Phillies notes: Bullpen shines, Bohm lifts RISP woes, M's opener ahead originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
On Sunday, the Phils took a commanding 6-0 lead into the third inning — then the Nationals started to mash.
A six-run third off Aaron Nola chased the right-hander earlier than expected in his first start off the injured list. The red-hot Phillies bullpen had to step in.
- Tanner Banks: scoreless 1 2/3 frames
- Joe Ross: scoreless 1 2/3 frames
- Matt Strahm: scoreless 1 1/3 frames
Then, the Nationals’ bats struck again. Paul DeJong blasted a ninth-inning three-run shot off Max Lazar to bring the game back within two.
That set up a save situation and Rob Thomson turned to his newly acquired flamethrower Jhoan Duran — just two days removed from being carted off after a comebacker off the bat of DeJong struck his ankle.
As he had in each of his first four outings with Philadelphia, Duran locked things down in the ninth to seal the club’s 71st victory of the season.
With a shortened rotation and a huge three-game set ahead, the Phillies can’t be thrilled about using five relievers in a game they once led by six. But they have to be pleased with how the bullpen has performed since the start of August — especially after Dave Dombrowski prioritized relief help at the July 31 trade deadline.
Since then, Phillies relievers own the second-lowest ERA in the Majors (2.33) and have held opponents to a league-low .519 OPS.
Reinforcements are on the way, too: left-hander José Alvarado is eligible to return Tuesday from his 80-game PED suspension.
BohmeRISP
Through the first nine games of their 10-in-10 road trip, the Phillies hit just .203 with runners in scoring position (13-for-64).
When they took the field Saturday at Nationals Park, they welcomed back one of their best run producers, Alec Bohm, from the injured list.
Almost immediately, Bohm chopped one past the glove of Nationals third baseman Brady House — scored as an error — to break the scoring seal in the first inning.
Just an inning later, with the Phillies rallying, Bohm came to the plate with runners on the corners and swatted his ninth home run of the season.
Philadelphia finished the day 7-for-14 with RISP. On the year, Bohm is slashing .302/.343/.458 in those situations, and Thomson must be pleased to insert the sixth-year veteran’s balanced approach back into the heart of the order.
M’s stay in PA, head to CBP
Seattle makes the quick three-hour trip from Williamsport, where the Mariners dropped the finale of their Little League Classic against the Mets.
Ranger Suárez gets the ball Wednesday night for the Phillies, coming off two of his worst starts of the season. In that span (11 2/3 innings), Suárez has allowed 19 hits and 11 earned runs (8.49 ERA), including two homers.
The Mariners’ results against left-handed pitching have been extreme. First-year manager Dan Wilson’s squad leads the American League in both home runs (49) and strikeouts (335) against lefties.
If “Mr. Rager” is going to succeed, he’ll need to keep the ball in the yard — which is not so easy when the league leader in homers, Cal Raleigh, is digging in.
The “Big Dumper” has slugged 47, just one shy of Salvador Perez’s single-season record for a catcher (48 in 2021). Raleigh has punished lefties with 17 long balls and a 1.042 OPS.
The Mariners are 29-10 when Raleigh leaves the yard and 39-47 when he does not.
With Zack Wheeler sidelined, the Phillies need their southpaws — Cristopher Sánchez, Jesús Luzardo and Suárez — to hold steady.
Roster Move
The Phillies announced that they have called up right-hander Nolan Hoffman from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Hoffman, 28, was traded to the Phils on June 18 from the Texas Rangers in exchange for cash considerations.
The former Mariners farmhand has fired 19 innings out of the bullpen for the IronPigs — pitching to a 3.32 ERA — striking out 27 opponents and walking 11.
The corresponding move sent reliever Max Lazar back down to Triple-A. He has a posted 4.78 ERA across 32 innings this season.