who in the 6^th inning faced 16 batters and surrendered 12 runs to the Cubs, both NL records for a single inning by one pitcher. However, leave it to Jim Bunning to provide the bright spot for the day when he threw a 4 hit shutout and hit a homerun (the only Phillies run of the game) against Warren Spahn in 1965.

THE BEGINNING:

The Phillies are currently 16-12 this season putting them on pace to beat most preseason predictions. The Phillies finished the spring exceeding most expectations compiling a record of 15-11-3 (18-11-3 if you include the exhibition games against Reading and the University of Tampa). All time, the Phillies are 39-54-0 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. Let the rebuild begin!

A Multifaceted Waiver Claim

PHILS PHACTS:

Signing Defense To Help Pitching – General manager Matt Klentak's top priority this season has been to improve the Phillies' pitching. Klentak believes he helped those efforts Wednesday when he claimed outfielder Peter Bourjos off waivers from the Cardinals. Bourjos has posted a .645 OPS over the past four seasons, but he is regarded as one of the best defensive center fielders in the game. Bourjos, Odubel Herrera and Aaron Altherr could become a formidable defensive outfield, which should benefit a pitching staff that needs all the help it can get. "I'd rather have both offense and defense, but I think the greater point is right: we're trying to augment the pitching, but a little more broadly trying to improve our run prevention," Klentak said in a conference call Thursday afternoon. "Having a strong defensive club is a way to help your pitching. Having the plus defenders we have in the outfield now I think will help our pitching. It may come at the cost of scoring fewer runs, but I think in the long run it will help us. We're trying to score more runs than our opponent, and it doesn't really matter if it's 2-1 or 10-9." It will be interesting to see where everybody plays. Bourjos has only played center field in his career, and for good reason. According to FanGraphs, he has averaged a 16.1 Ultimate Zone Rating per 150 defensive games since his debut in 2010. That is third among outfielders with 3,500 or more defensive innings played in that span. Only Lorenzo Cain (19.0) and Jason Heyward (18.3) have a better average. But Herrera established himself in center field last season, and the Phillies might not want to mess with the youngster's success. Still, Herrera or Bourjos could move to a corner spot. Bourjos told MLB.com on Wednesday that he is willing to play anywhere. He just wants to play. "I'm looking at it as a nice problem to have," Klentak said. "That's what's going to make Spring Training fun, is we're going to have to sort that out, and we know that. I've had dialogue with [manager] Pete [Mackanin] about that question and how we're going to make it work. When we have at least three above average defensive outfielders, all of whom can play center field, I'm confident we can make it work. "We will determine that in Spring Training. We don't have to make that decision on Dec. 3. Having players of this defensive caliber puts us in a strong position." Bourjos' arrival seems to put Jeff Francoeur's return in doubt. The Phillies' outfield at the moment is Bourjos, Herrera, Altherr, Cody Asche and Darnell Sweeney. Darin Ruf also can play left field. Klentak declined to specifically comment on Francoeur, but he said, "I will say with the claim of Bourjos, I wouldn't say that takes us out on any player. We're still going to be open-minded. We still have a few spots, and we're still trying to get better." Klentak also said he has spoken with Ryan Howard, who is entering the final season of his contract. The Phillies have been trying for some time to move Howard, but without success. "I have met with and spoken with Ryan Howard and had a good conversation," Klentak said. "He's excited and energized for next year, and I feel good about it."

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 has ended up being one of the worst seasons in franchise history! However, at least Ryan Madson got another ring this year.