Phillies Offense Goes Cold, Spoils Electric Start By Painter; Drop West Coast Finale 1-0

The Phillies finished the month of August as arguably the hottest team in baseball. With a record of 21-7, the Phillies swept 4 series, the most since August of 1991. It was done not specifically because of one aspect of the team; the whole roster was firing on all cylinders for the most part. It showed a very clear confidence and potential to perform for the long haul, something that will be needed if the Phillies wish to become World Champs.

The final series on the West Coast began on Monday, August 31, against the Arizona Diamondbacks. That game ended with the 21st victory for Philadelphia. Then came September, and it looked like the consistent heat the Phillies were performing with was going to continue. A 7-1 victory to take the series over Arizona, Jesus Luzardo continuing his dominance, and the offense having one of their best games over the three-series West Coast trip.

Then came Wednesday afternoon finale. A chance to sweep out a postseason contender in the Diamondbacks and head home to face the division rival Atlanta Braves with major momentum, a series that is going to have major postseason implications. Unfortunately for Philadelphia, their momentum got a little soured, losing a competitive pitchers’ duel 1-0 to miss out on the sweep.

To begin with the negative of the game, the offense was totally stymied by the D-Backs pitching staff. In a game where Arizona used 7 pitchers, going to their bullpen in the second inning, the Phillies could not get anything going.

There were a couple of Phillies who performed today; Bryan De La Cruz continues his success with a two-hit day, one of which was a double that could have turned the tables with the top of the lineup coming up behind him. De La Cruz has been a minor revelation for Philadelphia; beginning the year in Triple-A, he has hit his way to a .354 batting average and a .931 OPS.

Bryce Harper was the other Phillies hitter to perform, tacking on a hit and two walks. His on-base streak is now all the way up to 35 games. His second walk came at a needed time, down one with two outs in the ninth; Harper gets on in hopes of momentum building. While Luis Arraez then came up and grounded out to end the game, an at-bat like Harper’s is important, and there will be times momentum does get created because of it.

Wednesday afternoon, that didn’t happen. The offense fell flat, but they need to simply shake it off, enjoy the off day, and get back in action for Friday against Atlanta. The offensive issues today cannot be held onto.

What should be held onto today is the performance of starter Andrew Painter. Since being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, Painter has looked like a completely different pitcher, and that’s led to great confidence for Painter, the organization, and the fans. A major reason why is that Painter has chalked up outings since his return that could be argued as his career best. Today was another one of those starts.

Against a potential postseason lineup, Painter was absolutely dominant. His confidence was made clear in the way he was throwing his pitches; he wasn’t making mistakes, and his fastball looked beautiful. He looked like the kid the fans were expecting at the beginning of the season.

It began with a humble single to outfielders Lars Nootbar. Painter wasn’t a fan of giving up a hit and then sent the next 10 consecutive Diamondbacks in order, four of which were on strikeout. A streak that only came to an end because of a fielding error in the top half of the fourth by Bryson Stott.

After that error, Painter locked back in and got through seven innings of shutout baseball. A major argument was whether Painter should have been sent back out in the eighth. Now part of that is because reliever Jonathan Bowlan gave up the game-winning home run in the eighth, but part of it is also a great confidence that Painter built throughout the game. Something that did not exist in past Painter starts.

Painter’s final line was seven shutout innings, striking out six D-Backs while only allowing two hits.

“I thought the command was pretty consistent; it was either down or armside…I want to continue building on being able to throw that righty on righty,” said Painter, referring to his changeup success.

His changeup was his bread and butter, recording four of his six strikeouts via the changeup. All of his pitches got worked on while down in the minors throughout the summer, but his four-seam and changeup have looked particularly sharp since returning to the majors.

His work has paid off; since returning from Triple-A, Painter is holding a 3.12 ERA in 40.1 innings pitched.\

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