J.T. Realmuto, Bottom of Phillies’ Lineup Provide Power in 9-8 Win Over Brewers
Benny Sieu/Imagn Images
The bottom of the Phillies lineup picked up the pitching staff and drops a 9-spot on the Brewers, as the Phillies bend, but don’t break in a gritty 9-8 win in Milwaukee
One day after facing Jacob Misiorowski who felt completely untouchable, seeing a pitcher who doesn’t wear 32 will be a welcome sight.
The Phillies didn’t wait long to get the scoring stared when Edmundo Sosa went the opposite way for a home run that just kept carrying to right to give the Phils a 1-0 lead. In the third, the Phillies struck twice when Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto had back-to-back RBI hits to give the Phils a 3-0 lead. Realmuto broke a 1-24 streak with the RBI single.
In the next inning, the Brewers got two of the runs back on a Garrett Mitchell 2-run home run. The Brewers tied the game in the fifth on a Jackson Chourio home run.
In the sixth, the Phils back to score four runs, which all started with the true spark plug of the team, Brandon Marsh singling to start the rally. Realmuto had the huge blow with a three-run home run.
The Brewers got two runs back on another home run by Chourio off of Jose Alvarado. The Brewers scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to make the game 9-8. That was where the game ended with Duran coming in and dominating the Brewers in the ninth to win their 15th one run win of the season.
Phillies Offense Bounces Back
In a game where the offense scores nine runs, it requires that the whole offense hits well generally, and this game was no exception. In a complete juxtaposition to the opening game of the series, the entire offense contributed in he game. While the home runs will get the attention, and that is for good reason, the offensive explosion was built on the Phillies that had multiple hits in the game.
It was also the sheer volume of Phils that had two or more hits that was comforting to see. Stott had two hits, but Kyle Schwarber, Realmuto, Marsh and Sosa all had three hits, each which grounded the Phillies’ attack in this game. Games like this are a perfect example of what the Phillies’ offense is when they stay within themselves. Seeing Realmuto get three hits and steal a bag in a pressure situation was comforting and bodes well for him getting right at the plate and moving back up from batting eighth.
Nola Continues to Struggle
Aaron Nola is in the middle of a change in his career, and is not making the adjustment well. Early in his career, he had a mid to high 90s fastball which set up his other pitches well. That was a key to his success, and a large part of what made him one of the best pitchers in the National League. As it happens to many power arms in baseball, time is undefeated, and his fastball has lost some zip. This is the point in many careers where they have to reinvent themselves to stay relevant.
Nola has yet to make that change in the last two seasons, and his longevity in this rotation and in the league. Coming into this start, hitters were batting .192 against his knuckle curve, which is second-best in the league on that pitch, but in this start, the damage that was done against him was against the knuckle curve. For that pitch to be successful, and get swing-throughs, is dependent on how his control improves and how well he can pitch off the fastball and the sinker. This will be the determining factor of how the second half of this season goes for him. His ERA is 5.86 on the season, and to see a turnaround he will have to mix pitches better and limit runners getting on ahead of home runs.
Phillies Bullpen Bends But Doesn’t Break
When the ball gets put in the right hand of Jhoan Duran, it’s about as automatic an ending as there is in baseball. However, getting from the starter to Duran is becoming more and more adventurous, especially when the starter doesn’t get through the fifth inning. The middle relief hasn’t looked good over the last month, and in this game, it was on full display.
It’s time to talk about the one bright spot in middle relief and how he’s being used. Orion Kerkering was very strong again in this game, lowering his season ERA to 2.03 on the season, but he came in for the sixth inning, and while that’s important, it may be time for Don Mattingly to move him to later innings to high leverage innings like the eighth, acting as a setup man getting to Duran. Brad Keller and Jose Alvarado both struggled to throw strikes and even when you have nasty pitches like both do, none of that matters if you can’t control the strike zone. This is something that Mattingly needs to evaluate moving forward, because the Brewers are a team that the Phils could match up against in October and giving them eight runs isn’t going to cut it.
Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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