Phillies Take Rubber Match Over White Sox 9-5

The Phillies entered a windy Sunday afternoon with major success through their homestand at that point, going 4-1 entering the game. They swept the first series against the San Diego Padres and took the first game against the young Chicago White Sox on Friday night. That did not mean the homestand was finished. The Phillies frustratingly lost Saturday as Andrew Painter struggled and the offense couldn’t mount the comeback. That dialed up a rubber match Sunday afternoon.

The rubber match game was a back-and-forth affair through the first half as both offenses were lighting it up, and both pitching staffs couldn’t hold a lead. While Aaron Nola didn’t have his best day and the defense allowed many runs to come across, the offense took advantage of a weaker pitching staff and completed what might be their best series of the season, performance-wise, winning the finale 9-5.

The day started with a battle out of the gate. Nola gave up a lead-off single to Sam Antonacci, then got 2 outs in the inning before allowing a Colson Montgomery double that put two runners in scoring position before striking Chase Meidroth out on a nasty knuckle-curve that ended the inning with no runs scored.

The offense got to work quickly. After Kyle Schwarber grounded out to begin the inning, Trea Turner and Bryce Harper each doubled to put the Phillies on the board. Harper had himself a fantastic day, way more than his box score says. He had at least two instances, including this RBI double, that with better conditions would have gone out of the yard.

That feeling felt like a negative one as Nola allowed 2 runs to come across in the top half of the 2nd, although that did not last long as Justin Crawford lined a nice single into left field before Rafael Marchan, playing to give J.T. Realmuto a day off, roped a 2-run blast into right that made the game 3-2.

Back and forth continued to be the narrative for the most part. White Sox tied it up at 3-a-piece on a Tristan Peters double. Brandon Marsh then gave the Phillies the lead back with a homer to left field, his 3rd consecutive game with a home run. Marsh had himself a fantastic series batting .500 and slamming 3 home runs.

The 4th inning was a quiet one, both lineups going down in order. The young White Sox continued to show fight as they scored two runs in the 5th to take the lead. Nola was knocked out of the game during the 5th, having all 5 Chicago runs charged to him on the day. While the Phillies’ defense did not help Nola at points, the issue was simply the same one he has had since last season, that being the inability to command the 4-seam. His knuckle-curve worked well many times; he certainly showed fight and got through a dangerous young order. It also helps that the issue being a specific pitch means that it’s a lot easier to get a solution. The question is, when will a permanent one come about? Nola’s line at the end of the day was 4.1 innings pitched, allowing 5 runs on 6 hits and 4 walks, striking out 4 White Sox.

The Phillies offense did not allow the young White Sox to get comfortable with their first lead of the game as the lineup scored 3 runs in the bottom half of the 5th to give the Phillies. An Alec Bohm double tied it, a Bryson Stott single put the Phillies back on top, which ended up being the winning run, and then Crawford scored Bohm on an infield groundout that ended up being a 6-3-5 double play due to Stott trying to be aggressive but just not getting to third in time.

Tim Mayza closed out the 5th inning for the Phillies, but after the lineup gave the Phillies the 7-5 lead, the rest of the bullpen began their work to close out the series. That began with Jose Alvarado in the 6th. It was a nerve-wracking 6th as Alvarado allowed two men on, but he was able to get out of the inning unscathed, keeping the game at 7-5.

The lineup added two more in the 6th with Marsh and Bohm each driving liners to left to drive in a run. The score remained the same the rest of the way as Orion Kerkering and Jonathan Bowlan took the last 3 innings and closed out the homestand with a 5-1 record.

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