Ball bounces Phillies' way, snap southpaw skid against Athletics originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
For most of Wednesday night, it felt like the Phillies were slipping back into a familiar trap.
Another left-handed starter. Another slow start offensively. Another reminder of one of the clearest issues that has followed them all season.
Then the eighth inning changed it, with some good fortune coming their way.
Down a run, the Phillies put together a late rally against Oakland’s bullpen and came back for a 6-3 win over the Athletics at Citizens Bank Park, their eighth victory in their last nine games.
Kyle Schwarber walked. Athletics second baseman Jeff McNeil made a throwing error on what could have been a Bryce Harper forceout. That opened the door. The Phillies had caught a break.
Adolis García singled to load the bases. Then Edmundo Sosa came through again, punching a two-run single to give the Phillies a 4-3 lead.
Sosa battled through a long at-bat and stayed with a sweeper long enough to shoot it through.
“I just wanted to be aggressive at the plate,” Sosa said through Phillies translator Diego D’Aniello. “That was my mindset at the moment. I wanted to put the ball in play.”
He did exactly that, and the Phillies kept going. With one out, Brandon Marsh lined his third hit of the night to push the lead to two. Justin Crawford then brought in another run on a groundout.
That was enough to finish off the first Phillies win in a game started by a left-hander this season. They had been 0-10 in those games, their longest losing streak against left-handed starters by a National League club since at least 2000.
It did not erase the concern. It did change the ending.
A’s southpaw Jeffrey Springs was solid, allowing two runs over 5 1/3 innings. The Phillies had to chip away. Marsh tripled the other way in a left-on-left matchup in the fifth and came around to score. García homered in the sixth. But the bigger damage came after Springs left.
That was the difference from so many of their earlier losses to left-handed starters.
The Phillies did not solve everything against Springs. They made sure the game did not end with him.
“The middle of the order tonight kept pressure on them all night,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “And we finally broke through again late.”
Marsh has been one of the biggest reasons the offense has looked different lately. He finished with three hits for the second straight game and is now batting .336, fourth in the Majors. Over his last 15 games, he is hitting .400/.424/.600 with 22 hits.
The Phillies’ outfielder laced two hits against lefties on the night. Those matchups for Marsh have been a talking point around him for years.
“You just got to treat it just like it’s a right-hander,” Marsh said. “That’s the best advice that I was given coming up. It’s tough. It’s a tough situation, but it’s part of it. It makes it more beautiful when you succeed.”
The Phillies still have a larger issue against left-handed pitching, especially with their right-handed bats. They had six right-handed hitters in the lineup Wednesday, and that group has not done enough in those matchups this season.
Entering the night, Phillies right-handed hitters against southpaws had the lowest batting average and OPS by any team in those matchups dating back to 1920.
Sosa has become one of the exceptions. He has quietly hit .333 with an .889 OPS against right-handers, too, which has given the Phillies more confidence leaving him in spots where a pinch-hitter might otherwise seem possible. He could play his way into more at-bats with Alec Bohm continuing to struggle at third.
That preparation is not accidental.
“I’m a firm believer in my routine,” Sosa said. “My routine is a big part of it. It builds confidence for me before every single game.”
The Phillies needed that kind of at-bat because Zack Wheeler kept them close.
In his first home start since Aug. 2 of last year, Wheeler allowed three earned runs over 6 1/3 innings and 98 pitches. He left to a loud standing ovation and now has a 3.12 ERA through three starts.
His velocity continued to tick up. His four-seamer averaged 95 mph, up from 94.3 mph through his first two starts. His sinker, splitter and cutter were all up about a mile per hour, too.
Wheeler, humbly, was not fully satisfied.
“Honestly, I felt a little off,” Wheeler said. “The ball was coming out well, but just a little off, especially with the sweeper, curveball a little bit.”
Mattingly saw enough to feel encouraged.
“I felt like the ball jumped out of his hand a little better today,” Mattingly said. “He’s been good every time now, so I don’t want to make it sound like he hasn’t been good, but for me, just watching from the side, you felt like there was a little more finish to his stuff.”
Wheeler did not get the same swing-and-miss he had in his first two outings, but his four-seamer remains a weapon. Opponents are 1-for-16 against it this season with six strikeouts.
More importantly, he gave the Phillies a chance to win on a night when the offense needed time.
“All that matters is we won,” Wheeler said.
That has become the theme lately. The Phillies are not playing perfect baseball, but they are playing better baseball. They are finding different ways to win.
Marsh credited the pitching staff for keeping them in position Wednesday.
“Hats off to our pitching staff,” Marsh said. “The pitching kept us in a position to do what we did tonight.”
The lefty issue is not gone. One late rally does not wipe away the first 10 losses against opposing southpaw starters or the season-long struggles in those matchups.
But Wednesday was different. And under Mattingly, the Phillies are still riding the wave.
“You want to ride this wave as long as possible,” Mattingly said. “There are storms out there coming at some point. But when you’re catching some breaks and getting some big hits, you just want to ride this as long as you can.”
