Final Score: Phillies 4, Rockies 3
It seemed like it was going to be one of those nights. The Phillies came into the game without a run over the last 14 innings and were facing an inexperienced Rockies starter who can attack the strike zone. They fell behind 3-0 in the first inning after their ace Aaron Nola made a bad pitch.
The bats struggled early, but the Phillies were able to score four unanswered runs and come back against a bad team and get back in the win column. Nola rebounded nicely after his first inning struggles and the Phillies were able to take the lead late and hand the game over to one of the most dominant relievers in the sport, José Alvarado, to finish it off in the ninth.
It’s baby steps, but the Phillies will take progress any way they can.
…
In a matter of minutes, Nola and the Phillies were in a hole. Kris Bryant and Charlie Blackmon reached base on a couple singles with one out in the first inning. Nola got C.J. Cron to whiff on three straight pitches for the second out, but the next batter Ryan McMahon sat on a high fastball and crushed it to straight away center to give Colorado an early 3-0 lead.
Rockies starter Noah Davis, who threw five shutout innings in his last start against the Mariners, kept the Phillies off the board through the first three innings.
The Phillies finally broke their scoreless streak in the fourth. It was something we’ve seen before. Nick Castellanos began the inning reaching on an E5 and was at third. He took a big lead off the base to distract the rookie starter. Thousands of keen observers in the stands took notice and played along with Castellanos, hoping to get Davis out of his rhythm. The third baseman McMahon ran back to the bag and Davis leaned towards third and stepped off. A balk was called.
Jake Cave, who came into the game with a .176 batting average, drove in the second run of the inning on a swinging bunt to the vacated left side of the infield following the balk:
The Phillies finally tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. Kyle Schwarber ambushed a first-pitch fastball from Dinelson Lamet and deposited it into the seats to make it a 3-3 game:
Edmundo Sosa, who hilariously bat flipped on a deep fly ball in a previous at-bat, gave the Phillies the lead in the bottom of the eighth on a single to left field against former Phillie Brad Hand, who received his NL championship ring pregame. Jurickson Profar tried to make the diving play for the third out, but second base umpire Todd Tichenor was all over it and immediately called Sosa safe.
Sosa also made an unbelievable diving grab on a scorching line drive to get the second to last out of the game. It was a nice first-game back for Sosa, who missed the previous five games with a back injury.
Maybe the most positive development of the night was Nola’s bounce back after a bad first inning. It was a weird line for Nola, but one he’ll take. He walked three, struck out three and induced seven ground ball outs.
His ability to get contact early in at-bats allowed him to go seven innings. Is it something he’s trying to do as a way to get deeper into games?
“I guess,” Nola laughed. “I mean, I don’t know. The past few outings, I’ve been getting behind in counts. Three walks today, again. It’s hard to try to strike guys out when you’re 2-2 a lot. Just got to keep getting ahead in the count and putting them away when I need to.”
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Nola’s first-inning strikeout against Cron was the 1,400th of his career. Per the Phillies, Clayton Kershaw, Chris Sale, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke and Gerrit Cole are the only other active pitchers to reach that mark before their 30th birthday.
- The Phillies sold out Citizens Bank Park for the fourth time this season. 43,261 was the announced attendance.
- Brandon Marsh has reached base safely in 17-consecutive games, which is the fourth-longest active on-base streak in the majors.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Saturday, April 22 vs. Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park
- 3:05 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia+
- Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP
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