Rhys Hoskins hits two home runs, powers Phillies past Rockies 7-5.
If you type into the The Liberty Line search bar “Rhys Hoskins” you will find an unhealthy amount of blogs about the importance of the Phillies’ first baseman to the ball club. A saying that I consistently use is “As Rhys goes, so do the Phillies.” Last night was no different.
Aaron Nola let up a run in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly from Trevor Story. The Phillies were down 1-0 after losing in walk-off fashion the night before. The score would remain that way until the third inning, when Rhys Hoskins crushed a home two-run home run to centerfield to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead. The Phillies would add two more runs that inning thanks to a Didi Gregorius single that scored Bryce Harper and an Alec Bohm sac fly that scored JT Realmuto.
Aaron Nola would run into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth inning, allowing the Rockies to tie the game on a Tapia fielders choice followed by a two-out, two-run home run from Ryan McMahon. The Rockies had the momentum heading into the final innings of the game. That momentum was quickly erased in the top of the sixth inning as Rhys Hoskins stepped to the plate in the top of the sixth inning and crushed a three-run home run to right center field giving the Phillies a three run lead.
Hoskins tied a career-high five RBIs in his sixth career multi-homer game. He now has four home runs in the last four games he’s played while batting .300 (9-for-30) with an 1.0777 OPS in his last seven games. On the season, Rhys Hoskins is batting .263 with seven doubles, six home runs, 12 RBI, and an .873 OPS. Those numbers include a seven-game slump in the middle of April that had Phillies fans on social media begging for Hoskins to be out of the Phillies lineup like we have any one else who can play first base to begin with.
The Phillies offense hasn’t been as consistent as expected in the early goings of the 2021 season. They have hit another bump in the road thanks to key injuries in their bullpen with Archie Bradley and Jose Alvarado both missing time. The season has been a rollercoaster to say the least, and the Phillies find themselves at 10-10, an even .500, tied with the Mets (8-8) atop the NL East standings.
There’s no doubt that Hoskins is a streaky player. His cold streaks make you want to rip your hair out while his hot streaks make you want to climb to the top of City Hall and drape a number 17 jersey over William Penn. Since Hoskins made his big league debut on August 2017, he entered last night ninth in baseball in home runs (95) and 37th out of 289 qualified hitters in OPS (.857).
Maton Watch: Nick “The Next Chase Utley” Maton entered last night’s game 7-for-16 (.438) through four career games. He’s just the 10th player in Phillies history with at least seven hits in his first four career games. The hot streak continued last night for the young Phillies’ shortstop, as he went 2-for-3 from the plate. Since being called up to the Phillies, Maton now has nine hits in 19 at-bats, while slashing .474/.500/1.132.
Up Next: Philadelphia will be looking for the series win vs the Rockies with Chase Anderson (0-2, 4.15 ERA) taking the mound against Rockies pitcher Jon Gray (2-1, 2.42) today at 3:05pm.
