GAME
RECAP: National Blank Phllies 3-0
Call Bryce
Harper "the Natural," at least for
Saturday night anyway. His three-run homer in the eighth inning proved to be
the difference as the Nationals blanked the Phillies, 3-0, at Nationals Park. With
the victory and the Mets' extra-innings loss to the Braves, the Nationals'
magic number dwindled to 12 to win the National League East. The Nationals put
runners on first and second with one out in the eighth to set the plate for the
reigning NL Most Valuable Player. Harper got ahead in the count and smashed the
3-1 offering from Phillies left-hander Patrick
Schuster into
the second deck at Nationals Park. "I got pretty good wood on it. I felt
good. I knew it was out of the yard," Harper said. "I showed a lot of
emotions there. I was pretty fired up to get that W. Down the stretch you want
to win as many games as you can and get this into the postseason, hopefully. We
have to lock this thing up." The homer snapped a 10-game homerless drought
for Harper, during which he was hitting .211/.279/.289. "Boy, that was a
dramatic home run. That show you how strong he is mentally. After you strike
out three times and you hit a home run," Nationals manager Dusty Baker
said. "He had a rough night going up to then." The Phillies did get a
strong start from right-hander Jerad
Eickhoff, who hurled six shutout innings and struck out
five Nationals.
PHILS PHACTS:
- Eickhoff
matched Scherzer, allowing five hits and two walks and striking out five
in six scoreless innings. He followed strong performances Thursday from Alec
Asher (six
scoreless innings) and Friday from Jake Thompson (two runs in 5 1/3 innings)
against the Nationals. Philadelphia acquired Eickhoff, Thompson and Asher
in the July 2015 Cole
Hamels trade
with Texas. "Asher said yesterday it's kind of crazy to see all these
Rangers up here," Eickhoff said. "It's a cool thing. We all kind
of reflect and just look at each other and see how fortunate and lucky we
are to have this opportunity to contribute at the big league level."
- The Phillies had runners on first and second with one
out in the first and runners on first and second with two outs in the
third, but could not score. It is the fifth time in the past 18 games the
Phillies have been shut out. They were shut out five times in their first
124 games. "No new news," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said.
"We just lack offense."
- "It is tough. I'm very patient, but it doesn't mean I like
what's happening. I don't have to be happy about it." -- Mackanin, on the Phillies' offensive struggles.
- In the fourth inning, Phillies center fielder Odubel Herrera threw Clint Robinson out at the
plate, but Baker challenged the call, claiming that Robinson's left hand
touched home plate before catcher Cameron Rupp tagged him
out. But the call was confirmed, and the Nationals lost their challenge.
NEXT
GAME:
Phillies left-hander Adam Morgan (2-9, 5.90 ERA) pitches Sunday afternoon in the finale of a
four-game series at Nationals Park at 1:35 p.m. ET. Morgan has allowed three
earned runs in 12 2/3 innings in his last two starts, including two runs in 6
2/3 innings of two-run ball Aug. 31 against the Nationals at Citizens Bank Park.
PHILS PHACTS:
Hamels Haul Paying Dividends – Jerad
Eickhoff could
reflect positively about any number of things Saturday night at Nationals Park.
The right-hander threw six scoreless innings in a 3-0 loss to the Nationals, striking out
five, including Bryce
Harper three times on curveballs in the first, third
and sixth innings. He has pitched six innings in five consecutive starts and
six or more innings in 20 of 29 starts this season, essentially making him the
workhorse of the Phillies' rotation. But it also had to feel good to follow
strong performances Thursday from Alec
Asher (six
scoreless innings) and Friday from Jake
Thompson (two
earned run in 5 1/3 innings), considering they joined the Phillies in July 2015
in the Cole
Hamels trade
with Texas. "Asher said yesterday it's kind of crazy to see all these
Rangers up here," Eickhoff said. "It's a cool thing. We all kind of
reflect and just look at each other and see how fortunate and lucky we are to
have this opportunity to contribute at the big league level." As the
Phillies' season nears its end, it is fair to wonder how each will factor into
the Phillies' rotation come Opening Day 2017. Thompson has pitched well in each
of his last three starts after struggling terribly in his first four. Asher
looked fine in his season debut Thursday, but both of those former Rangers
prospects have more to prove. Eickhoff and Vince
Velasquez seem
to be the only locks at this exact moment, but only because Aaron
Nola has
not thrown a baseball since receiving a PRP injection in his right elbow last
month. Nola said Friday, though, that the elbow is improving and he is anxious
to begin his throwing program. Zach Eflin will
be returning from a pair of knee surgeries, while Adam Morgan has pitched
better lately, but he has to keep it up. The Phillies also figure to acquire at
least a veteran starter or two, assuming Jeremy
Hellickson rejects
the Phillies' qualifying offer following the season. But Eickhoff has been one
of the team's few bright spots this season. He is 10-13 with a 3.73 ERA, but
his record is under .500 because he has received some of the worst run support
in baseball. Eickhoff's 3.76 runs-per-start average is 78th out of 82 qualified
starters in the big leagues. "I kind of expected him to be this type of
pitcher," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "It didn't exceed my
expectations. I expected him to be a pretty darn good consistent pitcher -- a
workhorse type of guy. That's what we were hoping he was going to be and
figured he would be, not only because of his stuff, but because of his
demeanor. He's all business. He studies. He's always in the video room. He
really pays attention and works hard at it. "He just looks like he's out
there to beat you. He's mean."
More Options – Phillies
manager Pete Mackanin has a few more players to squeeze into games before the
end of the season. The club announced Saturday it had recalled outfielder Cody
Asche and
right-handers Luis Garcia and Phil
Klein from
Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They also selected the contract of left-hander Joely
Rodriguez and
designated infielder Taylor
Featherston for
assignment. The Phillies could see Double-A Reading catcher Jorge
Alfaro and
outfielder Roman Quinn join the club before the end of the
season, too. "At this point it's flip a coin," Mackanin said of
finding playing time for everybody. "I don't want to sound down about it,
but we've got so many guys, and who do I play? I don't know. It's a guessing
game. "But when it comes to something like that, I'm going to play the
best defense. Peter
Bourjos is
hard to take out of the lineup because he provides that defense." It
should be a little easier to see Rodriguez, whom the Phillies acquired from the
Pirates in a December 2014 trade for Antonio
Bastardo. The left-hander went a combined 7-0 with a 2.35
ERA in a combined 53 appearances with Class A Clearwater, Double-A Reading and
Lehigh Valley. The Phillies need left-handed relievers, so Rodriguez and Patrick
Schuster will
have an opportunity to prove themselves in the season's final weeks. Left-hander
Elvis Araujo had a 5.60 ERA in 32 appearances with
the Phillies. He finished the season with Lehigh Valley but was not recalled. "We
want to get a look at Rodriguez," Mackanin said. "We've seen Araujo
quite a bit and we know what he's capable of doing. We want to see Schuster,
too. We're going to try to run him out there as much as we can." Schuster
entered Saturday's 3-0 loss in the eighth inning to face David
Murphy and
walked him. He then served up a game-winning three-run home run to Bryce
Harper. "It wasn't a good audition," Mackanin
said. "At least you've got to throw strikes. That situation was meant for
a left-handed situational guy."
Losing Patience – Remember
when Phillies center fielder Odubel
Herrera was
walking and seeing more pitches than just about anybody in baseball? Well, he
got away from that. He ranked fourth in baseball in walks (33) and sixth in
pitches per plate appearance (4.37) through June 3. But Herrera ranks 133rd in
walks (21) and 91st in pitches per plate appearance (3.79) since. Asked what
has happened to Herrera, Mackanin offered a more philosophical answer. "Rather
than look at the game of baseball in little spurts, the test is about six
months," he said. "Gene Mauch once said, 'You're going to hit what
you're supposed to hit.' If you're a .250 hitter and you're hitting .280 with a
month to go, you're most likely going to hit .250. What it's all about is
consistency over the course of six months. It's not looking at a guy with a hot
week and getting excited about him. What you need is consistent at-bats over
the course of six months, and those guys are hard to find. "Everybody is
streaky to a point, but the really good ones we're looking for don't have
prolonged slumps. Regardless, I don't really care what happened to him after
the All-Star break. I'm not saying he's a good first-half player or not. Last
year, he went through that issue where he was down to .250 near the All-Star
break, but he rebounded to hit .297. For example, if he goes off and gets a ton
of hits and ends up hitting .297 again because he gets hot, that's great. "But
the last six weeks have not been helpful to win games. You're looking for that
guy that's consistent on a daily basis, quality at-bats."
Today
In Phils History – Despite Eddie Freed going 4 for 5 with 2 doubles
and a triple in his 1942 MLB debut, the Phillies lose the game to Cincinnati.
In game 1 of a 1955 double header against Milwaukee, Phillies pitcher Fred Weheimer
had a shutout through 8 innings before surrendering a 2 out, full count, grand
slam to Del Crandall and taking the loss 5-4. Game 2 saw the debut of Freddy
Van Dusen who was hit by a pitch in his only career plate appearance. The
Phillies set 2 franchise records on this day in 2004 by using 20 pitchers in
the 13 inning matchup with the Mets and Todd Pratt’s homerun in the 2nd
breaking the old record of 186 homeruns in a season set in 1977. Other debuts
that took place on this date include Ed Sixsmith (1884), Dick Young (1951), Mel
Clark (1951), and John Vukovich (1970).
THE BEGINNING:
The
Phillies are currently 63-79 this season putting them on pace to beat most
preseason predictions. All time, the Phillies are 52-57-0 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.
