Hoskins, Hall go yard for Phillies in 5-3 victory over Cardinals, despite Nolan Arenado hitting for cycle
Rhys Hoskins had 2 RBI and Darick Hall tacked on the go-ahead home run in the 6th inning, as the Phillies topped the Cardinals 5-3 on Friday night, despite Nolan Arenado hitting for his second career cycle.
Phillies (41-37) Beat Cardinals (43-36)Â
- Winning Pitcher:Â Jose Alvarado (2-1, 5.56)
- Losing Pitcher: Miles Mikolas (5-6, 2.61)
- Save: Brad Hand (3, 2.22)
The Phillies were able to pull out the victory tonight despite the herculean efforts of St. Louis third basemen Nolan Arenado, who hit for his 2nd career cycle and 17th in Cardinals history in the loss. Arenado had an RBI triple in the first inning, a home run in the third, a double in the sixth, and was credited for a single in the eighth, after Matt Vierling fumbled the baseball at third base.
Darick Hall put the Phillies on top for good in the 6th inning with a his third major league hit and third major league home run. Wow! The Phils desperately needed pop from the left side of the lineup after losing Bryce Harper and Hall, a 14th round pick out of Dallas Baptist University in 2016 has provided it, if nothing else, in his first few major league at bats.
The Phils fell down 3-0 quickly, as starting pitcher Bailey Falter gave up an RBI triple off the center field fence to Nolan Arenado in the 1st inning and then a 2-run home run, also to Arenado in the 3rd inning. Falter finished the night allowing 3 earned runs and 5 hits in 4 innings of work. Falter, who was called up from AAA-Lehigh Valley on Friday to replace an injured Zach Eflin, has been solid this season when brought up for spot starts. Despite posting a 4.88 ERA over 24 innings, Falter has managed much like tonight to keep the Phils in the game until their offense heats up.
As for Zach Eflin, he reportedly received a cortisone shot earlier this week and is expected to miss at least one more start.
Mickey Moniak put the Phils on the board in the 5th inning with an RBI double off the center field fence that scored Garett Stubbs. Kyle Scwarber followed up Moniak’s 2nd RBI of the season with his 41st, when he scored Matt Vierling from third base with a sac-fly grounder to second base.
Rhys Hoskins gave the Phils breathing room in the 7th inning, when he swatted his 16th home run of the year off Cardinals reliever Johan Oviedo. Hoskins continued his hot streak with 2 RBI tonight after a scorching hot June in which he posted a 1.026 OPS with 7 HR and 15 RBI.
With Friday night’s victory the Phillies have pulled to within 1.5 games of the Cardinals for the last wildcard spot in the National League. If this team can win the next two games and sweep St. Louis they will have put themselves in playoff position after being 8 games below .500 at 21-29 on the last day of May.
Nolan Arenado puts the Cardinals on the board early, with an RBI triple off a weird part of the outfield fence in the top of the 1st inning.
1-0 Cardinals
Nolen Arenado has 3 RBI tonight after taking Bailey Falter deep down the left field line in the 3rd inning.
3-0 Cardinals
Mickey Moniak puts the Phils on the board with an RBI double off the wall.
3-1 Cardinals
Rhys Hoskins drives in a run with a sac-fly in the 5th inning to tie the game up.
3-2 Cardinals
3 Major League hits for Darick Hall…3 Major League home runs for Darick Hall.
4-3 Phils
Rhys Hoskins drives in his second RBI of the game giving the Phils an insurance run in the 7th inning.
5-3 Phils
Nolan Arenado hits for the cycle with a single in the 8th inning plus a one base throwing error by Matt Vierling at third base.
Brad Hand picks up this third save of the season propelling the Phils to the 5-3 victory!
Up Next for the Phillies
The Phillies host the St Louis Cardinals Saturday afternoon in the second game of a weekend series at Citizens Bank Park.
Kyle Gibson (4-3, 4.48) will toe the rubber facing off against Matthew Liberatore (2-1, 4.00) with the first pitch scheduled for 4:05 pm.
NBC Sports Philadelphia will have the broadcast of the game.
Mandatory Photo Credit: Philadelphia Phillies
