Final Score: Phillies 6, Marlins 1
When Bryce Harper went down with a hit by pitch on the hand June 25 in San Diego, the Phillies’ offense had his back. It immediately rallied for three runs, including a go-ahead homer by J.T. Realmuto, leading the Phillies to a road victory.
Though Rhys Hoskins’ injury Wednesday in Miami — suffered on another hit by pitch to the hand — seems less serious than Harper’s was, the offense’s revenge somewhat mirrored its act in San Diego.
Back-to-back homers by Harper and Realmuto keyed a sixth-inning rally that gave the Phillies a lead, which would only grow with yet another bomb by the BCIB an inning later. It was plenty of support for a dominant Kyle Gibson and the Phillies’ bullpen, moving the club to a season-high 18 games over .500.
But it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns. In the top of the third inning, Hoskins went down to the ground after a hit by pitch from Edward Cabrera, and though he stayed in the game to run the bases, Edmundo Sosa took his spot in the infield for the bottom of the fourth.
The good news is that Cabrera’s pitch was an 88-mph changeup. The bad news is that those still hurt, especially when it happens on the hand.
Oh — Phillies are 80-62.
Harper’s Hundredth
Lost in the shuffle of Albert Pujols’ quest for 700 and Aaron Judge’s race to 62, Bryce Harper has been approaching a less historic but still noteworthy home run milestone of his own: 100 big flies with the Phillies.
It came on Wednesday, in game-tying fashion. Harper’s 404-foot, 109-mph opposite-field homer to left center field knotted the score at one in the sixth inning and brought him to 100 homers in 436 games as a Phillie.
For those curious, he’s 85 away from eclipsing his Nationals total. The bet here is that he gets there.
Realmuto thrives at his old home
J.T. Realmuto raises you one homer, Bryce Harper.
After Harper’s 17th homer of the season, Realmuto immediately drew right back even with homer No. 17 of his own. This one went a cool 420 feet away from the plate that Realmuto manned for five years as a Marlin, and it gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
Then, Realmuto reclaimed the pseudo home run race between himself and Harper, cranking a much shorter and three times as productive three-run shot to give the Phillies some cushion in the seventh inning.
More on Realmuto, who’s turned an underwhelming first month into the start of a possible down-ballot MVP season, below.
Zach is Back
Zach Eflin’s exact role upon his return to the Phillies was never precisely defined — neither during his rehab, nor when he came off the injured list Monday. He could start, piggyback or come out of the bullpen.
Perhaps option three is a winner.
Eflin looked outstanding in a perfect eighth inning on Wednesday. He threw 11 pitches, avoided hard contact, struck out one and hit 94 mph on five of seven sinkers (the other two were 93). Needless to say, that version of Eflin will play.
His outing was sandwiched between scoreless frames by Brad Hand and Connor Brogdon to seal it for Gibson, Realmuto and the Phillies, who have a four-game lead on a playoff spot — plus the tiebreaker.
Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance
Edward Cabrera: 5.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB (2 HBP), 4 SO, 2 HR, 98 pitches (63 strikes)
After escaping the first inning, Cabrera faced one above the minimum in innings two through five until Harper and Realmuto brought his night to an abrupt halt in the sixth. Credit him for even getting there, though, after throwing 33 pitches in the first inning. The promising young righty’s 2022 ERA is 2.70.
Kyle Gibson: 6.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 SO, 0 HR, 98 pitches (65 strikes)
Talk about turning your night around. Frankly, Gibson looked awful in a first inning that saw him allow four hits and a run — which could’ve been multiple runs, were it not for one out coming via a pickoff and another via a baserunning blunder on the RBI single. He dominated from that point on, during a sort of unofficial battle for the Phillies’ hypothetical Game 3 starter. His ERA is 4.45.
(Make that 18 homers.)
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Thursday, Sept. 15 vs. Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park
- 6:40 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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