After Wednesday night’s 4-3 loss to the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park (see Instant Replay), the Phillies have come to an interesting crossroads.
For starters, the team faces Zack Greinke on Thursday afternoon, who just so happens to be the best pitcher in baseball these days. Normally facing Greinke would just be chalked up to tough luck for the Phillies, but this club is on a roll.
The Phillies haven’t lost back-to-back games since July 12 and are 13-4 since the All-Star break and they know it. That knowledge helped when the Phillies trailed by three runs going into the eighth inning. They knew they had a puncher’s chance and when Jeff Francoeur smacked a two-run homer with one out, it was sitting right there with Ryan Howard and Darin Ruf due to hit.
But alas, it wasn’t meant to be.
“Although we lost, our guys fought them pretty hard,” manager Pete Mackanin said. “We’re not out of games and we nearly came back to win that game. … I was really pleased the way we stayed in the game even though we got out a lot of jams with the defense. We had a chance. We just couldn’t capitalize.”
These new-look Phillies have been a fun team to watch for Mackanin. There is life on the bench, enthusiasm on the field and a sense that someone will step up to deliver the big play in time to win the game. Even after issuing nine walks Wednesday, including five from starter Aaron Harang in five innings, the Phillies weren’t daunted.
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Better yet, the biggest contributors have been players like Cesar Hernandez, Odubel Herrera, Freddy Galvis and Maikel Franco. The way things have been going, Harang thought he’d get off the hook for a loss.
Franco got the Phillies on the board in the third with an RBI double and helped the team with some gold glove-caliber defense. That glove work proved to be important because the Phillies gave the Dodgers nine free passes yet allowed only one runner to score.
The Dodgers got three in the first on Yasiel Puig’s two-out homer, but had a runner thrown out going from first to third by Francoeur in the fourth before they left the bases loaded in the fifth and sixth innings.
They loaded the bases again in the seventh, but Carlos Ruiz caught Puig being too aggressive off third with two outs in the inning.
“The young guys are getting a chance to play and that’s important,” Harang, who fell to 5-12, said. “You have to go through the hardships and the tough times in order to learn and improve.”
But there could be a change coming to the lineup as soon as Thursday. After going 3 for 4 in his latest rehab assignment for Double A Reading on Wednesday night, Chase Utley might be ready to rejoin the Phillies (see story). In the old days this would be a great development, but now, Utley’s return could cost one of the young players some playing time.
Though Mackanin says Utley won’t be an everyday player when he returns, the manager said the veteran second baseman will see some action.
“I have an idea of what I’m going to do and I have somewhat of a plan,” Mackanin said when asked how he’d handle Utley’s return. “He’s going to get some playing time. He’s not going to play every day, but he’s going to get some playing time. It’s just so much fun watching these young guys play and I’m anxious to see what they do the rest of the year.”
It’s been the play of those young players that have salvaged some of the season for the Phillies. Watching to see what those young guys will do next is reason enough to tune in, especially with starting pitcher Aaron Nola seemingly with the club to stay and second-year player Ken Giles moving into the closer role.
Anything can happen.
“The way we’re going we know someone is going to step up,” Harang said.
The Phillies and Dodgers close the three-game series Thursday afternoon when David Buchanan (2-5, 6.44) takes on Greinke (10-2, 1.41). Buchanan faced the Dodgers once last season, allowing two runs on five hits in five innings for a win.
Notes
Francoeur’s eighth-inning homer was the 150th of his career and his 10th of the season. It’s the first time Francoeur has hit at least 10 homers in a season since 2012. Additionally, Francoeur has four homers and nine RBIs in his last 10 games and all of those long balls have come in the eighth inning or later. Francoeur is batting .322 with a .340 on-base percentage since May 4. “We commented about it that there has to be some team that’s interested in him,” Mackanin said. “He’s come up big all year and we love him. He’s a good addition.” … Jimmy Rollins walked twice in five plate appearances and has reached base safely in 11 of his last 12 games. … Herrera has a hit in 23 of his last 27 games and is batting .382 over that stretch. … The Phillies' streak of six straight games with at least 10 hits came to an end.