PHILADELPHIA -- A warm afternoon gave way to a crisp night in South Philly as the Philadelphia Phillies welcomed the Kansas City Royals to town for a weekend series. The debut of Walker Buehler was a strong one, exactly what you hoped to see from the newcomer.
Philly's offense continued to roll, doing something they haven't done all season. Max Kepler did something he only did one other time this year, and Harrison Bader accomplished something no Phillies outfielder has since 2016! Another easy victory for the Fightin's.
Notes and Quotes from Friday night's game at Citizens Bank Park.
Walker Buehler's Phillies debut
Buehler has struggled mightily during the regular season. After a tune up start in Lehigh Valley after signing with Philly, it was time to see what he's got left in the tank for a playoff run. He showed plenty, finishing five strong innings and inducing the weakest contact against him in his final frame.
The veteran right hander's final line was: 5.0 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 1 BB | 3 K | 1 HBP
Tonight was only the fifth time Buehler finished at least five innings while surrendering one run or less. He was effective, throwing a first-pitch strike to 12 of 22 batters faced, going to an 0-2 count four times.
His pitch mix was different tonight, as well. on the season, he's thrown his 4-seam fastball 24.2 percent of the time. Tonight, it was 40 percent. Overall, his hard vs. off-speed ratio is typically 58.1 fastball/cutter/sinker, 41.9 percent change-up/slider/curve/sweeper. Tonight, it was 63.3 percent hard, 36.7 percent off speed.
Here's what Rob Thomson had to say about his new starter's performance:
"65 percent strikes, one walk, three strikeouts. It was really good. A lot of carry on his fastball, not a whole lot of hard contact. It was good to see."
Buehler also had 11 swing-and-misses tonight, battling through some long plate appearances. Thomson noted that the 90 pitches he threw were a little more than the manager originally intended, but he wanted to get him through five innings to get him qualified for the win. Well he earned it tonight.
Offensive breakout
Philly's offense continued to roll despite the injuries to Alec Bohm and Trea Turner, putting up eight runs on 14 hits and four walks. They've now recorded 10+ hits in four straight games. The last time they did that was back on June 9 through June 13. It's the third time they've done so this season, and the first time they accomplished the feat without losing any of the four contests.
Thomson talked about this stretch and what they've been doing right to allow the offense to flourish recently:
"I think we're doing a good job at working counts, staying in the strike zone, using the entire field. When you do that, that's the recipe for success offensively and I think we’re doing that right now."
Max Kepler continued his torrid stretch by reaching base four times, the second time he's done so this season - and both were this week!
https://twitter.com/KostivalonBase/status/1966671303068291519
Bryce Harper hit an opposite field home run for No. 26 on the season. He has homered in two of his last three games, something he hasn't done since the first week of August. Thomson said after the game, "that's kind of his sweet spot. You know his timing and his swing is in good shape if he's hitting balls like that to left-center field."
Harrison Bader continued his hot stretch, recording multiple hits for the fifth straight game, which is a new career high. It's tied for the longest such streak by a Phillies hitter this season, and is the longest streak for a Phillies outfielder since Odúbel Herrera did so in September of 2016, according to the Phillies post-game notes.
Kyle Schwarber has been cool as of late, but drove in a run on a double in the fourth after walking and coming around to score the inning prior. That walk gave him 100 on the season. Schwarber now has 100+ walks, runs, and RBIs for the third straight season. Per Elias, he is the first Phillie since RBIs became an official stat in 1920 to do so. He's in hall of Fame-esque territory with that streak. Here's players in recent MLB history to accomplish that feat:
Albert Pujols (2008-2010)
David Ortiz (2005-2007)
Jim Thome (1999-2003)
Carlos Delgado (2000-2003)
Barry Bonds (2000-2002)
Jason Giambi (1999-2002)
Schwarber is also the first Phillies to post 100 or more walks in three straight seasons since Bobby Abreu did so in seven straight from 1999 through 2005.
Other Phillies Notes:
Edmundo Sosa was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. Thomson told reporters afterward that Sosa had been dealing with something, but saw a little more and acted out of precaution:
"He's got some right groin tightness, it could be day to day. We'll check him out tomorrow. I just saw him favor it a little bit while he was on defense, and so I checked him out and he said yeah, it was a little sore, so precautionary for now."
With Trea Turner already set to miss the next few weeks, their depth at shortstop will be tested if Sosa needs to miss time, as well.
Something to watch - left-handed reliever, Tim Mayza, allowed a run tonight. While it was not a close game, that is now five of the last seven games where a reliever allowed a run. That streak appears even scarier when looking back further. The pen has allowed a run in seven of the last 11, and 17 of the last 24 contests. Since August 18, the bullpen ERA is 4.69, good for No. 22 in the majors over that stretch.
Many of those games weren't close, only about eight were "close games" and some of them only got close as a result of those runs. But close games are expected in October. If you aren't lock down in the playoffs, it could spell disaster.
Either way, the Phillies have set themselves up to only need one win over the next two days for another series victory before heading out to Los Angeles. The magic number for the division is 3. They could clinch before the weekend is through.
