June 02, 2015
With the home team coming into the game as losers of seven in a row and a miserable weather night already underway, here was what Citizens Bank Park looked like for first pitch tonight:
The few brave souls who toughed out the conditions were rewarded by the home team. The Phillies put an end to their seven-game losing streak and beat the Cincinnati Reds in walk-off fashion, 5-4. Here’s what I saw:
1. Brandon Phillips and Joey Votto, hitting in the 1 and 2 holes for the Reds, did some early damage against Sean O’Sullivan in the first and third innings. They went 4-fo-4 in that span, with Votto knocking in Phillips both times for the Reds’ only two runs up to that point.
2. No homers for Cincy as #FormerPhillie Marlon Byrd just missed one to right, but the Reds generally hit the ball hard against O’Sullivan. He surrendered nine hits and four earned runs in 5.2 innings, with Justin De Fratus bailing him out of a jam in the sixth.
1. For a couple of reasons, Johnny Cueto vs. the Phillies’ floundering offense was the matchup I was paying the most attention to. Before the game, Ryne Sandberg mentioned that he wanted his team to be aggressive.
“Generally speaking, we just have to do a better job of finding ways to get on base, putting the bat on the ball, being aggressive, and trying to do something about it to get out of [the slump]” Sandberg said. “We have to swing the bats to get out of the slump. So I think that’s a good place to start.”
2. So did that mean the Phillies were hunting first-pitch fastballs? Nope. I’m pretty sure they didn't attack an initial offering from Cueto until Ryan Howard’s second at-bat.
3. Sandberg also mentioned that the Phillies would have to adjust if Cueto was doing something differently after being scratched from a start due to elbow tenderness. Considering that his fastball was in the 92-93 range for most of the night, it probably wasn't too different from what they'd normally expect. The problem for the Phillies is that normal Cueto is too much for their lineup nine times out of ten. His final line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 4 K, 0 BB, 93 pitches (65 strikes).
4. It’s rare to see Chase Utley drop a bunt down against the shift (Game 1 of the 2008 World Series, anyone?), but he laid a perfect one down the third base line in the first inning for a base hit. In the third inning, he beat the shift the more conventional way by swinging late on a fastball and driving it down the line. In the sixth, he hit the ball over the right-field wall. In the eighth, he flew out to deep center. Nice night for Chase.
With the second hit, Utley’s average creeped up to .204. It’s the first time he’s been above the Mendoza Line since April 14th. A little under a month ago, he was all the way down to .099 and was even drawing some boos. As always, don’t call it a comeback.
5. Maikel Franco must’ve been putting some crazy English on the ball or something. Fellow third baseman committed two errors on grounders hit by the rookie in his first two at-bats.
6. The Phillies aren’t getting much offense from anywhere right now, but the top of the order is especially making a lot of outs as of late. Since the start of the Rockies series, Ben Revere and Freddy Galvis have gotten on base a combined 2 of their last 29 times after an 0-8 night against Cincinnati.
7. Funny sequence of events led to the game being tied in the eighth inning. With two outs, Ryan Howard hit a ball into right that was ruled a double but Jay Bruce completely bungled (Game 2 of the 2010 NLDS, anyone)? Then, Franco made the Reds pay dearly with a deeeeeep two-run shot that hooked around the left-field foul pole. He had also doubled earlier in the game.
8. Here's how the game was won in the ninth: Odubel Herrera double down the left-field line, Carlos Ruiz successful sacrifice, and a bloop base hit for Darin Ruf off Tony Cingrani to walk the Phillies off with a 5-4 win.
1. Good stuff all around by De Fratus, Jake Diekman, Luis Garcia, and Jonathan Papelbon. After O'Sullivan's rough start, they held the Reds scoreless for 3.1 innings. Papelbon's stuff was pretty filthy tonight, as he recorded two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth inning.
1. The wind was seriously blowing in from left field. The Phillies’ outfielders took some… interesting routes to routine fly balls in the first inning because the wind was so tricky.
2. Know how some basketball players like Blake Griffin are known for trying “to dunk everything?” Well, Reds center fielder Billy Hamilton (aka “Mr. 80” on the speed scale) feels like the closest thing we have to a baseball player that tries “to bunt everything.” He did a good job playing small ball in this one, collecting a base hit via the bunt and successfully executing a suicide squeeze.
3. Lazy error by Freddy Galvis in the seventh inning, his eighth of the year. Anecdotally, he's botched a few too many easy plays so far this year.
The off day on Monday allowed the Phillies to skip Severino Gonzalez in the rotation, so Cole Hamels (5-4, 2.91 ERA) will go on normal rest. He pitched well in a losing effort on Friday night against Colorado. Hamels will be opposed by Mike Leake (2-4, 4.66 ERA), and first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. at The Bank.
Follow Rich on Twitter: @rich_hofmann
