Last night’s Phillies-Blue Jays game was a pitcher's duel that saw both offenses score just once off the opposing starter. Jhoan Duran was needed suddenly when Bryson Stott drove in a run off Louis Varland, who had only surrendered one run all season prior. Duran would blow his first save of the season after pitching for the fifth time in eight days, with a significant warm-up day mixed in.
After Philadelphia hung five innings on Max Scherzer and led Toronto by six after the fourth inning, there was no way they would need to turn to Duran again, right?
Wrong.
However, the aggressive move by interim manager Don Mattingly paid off, and Duran got his redemption against the Jays to even the series. Let’s break it down.
Max Scherzer is an all-time great who tries to be great every time out. He reminded everyone of that in the first inning after recording his 3,500th batter - one of only 11 men to do so in MLB history. Tonight, however, he was not.
The veteran right-hander returned from a forearm injury and looked gassed throughout his 3 ⅓ innings, needing 82 pitches to get there. Bryce Harper hit a first-inning, opposite-field solo home run that looked to be hit too high to travel that far.
Philly would get a baserunner in both the fifth and sixth frames, but would strand them both. Then came inning No. 7. Harper led off with a walk - his 16th in his last 16 games - and Bryson Stott would later drive him in with a single to center.
When they score this way, the Phillies can survive a rare hiccup from their bullpen like they have the last two nights. While most of their runs came across as a result of the long ball, they did a great job of getting on all night. Philadelphia’s offense only had one 1-2-3 inning on the night, and they drove the team to another series win.
With a comfortable lead, the Phillies turned to Chase Shugart, trying to preserve their high-leverage arms. Unfortunately, things do not always go as planned.
Shugart allowed a bases-loaded walk after the frame opened single-walk-walk, followed by a sac fly to right field, quickly surrendering two runs. Enter Brad Keller, who allowed a sac fly of his own - also to right field - before ending the frame.
On that second sac fly, the Phillies had something potentially much worse occur than a reliever having a rough night. On Kazuma Okamoto’s sac fly, right fielder Adolis García waved to the bench for attention. Trainers quickly ran out and checked his right shoulder.
Don Mattingly spoke on what they know at this time after the game. “Obviously, you lose a defender like that, it changes things a little bit,” Mattingly explained when asked about the type of blow it would be to lose his right fielder. He added they would have to see how García feels tomorrow and get some imaging, then “take it from there.”
The manager did not feel there was an issue with him making two hard throws on back-to-back hitters and referred to García as a “weapon.”
The offensive breakout overshadowed Jesús Luzardo’s strong start. The left-hander went 5 ⅔ innings, surrendering one run on four hits and four walks, striking out eight Blue Jays.
It continued a strange trend for Luzardo, who is now 4-0 with a 1.55 ERA. His home ERA is nearly six runs higher at 7.34.
Philadelphia has won 10 of 13 series since Don Mattingly was handed the reins, becoming the first coach in Phillies history to do so. They are 28-12 under his tutelage, matching the best record to start a Phillies managerial career. After an off day on Thursday, the Phillies will head to Milwaukee for a weekend series against the Brewers.
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