Déjà vu, Phillies give up walk-off home run to lose to Arizona
Photo by Mike Christy/Getty Images
We got a good old-fashioned pitcher’s duel in game 2 against the Diamondbacks Friday night. Never great when your offense is being dominated by a pitcher with a 4.51 ERA, not exactly a winning formula. Let’s get into the finer details of the game and what ultimately lead up to the loss.
Chase Field is just a house of horrors for the Phillies hitting
We saw it on national TV during the NLCS last year and it felt similar tonight. The biggest bats in the lineup just couldn’t get it done.
Ryne Nelson added to his fantastic month of August, keeping the Phillies off the board until Bryce Harper took him deep in the top of the 7th inning.
He would pitch into the 8th, tallying 9 strikeouts and allowing only 2 runs to cross the plate with one of his best performances all season.
The Phillies had a chance to take a 3-2 lead however in the 8th inning. After Johan Rojas tripled off a ball that LF Jake McCarthy just couldn’t quite get to, Kyle Schwarber had a chance to drive in the go-ahead run but came up short.
What happened to Jeff Hoffman?
It’s an open secret that Jeff Hoffman has been one of baseball’s best relievers throughout the entire season, but the same can’t be said for his performances this August.
After Zack Wheeler pitched 6 innings allowing just 2 runs the game was put into the hands of the bullpen.
The newly acquired Tanner Banks did his part, as did Matt Strahm, and Jeff Hoffman was tasked with taking the game to extra innings in the 9th inning, something he has done all season with ease.
This time for some reason it was different. Quite literally the first pitch he threw was just decimated by rookie Adrian Del Castillo giving him not only the walk-off but his first career long ball as well.
I do have faith that Jeff Hoffman will turn things back around, but I also think that it is perfectly reasonable to worry about it, especially since the team will need Hoffman to pitch high-pressure innings come October and if the NLCS last year taught us anything, the person pitching those innings could decide your fate.
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