Tuesday, May 21

‘We can do injury’: Phils proceed historic HR surge

MILWAUKEE — The energy surge that started final month and has continued at full throttle in September propelled the Phillies to a 4-2 win over the Brewers on Sunday afternoon at American Family Field, ending Philadelphia’s three-game shedding streak.

Alec Bohm and J.T. Realmuto belted back-to-back residence runs off Brewers starter Wade Miley to begin the seventh inning because the Phils turned a one-run deficit right into a one-run lead.

Standings replace: The Phillies (75-61) maintain a 2 1/2-game lead over the Cubs (73-64) for the highest NL Wild Card spot. They are 5 1/2 video games away from the D-backs (70-67), Giants (70-67), Marlins (70-67) and Reds (71-68).

“As an opposing pitcher, you never feel comfortable, no matter who is in the box or where you’re at in the game,” Realmuto stated of the Phillies’ lineup. “It’s just not a comfortable feeling knowing that whoever is stepping to the plate, one through nine, can take you deep and do damage, and you’re just one bad pitch away from your outing completely changing.”

Such was the case on Sunday.

Miley held the Phillies and not using a hit till two outs within the sixth. After Kyle Schwarber walked, Trea Turner broke up the no-hit bid with a single off the glove of Brewers third baseman Andruw Monasterio. Nick Castellanos then drove in Schwarber with a double to chop Milwaukee’s benefit to 2-1.

Miley got here again out for the seventh and the Phillies’ energy modified the course of the sport when Bohm and Realmuto drove pitches over the fence in consecutive at-bats. It marked the sixth time Philadelphia batters hit back-to-back homers this season, with the newest such incidence approaching Aug. 23 towards the Giants.

Milwaukee supervisor Craig Counsell stated he had confidence in sending Miley out for the seventh.

“It simply didn’t work out,” Counsell said. “It’s the house runs that damage us, clearly, in that inning.”

Bohm stated he wasn’t certain that the ball he hit — which traveled a Statcast-projected 388 toes — was going to clear the fence. It would have been a house run in just one different ballpark (Wrigley Field), in line with Statcast.

“I thought I was going to get thrown out at second, but I was going regardless,” Bohm stated. “I saw it went over and I was pretty relieved. No matter where we’re at in this order, we can do damage.”

The Phillies’ pair of homers marked their sixth straight sport with at the very least two residence runs, tying the longest such streak in franchise historical past. They additionally went deep a number of instances in six consecutive video games from Aug. 2-8, 1969.

Philadelphia linked for seven residence runs within the three-game sequence, with Realmuto, Schwarber and Turner every hitting a pair. That comes after the Phillies had an MLB-best and franchise-record 59 homers in August, tied for the third most by any group in a calendar month.

“That’s what we envisioned when this team was put together — it’s power up and down the lineup,” Realmuto stated. “We haven’t necessarily shown it all year long, but I feel like we are coming into our stride right now at the right time.”

The Phils additionally received a lift with the return of Ranger Suárez, who hadn’t pitched since Aug. 13 after straining his proper hamstring whereas understanding on the synthetic turf in Toronto. The southpaw had gone 2-6 with a 3.88 ERA in 17 begins this season previous to touchdown on the injured listing. He had additionally logged at the very least 5 innings in every of his previous 15 outings.

That streak ended on Sunday. Making his first begin in three weeks — and with none rehab outings to ramp up — Suárez lasted simply 4 innings. He gave up two runs off 5 hits (together with two residence runs) and two walks, whereas putting out 5. Suárez threw 75 pitches, 46 for strikes.

Manager Rob Thomson noticed some positives regardless of the abbreviated outing.

“All in all, I thought it was good,” Thomson stated. “The velocity was good. The command was a little off, which is natural [after] not being out on the mound for as long as he’s been out.”

William Contreras tagged Suárez for a solo residence run with one out within the first inning to provide the Brewers a 1-0 lead. Suárez confronted six batters and threw 26 pitches within the opening body. After a fast second inning, seven Milwaukee batters got here to the plate within the third.

The Brewers loaded the bases with two outs within the inning, however Suárez struck out Victor Caratini to thwart the rally.

Suárez was lifted after retiring the facet so as within the fourth.

“Maybe at first, I was a little shaky,” Suarez stated by group interpreter Diego Ettedgui. “But as the game went on, I felt better, the command was better.”

Content Source: www.mlb.com