PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies could have done more damage offensively against the Reds than they did on Wednesday night, but they worked their at-bats and manufactured enough runs to secure a 7-5 win. Starter Cris Sánchez and the Phillies’ already-thin bullpen made this game more exciting than it needed to be — allowing four earned runs against a lineup that has a .655 OPS for the month of August — but ultimately got the job done.
Sánchez ran into trouble early. In the second inning, he threw a sinker right down the middle of the plate and gave up a solo home run to Reds left fielder Stuart Fairchild, who entered the game with a .069 batting average (which he had bumped to .100 by the end of the night). It was Fairchild’s third hit of the season.
In the fourth, Sánchez misplaced another sinker and gave up another home run, this time to Reds third baseman Kyle Farmer. In the top of the fifth inning, Sánchez threw another — you guessed it — misplaced sinker, and allowed an RBI double to Jonathan India. Before the game, interim manager Rob Thomson said he’d hoped that Sánchez would give him five or six innings, which the young left-handed pitcher did, but it was a bumpy road to get there. Sánchez allowed six hits and three earned runs, with no walks and seven strikeouts, over six innings pitched.
Bullpen struggles continue
Nick Nelson entered the game after Sánchez, and things went downhill from there. Nelson was unable to finish the seventh inning, allowing two hits, an earned run and and a walk over two-thirds of an inning. Andrew Bellatti mopped up Nelson’s mess, inducing a pop out to end the inning, but Connor Brogdon ran into trouble in the eighth, allowing two hits and another earned run.
Nelson’s performance was somewhat expected, given how he’s been performing of late (he has a 11.57 ERA over his past seven appearances), but Brogdon’s is concerning. Brogdon is someone who Thomson will need to lean on while Seranthony Domínguez is on the 15-day injured list, and his last two appearances have been shaky (a combined five earned runs over one and one-third innings pitched).
The fact that Thomson had to use David Robertson, his best option at closer right now, for the ninth inning of Wednesday’s game was less than ideal (and tells you everything you need to know about the state of the Phillies bullpen). Robertson almost ran into a bit of trouble too, after a runner got on base via a fielding error from Yairo Muñoz, and he walked a batter to put runners on first and second (and threw a wild pitch to put move that runner on third). But Robertson then induced a groundout double play to end the game.
Realmuto raking and Matt Vierling heating up
J.T. Realmuto has been on a tear lately. He went 3-for-5 on Wednesday night and entered Wednesday’s game batting .429/.467/.750 over his last seven games (.328/.371/.655 over his last 15).
After a few hitless games, Matt Vierling is starting to show signs of life. He hit a home run on Tuesday night, and went 2-for-3 on Wednesday night.
