Pretty much a picture-perfect win for the Phillies at Yankee Stadium originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
NEW YORK – Perhaps the only thing wrong with the Phillies on a perfect Saturday for baseball was when Bryce Harper changed the clubhouse music before the game from Meatloaf to Dolly Parton. And even that is debatable to some.
That’s how well the Phillies went through their day at Yankee Stadium as they pinned an emphatic 9-4 loss on the home team and lashed out 13 more hits (following 14 on Friday), got another solid starting pitching performance and saw the big bats produce again. All this done in front of a sellout crowd that was overrun with Phillies fans who sprinkled in the obligatory E-A-G-L-E-S chant every so often.
These two games in the Bronx have showcased a team that Phillies fans mostly expected when the season started – quality pitching from the starters and a boatload of offensive prowess, particularly from the players who scoop up the majority of the payroll. Ranger Suarez battled through 108 pitches and 5.2 innings of one-run ball to pick up the win, while Trea Turner got on base four times, including a pair of doubles, Harper homered, Kyle Schwarber knocked in a couple and J.T. Realmuto had two hits.
Offensively, the two days of work has combined for 21 runs and 27 hits, which includes seven doubles and five home runs.
“It’s the ebbs and flows,” downplayed Rob Thomson about his team’s current hot hitting. “We have a lot of guys swinging bats well right now and that comes and goes. (Trea Turner) is using the field. He’s hitting line drives to right field. He’s swinging the bat well. He’s a catalyst. Ever since the San Francisco game where he had the four extra base hits (Bryce Harper) has been really good.
“I think a lot of times they feed off of Harp but I think they’re feeding off each other right now. It’s like our rotation, trying to keep up with the Joneses in the lineup. They’re doing a good job.”
It didn’t take long to get started Saturday as Turner led off the first with a double and scored on a Realmuto single. Harper bombed one in the third to left-center before the Phils tacked on two more in the fourth on four walks, one hit and a fielder’s choice for a 4-0 lead. It really was all Suarez would need as he struck out seven in upping his record to 8-4 while lowering his ERA to 2.59 on the season.
“I felt good,” said Suarez. “All my pitches were working today. When you compare to last start (4.1 innings, nine hits, six earned runs and four walks), the curve ball was there and the changeup, too, was working well. All my pitches felt good today.”
When the question of velocity, which has decreased by Suarez slightly in his last few outings, was asked, Suarez just laughed it off. “I don’t know,” he said. “Last start I tried putting a little more into it and we all saw what happened there. At this point I just think I’m one of those pitchers that rely on pitch location and control and command of the pitches other than rely on velocity.”
While it felt like a Phillies home game with all the red, white and blue in the seats, Suarez continued his road dominance. In eight starts this season away from Citizens Bank Park, Suarez is 5-3 with a 1.48 ERA.
The Phillies did get a scare in the bottom of the seventh when third baseman Edmundo Sosa drifted back on a ball to short left. Brandon Marsh came in hard from his spot in left and ran into the back of Sosa, who caught the ball before he headed to the ground. He stayed there for quite some time before getting to his feet and helped to the bench by Marsh. Sosa left the game with what the team called a back contusion.
“I saw the ball was hit, figured it was Trea’s ball but he couldn’t see it because of the sun,” said Marsh. “When I looked down at Sosa and Trea I just noticed the ball was in the middle of them so I had to go and make a play. Sosa said he was saying he had it but I didn’t hear him so it’s my fault.”
The Phillies were without the services of Nick Castellanos, who jammed his knee Friday night making the game-ending catch near the wall in right field. For now, he is listed as day-to-day.
Those were really the only blemishes Saturday, allowing Thomson to go to the deep part of his bullpen to close out a game where the lead grew as big as 9-1 in the seventh with the help of a two-run home run by Sosa. Two innings prior, Sosa struck out with a runner on second and showed his disgust after a bad at-bat. Sosa said after the game that Harper came and talked to him and that was part of the reason he was so focused before the homer.
“That’s not me. That’s not who I am,” said Sosa.
Who the Phillies have been as a whole in these two games has been more than good enough.
NOTE:
The Phillies made a move Saturday by acquiring outfielder Brewer Hickman for cash considerations from the Detroit Tigers. He was optioned to triple-A Lehigh Valley. The 29-year-old has 12 at-bats in the majors through the years.
