White knuckle tight

Kolby Allard had his best start so far as a Phillie, as he allowed one run on six hits with no walks and three strikeouts while throwing just 59 pitches, 41 of which were for strikes. Allard kept the overly aggressive Arizona hitters out in front, generating weak contact and quick outs with five ground ball outs and three double plays that got him out of trouble.

Orion Kerkering was the first out of the bullpen tasked with holding a 4-1 Phillies lead in the sixth. He walked Ketel Marte after a nine pitch at bat to begin the inning and then allowed a two-run home run to Jake McCarthy that cut the lead down to one. It was the first home run that Kerkering has allowed at the Major League level. The threat didn’t end there, as Lourdes Gurriel Jr. followed with a single and Josh Bell walked to put two on with no outs. But Kerkering was able to escape without any further damage thanks to a groundout from Randal Grichuk and a pair of strikeouts to Suarez and Kevin Newman.

Insurance, like the jersey patch

Realmuto got one of the runs back quickly however, as he hit a 430-foot home run to begin the seventh and put the Phillies back up 5-3. It was Realmuto’s eighth home run of the season and first since May 23rd.

Realmuto would later lead off the ninth with a double and scored two batters later when Sosa switched places with him on a double of his own to restore the Phillies three run lead.

Bend, don't break

Jeff Hoffman allowed a single in the seventh but otherwise pitched a clean inning. Jose Alvarado entered for the eighth and walked Gurriel on four pitches to start the inning. He then got Bell to ground into a fielder’s choice for the first out before walking Grichuk to put the tying run on base in a then 5-3 game. But much like Kerkering before, Alvarado rebounded to strike out the next two batters and not allow a run to score.

Carlos Estevez entered in the ninth for his first save opportunity as a member of the Phillies. He allowed a leadoff single to Geraldo Perdomo before striking out Joc Pederson and Marte. However, a throwing error on Estevez on a pickoff attempt allowed Perdomo to go to second where he would then score on a single from McCarthy that cut the lead back to two and brought the tying run to the plate. But Gurriel would hit a routine fly ball to right that was caught by Castellanos to secure the Phillies third consecutive win.