The 4th inning saw the Guardians score two with a small-ball combination of bunts, a steal, and singles, bringing the score to 3-0. If you’re a Guardians fan, you might’ve called it wonderfully old-fashioned. But if you’re reading this you’re probably not a Guardians fan, and so you more likely called it aggravating. Alec Bohm’s leadoff double seemed to give the Phillies some hope in their half, but the next three Philadelphias made outs.
Finally, the Fightins finally drew blood in the bottom 5th, as Bryson Stott slammed a 416-ft homer into right to cut the deficit to 3-1. It was just a solo shot, but in the moment it seemed like water in the desert.
Sánchez finished his day after the 6th and was replaced by José Ruiz, who kept the score where it was. Stott once again provided a spark with a one out single, and the Phillies tried to keep the momentum going by having Weston Wilson pinch-hit for Johan Rojas. He popped out, but Kyle Schwarber singled to put runners on the corners. Unfortunately a popup from Turner ensured that Stott’s homer remained the only run for the Fightins.
Baseball is famously a game without a clock (make that past tense if you consider the pitch clock to break that tradition), but time was beginning to grow short for the home nine. A 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the 8th made it grow shorter. Orion Kerkering kept the deficit at 2 runs, setting up one last shot for the Phillies.
All-Star Emmanuel Clase stood between the Phillies and redemption. Two quick groundouts put the Phils on the brink before Bryson Stott, as he had all night, provided some life. His single to left brought Wilson to the plate as the potential tying run. He struck out via foul tip to end a frustrating night at the Bank. Games like this happen to even the best squads, and before long this fumbled Friday will be forgotten. But for tonight there’s no catharsis.
The Phillies are 64-39. They’ll continue the series against Cleveland tomorrow night at 6:05.
Sometimes you get shut down by an ace. Sometimes you get shut down by a pitcher who isn’t one, but who plays the part admirably for one night. Ben Lively, the former Phil, isn’t a juggernaut, but if you had only tonight’s game to go off of you might not know it. Lackluster performances against a just-okay pitcher will happen to every team over the course of a season, but that reality may do little to help you keep irritability in check as you watch it play out. Especially if you’re also juggling the frustrations of inexplicable fielding blunders and even more inexplicable strike calls. So it goes.
The action got started as Angel Martínez slapped an infield single to Trea Turner, who was able to knock it down, but had no throw. Martínez then stole second on an odd rundown that wasn’t, and was scored by a David Fry single to center. A high throw from Turner on a chopper from Jhonkensy Noel seemed to pull Bryce Harper off the bag, but a challenge resulted in the discovery that the Phillies’ fearless first baseman managed to keep a spike on the bag, ending the inning by the smallest of margins.
The Phillies continued to look out of sorts in the second, with a leadoff single from Andrés Giminez and a sloppy throw from Turner allowing Brayan Rocchio to put runners on the corners. This time there was no replay to reverse the error. Fortunately, Cristopher Sánchez navigated the rest of the inning without incident.
The frustration mounted for the home club as the home plate umpire called strikes on pitches well outside of the zone. To refer to the calls as questionable would be diplomatic, though perhaps understated. The question became not if someone would be ejected but who; it turned out to be hitting coach Kevin Long.
The Phillies offense could not muster more than 1 run of support for starter Cristopher Sanchez.
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