Final Score: Phillies 4, Pirates 2
It took some time for the Philadelphia Phillies to get anything going offensively, but the bats woke up in the seventh inning to score two and tie the game, and the man who tied it up, Rhys Hoskins, was the one to win it for the Phillies, leading off the 10th inning with a two run homer to give the Phillies the lead for good:
The bullpen pitched four shutout innings, with Connor Brogdon getting the save. The Phillies are now 53-47, and they remain even with the St. Louis Cardinals, who defeated the Washington Nationals Friday night, in the Wild Card race.
Falter Keeps The Phillies In The Ballgame
Bailey Falter delivered his longest start of his career, giving the Phillies six solid innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight batters. The strikeouts and innings pitched are both career highs for Falter in a start.
He gave up a double to the first batter of the ballgame, but he retired the next three hitters without allowing the run to score.
The Pirates got on the board first thanks to two-out doubles by Kevin Newman and Greg Allen:
Ke’Bryan Hayes extended the lead to two with a solo homer in the sixth inning, but Falter retired the next two batters he faced to end the inning and his evening:
In Falter’s role as a replacement in the rotation, performances like the one he delivered Friday are exactly what the Phillies need. Falter handed the ball off to the bullpen with the game within close reach for the offense, as seen by their ability to tie it up in the top half of the seventh.
If Falter ends up being displaced in the rotation by an acquisition at the trade deadline and this was his final start, it was a good note to exit on.
Better Late Than Never
Through five innings, the Phillies only had three baserunners, all of whom reached via singles. In the sixth inning, they loaded the bases with a single and two walks, all coming with two outs, but they were unable to capitalize.
In the seventh inning, they got off the schneid. Matt Vierling led off the inning with a single, and Odúbel Herrera walked with one out. After a Johan Camargo strikeout, Kyle Schwarber just missed on what would have been his 33rd home run of the season, but he was able to cut the deficit in half with a long single and bring up Rhys Hoskins:
Hoskins smoked the first pitch he saw for a single to tie the game at two:
… but Rhys picks him up. pic.twitter.com/helxEf1XhX
— Phillies Nation (@PhilliesNation) July 30, 2022
Nick Castellanos doubled with one out in the eighth, but he didn’t come around to score.
As he did in the seventh, Hoskins delivered again in the 10th, crushing his 20th home run of the season to lead off extra innings. His streakiness is well documented, but tonight was one of those nights where he was clicking on all cylinders, and he came through in the clutch when the Phillies needed it most.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Alec Bohm’s hitting streak is at 14 games after a fifth-inning single, and tonight was his 32nd multi-hit game of the season.
- Rhys Hoskins reached base safely five times, with four hits and a walk. The last time Hoskins reached safely five times was July 6, 2018, also against the Pirates, when he had two singles, a double and was walked twice in a 17-5 victory in Pittsburgh.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Saturday, July 30 vs. Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park
- 7:15 p.m. ET
- TV: FOX
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP, WTTM1680
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