SAN DIEGO — José Alvarado pumped his fist just a few instances, slapped himself within the chest and hollered.
“A lot of emotions,” he mentioned following Monday’s 9-7 victory over the Padres at Petco Park.
The Phillies watched an 8-1 lead within the third inning dwindle to 2 by the seventh. Craig Kimbrel walked two within the eighth however escaped. Alvarado walked the primary two he confronted within the ninth, however he retired the subsequent two batters then struck out Ha-Seong Kim swinging on a 3-2 cutter to finish the sport.
• Games remaining: at SD (2), vs. MIA (3), vs. ATL (4), at STL (3), at ATL (3), vs. NYM (4), vs. PIT (3), at NYM (3)
“When I threw Kim the first cutter [at 1-1], I said, ‘This guy, no chance,’” Alvarado mentioned. “3-1 depend, I throw my sinker. He swung. And now he doesn’t know what’s coming as a result of these two pitches tonight have been good.
“I said, ‘OK, if you want a homer, if you want a walk-off, good luck.’”
The Phillies’ bullpen has not misplaced its swagger, even throughout its latest struggles. The Phillies blew a one-run lead within the ninth inning Wednesday in a loss to the Angels. They blew a two-run lead within the eighth on Friday in a loss to the Brewers. It was the primary time the group blew saves within the eighth inning or later in consecutive video games and misplaced because the first two video games of the 2016 season.
“There’s no concern from us,” Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber mentioned. “It’s the game of baseball. You’re going to go through times where you’re hot, and then there’s times when you might not feel like you’re at your best. You have to grind your way through some things.”
Something comparable occurred final 12 months. The Phillies blew a seven-run lead in a 13-7 loss in Arizona on Aug. 29, 2022. The bullpen struggled the subsequent few weeks, however it straightened out in time to assist the Phillies win the National League.
“If you told me that we were taking that bullpen into a three-game set with someone, I’d put them up with the best of them,” Schwarber mentioned.
In the meantime, the Phillies’ offense will choose up the pitching workers prefer it picked up the offense within the season’s first few months.
Schwarber hit his fortieth residence run of the season within the fifth inning. It is the fifteenth 40-homer season in Phillies historical past.
Schwarber’s OPS is as much as .813, which is tied for forty third out of 138 certified hitters in MLB.
“I think I’ve been a topic of conversation for a little bit,” Schwarber mentioned, when requested to evaluate his season. “I guess the WAR stat doesn’t like me. Heck, do I like seeing a .193 [batting average]? No. Do I wish I was hitting higher? Absolutely. But at the end of the day, I have to find a way to be a productive player for the team and help the team win. If that’s walking, if it’s driving in runs, scoring runs, whatever it is — that’s what I have to do. The average part is frustrating, obviously. But everything else has been there. It’s kind of like the double-edged sword, right? But if we keep winning baseball games, heck, that’s all that matters.”
Trea Turner singled within the first inning, giving him a 15-game hitting streak. He hit a two-run residence run within the second. It was Turner’s seventh homer in seven video games. It was his ninth consecutive recreation with an RBI. The final Phillies participant to have an RBI streak that lengthy was Chase Utley, who had a nine-game streak from May 25 – June 3, 2008.
Turner has a 1.162 OPS in 28 video games since Aug. 4. Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins are the one two Phillies since 2013 to have 28-game stretches with a 1.162 OPS or higher. Harper had stretches like that in 2021, ’22 and ’23. Rhys Hoskins had stretches like that in 2017 and ’21.
Alec Bohm cleared the bases with a double within the first. He has 86 RBIs. He could possibly be the primary Phillies third baseman (minimal 50 % of video games performed at third) to have 100 RBIs in a season since Scott Rolen’s 107 RBIs in 2001.
Then there may be Bryson Stott, who snapped a 0-for-16 skid with 4 hits.
“It’s good for us if we can help them out a little bit when they might not be at their best,” Schwarber mentioned. “That’s why it’s a team. The more that we help each other out, pick each other up, we get to where we need to be. Anything can happen from there.”
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