Phillies snap 4-game skid, beat the Yanks 11-4 to salvage 3-6 homestand
The Phillies snapped their four-game losing streak and salvaged an ugly 3-6 homestand on Sunday with an 11-4 win over the Yankees at Citizens Bank Park
After a miserable week that included baserunning disasters against the Dodgers and errors piling up against the Yankees, the Phillies finally put together a complete game and got out of the homestand with a win they badly needed.
In the third inning, with runners on second and third and two outs, Yankees righty Will Warren fell behind 2-0 to Brandon Marsh, who’s been ice cold, hitting just .129 over his last 18 games and .140 against righties. So New York made the call to intentionally walk Marsh, load the bases, and pitch to Alec Bohm instead.
Bad idea. Bohm has been one of the best hitters in baseball with runners in scoring position, batting a team-best .304 with a .983 OPS with two outs and runners in scoring position. The Yankees walked a struggling hitter to get to a guy who’s been locked in with the game on the line, and Bohm made them pay for it.
Alec Bohm makes the Yanks pay
That’s Alec Bohm working a nine-pitch at-bat and on the ninth pitch dug out a sweeper and slapped it into left field. It wasn’t crushed, just 87.5 mph off the bat, but it found the perfect spot where neither outfielder could cut it off and rolled all the way to the wall, clearing the bases and scoring all three runs.
The Resurrection of Bryson Stott
Bryson Stott drove in five runs on Sunday and continued a stretch that has flown completely under the radar. Since Mattingly took over and Stott started getting regular reps at second base without Sosa spelling him against lefties, his numbers have taken off.
In the second inning, Stott lined a low-and-in fastball into the first row of the right-field seats, and he crushed it, 110.5 mph off the bat, the hardest home run of his career. He added a base hit through the right side an inning later and pulled another in the sixth for his 14th multi-hit game in his last 48-game stretch.
Bryson Stott – RING IT
The story behind the surge is where he’s making contact. Stott has been pulling the ball at a career-high 36.2 percent rate, and his year-to-year jump in pull rate is the 14th-highest in baseball.
That’s led to a career-high hard-hit rate that jumped from 29.5 percent last year to 38.3 percent this year, the second-biggest jump among all 181 qualified hitters in the sport. He’s batting .289 since May 31 and has quietly been one of the most consistent bats in the lineup.
You’re seeing the same thing across the roster, with Turner and Bohm also finding a rhythm by pulling the ball with more authority. When this lineup pulls the baseball, it’s a completely different offense.
About The Phillies Fifth Starter Spot…
With the fifth-starter spot having now lost eleven straight turns, the best-case fix might be coming from within. Andrew Painter, who was demoted on June 18, dazzled at Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday with six innings of one-run ball, six strikeouts, and no walks.
He touched 99 mph, threw 90 pitches with 61 for strikes, and has now gone at least five innings with two or fewer earned runs in three of his last four starts.
Good life on the fastball paired with strike-throwing is exactly what the Phillies want to see, and Mattingly also noted Painter’s growing feel for a new wrinkle in his arsenal.
That said, there’s no artificial timeline forcing Painter back to the majors, and the club still wants him developing as a starter long-term.
The Phillies also haven’t optioned Brian Keller after his three innings Saturday, so Keller could be in play again in Baltimore on Friday.
If Dombrowski can’t land a back-end starter at the deadline, a Nola-Painter opener-and-bulk look could be an outside-the-box option in a playoff format down the line. For now, keep an eye on how Painter progresses.
Getting out of the homestand with a win mattered, even if the week as a whole was a disappointment. Now the Phillies have a real chance to get right, because they head to Miami to face a Marlins team that just lost its 12th straight game on Sunday.
Mattingly isn’t treating it as a cakewalk, but the Phillies are 29-22 on the road this year compared to just a game over .500 at home, so this is a good spot to build some comfort in the Wild Card race.
Wheeler, Nola, and Luzardo will go in South Beach, which is about as strong a rotation lineup as you can send into a series against a struggling team. After Miami, they head to Baltimore for a three-game set against the Orioles that leads right into the August 3 trade deadline.
The homestand was rough, the losing streak was frustrating, and the defense was a disaster for most of the week. but the Phillies salvaged the finale. It’s a start, and now they get a soft landing spot in Miami to build on it.
Take care of business in South Beach and let Dombrowski go to work before the deadline.
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