Derek Hill the Hero Again as Phillies Win Series Finale over Blue Jays

Once again, Derek Hill is the hero for the Philadelphia Phillies.

He has made his mark several times since coming over from the Chicago White Sox. After coming off the field with an injury in Wednesday night’s loss to the Washington Nationals, there was great concern that Hill would be out for a long stretch. He appeared in the ninth inning on Friday night, but on Sunday in the finale against the Blue Jays, he got legitimate game-time use and did not let it go to waste.

After an up-and-down 12 innings, Bryson Stott tied the game at six with no outs. Two batters later, Hill came in with bases loaded and one out. He smoked a ball up the middle to avoid the sweep and end an up-and-down weekend with excitement.

Luzardo Curves the Trend

An issue that showed its ugly head throughout this home stand, but was avoided in the series finale Sunday against the Jays, was short performances out of the starting pitching. The only pitcher to go beyond the sixth inning this homestand was Jesus Luzardo, who did so twice.

Luzardo was once again fantastic; after going eight innings against the Nationals, he went seven innings Sunday against the Blue Jays. He was phenomenal throughout the day, striking out 12 batters and limiting damage when runners got on.

It was a very important long start because a major key to why the Phillies bullpen performed so poorly during the homestand, especially against the Blue Jays, was that they would have to come in early, and doing so multiple days in a row can severely tax the pen.

Luzardo provided necessary relief to his bullpen. Finishing the day with a line of seven innings, four hits, and a walk while allowing two runs on 12 strikeouts. He has thrown to a 2.14 ERA over his last seven starts.

Tired is Not an Excuse

The biggest issue for this homestand, and a major one over the summer, has been the poor performance from the bullpen. Outside of Jhoan Duran, and maybe Jonathan Bowlan at times, the pen is wildly inconsistent

The issue? They fail to throw strikes, and fail to close out at-bats when they have two strikes on hitters.

The biggest culprit of this was Jose Alvarado; he blew two leads this homestand. In the finale, that matter fell onto Orion Kerkering.

Kerkering was throwing his third time in the last four games, and yes, that is not the smartest move by interim manager Don Mattingly to do so, but that cannot allow Kerkering to get off scot-free.

Kerkering came into the game in the eighth inning. The Phillies were fired up after scoring five runs through seven innings and Luzardo having struck out the side in the previous frame. After getting two flyouts, everything fell apart for Kerkering.

He gave up two straight singles to Alejandro Kirk and Kazuma Okamoto before allowing a game-tying two-run double to Ernie Clement. A fourth straight hit was allowed, but Kerkering was able to get out of the inning with the game still tied.

While the rest of the bullpen had good outings Sunday, it is not a good day to avoid bringing up the clear issue. If the Phillies are unable to have good bullpen performances and hold onto leads before Duran comes in, there is no chance the Phillies can be competitive come October. Sunday the offense was able to come through, and enough arms did well, but a game like Sunday is not a recipe for consistent success.

Is Schwarber Back?

It is no secret that a major issue the offense has had, whether the lineup as a whole is performing well or poorly, since the start of July has been the struggles of Kyle Schwarber.

Batting only .231 over the last month, with five homers. His struggles hit their low point this homestand with a 0-for-20 streak. However, since breaking that streak, he has turned a little warm, and it peaked with a hot performance Sunday.

Schwarber finally put himself back in the home run department with a big three-run homer in the bottom half of the third, making the game 3-0 Phils. A changeup on the outside of the edge of the plate beautifully lifted the opposite way for his first bomb since July 18.

Schwarber wasn’t done, however, adding a second home run in his next at-bat in the fifth. Crushing a low knuckle-curve 448 feet into right field to give the Phillies a 4-2 lead. A needed homer as Luzardo had given up RBIs in back-to-back innings and had a lot of momentum for the Blue Jays.

The Phillies have been able to survive at times while Schwarber has struggled, but if he can get going, now with the addition of Luis Arraez, there can be massive offensive production by this offense.

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