GDT 4/10/21 Philadelphia Phillies (Eflin) @ Atlanta Braves (Anderson)

[kikutaro]

Jean Segura

Defensive Substitution: Ender Inciarte replaces pitcher Tyler Matzek, batting 9th, playing left field.
Pitching Change: Will Smith replaces Tyler Matzek, batting 4th, replacing left fielder Marcell Ozuna.
In play, out(s) (77.3 mph curveball)

Jean Segura grounds out, third baseman Austin Riley to first baseman Freddie Freeman.

[kikutaro]

Andrew Knapp

Foul (76.6 mph curveball)
Swinging strike (80.8 mph slider)
Swinging strike (blocked) (81.2 mph slider)

Andrew Knapp strikes out swinging.

[kikutaro]

Roman Quinn

Ball (78.4 mph curveball)
Ball (81. mph slider)
Called strike (93.3 mph four-seam fastball)
Called strike (82.2 mph slider)
Ball (83.5 mph slider)
In play, out(s) (95.4 mph four-seam fastball)

Roman Quinn lines out to center fielder Cristian Pache.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia Phillies	2	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0	4	6	1
Atlanta Braves	3	0	0	0	0	1	1	0		5	9	0

Final

---

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Andrew McCutchen LF	3	2	1	1	1	1	1	.208	.387	.417	.804
Rhys Hoskins 1B	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	.313	.313	.594	.906
Archie Bradley P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Jose Alvarado P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Sam Coonrod P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Bryce Harper RF	4	2	2	1	0	0	1	.280	.471	.440	.911
Alec Bohm 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.200	.242	.300	.542
Didi Gregorius SS	4	0	1	2	0	2	0	.290	.324	.387	.711
Jean Segura 2B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.226	.273	.226	.498
Andrew Knapp 1B	3	0	0	0	1	3	0	.333	.429	.833	1.262
Adam Haseley CF	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.211	.211	.263	.474
Roman Quinn CF	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.083	.267	.083	.350
Zach Eflin P	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
J.T. Realmuto C	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	.346	.393	.538	.931

Atlanta Braves

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Ronald Acuna Jr. RF	4	1	2	0	0	0	0	.406	.441	.844	1.285
Ozzie Albies 2B	4	1	1	1	0	0	0	.129	.156	.194	.350
Freddie Freeman 1B	4	1	1	3	0	1	1	.154	.313	.500	.812
Marcell Ozuna LF	4	1	1	0	0	1	0	.143	.250	.143	.393
Will Smith P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Travis d'Arnaud C	4	0	2	0	0	1	0	.259	.286	.407	.693
Dansby Swanson SS	4	0	1	1	0	2	0	.143	.172	.286	.458
Austin Riley 3B	3	0	0	0	1	1	0	.200	.286	.200	.486
Cristian Pache CF	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	.083	.120	.125	.245
Ian Anderson P	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.500	.500	1.000	1.500
Sean Newcomb P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Ehire Adrianza PH	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	.667	.667	2.000	2.667
Tyler Matzek P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Ender Inciarte LF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.167	.167	.333	.500

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Zach Eflin	6.0	7	4	4	1	2	1	77-54	3.46
Archie Bradley (L, 0-1)	0.1	2	1	1	0	0	0	13-8	6.00
Jose Alvarado	0.2	0	0	0	0	2	0	13-8	2.45
Sam Coonrod	1.0	0	0	0	0	2	0	10-8	0.00

Atlanta Braves

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Ian Anderson	5.1	5	4	4	1	6	2	89-56	4.35
Sean Newcomb (W, 1-0)	1.2	1	0	0	1	4	0	32-18	2.70
Tyler Matzek (H, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	15-11	0.00
Will Smith (S, 2)	1.0	0	0	0	0	1	0	10-7	6.00

[Philsmania]

Might as well mail tomorrow's game in head to NY.

[Patchmk88]

Not a good loss today. Hitting has to pick it up, and we have to cut out the mental errors.

[zambonir]

That felt like a playoff game. A really painful one.

But still only one game. Would have been nice to have a shot at a 4-3 road trip and now tomorrow is a must-win just to say on track for 3-4.

[andyb]

Left-handed starter Sunday that we hit last time out. Remember our lineup's best hitters are right-handed except for Harper who is pretty good against left-handed pitching. We got some balance with Didi but it still does not change the fact that 4 of our best 5 hitters, the top 5 in the lineup, are right-handed (Cutch, Hoskins, JT, Bohm).

It is kind of why a bat like Miller is important. He should start somewhere half the time against right-handed pitching and contribute. And we need Haseley to be better. If we want to be a playoff team we need to improve against right-handed pitching.

[DurhamBull]

Franzke and Frandsen spent a very long time dissecting the Freeman dribbler to the mound in the 7th that scored the winning run. Their conclusion was that someone made a mental error, but they weren't sure who. Their assessment was that the infield should have agreed beforehand whether or not to throw to home on that type of play. Either Alvarado should have not tried for the double play or Gregorious should have covered second. They said they wouldn't know until Girardi was interviewed after the game.

[andyb]

I think there were two mental errors on the play. Alvarado should have checked the runner and gone home. But even if that is the preferred play, one of the two middle infielders needs to cover second. That always happens. They rotate in one direction like on a bunt play.

1-2-3 double plays are really hard so the larger error was on Alvarado. It just does not absolve the second mistake completely. If someone covers second we still get an out even if the run scores. Not getting the out did not end up hurting us with Alvarado's strikeouts, but it still cost us an out.

[zambonir]

It was a lousy way to lose, and yet, not as bad as if Alvarado had given up a hit or an actual infielder had made the poor decision.

Haseley certainly needs to hit, but so do Bohm and Segura. We naturally assume that Bohm is going to be great and Segura still has something left in the tank whereas Haseley may never be good enough, but we don't know anything of those things for sure, and either way, the line-up is constructed to carry a weak #8 hitter so long as CF isn't a defensive black hole and the 5-6-7 (4-5-6 last night) hitters are producing. The offense was close to elite last year despite the holes at both CF and 2B though of course the DH also helped (at least until Phil Gosselin stopped hitting and people started getting hurt).

[andyb]

Bohm is definitely getting his second time around the league look now, and remember it is all divisional play so far like most of last year's schedule. I think he'll adjust, though maybe we should be happy with an 800 OPS this year. Defense seems a bit better even with the bad night Friday. He has smoothed out that double clutch before throwing he had last year. Range is just never going to be great for a big kid with only average athleticism.

[andyb]

For those curious, the taxi squad for the road trip was unsurprising. Luke Williams, Travis Jankowski, Edgar Cabral, Enyel De Los Santos, and JD Hammer. These are the players that could play in a COVID outbreak that don't need a 40-man move.

Conversely they are a balanced set (one at each position group, 2 pitchers) that are relatively experienced, but also would be less hurt by missing a week of alternate site developmental games. No reason to bring Spencer Howard or Moniak or Marchan on a road trip to sit in a hotel room and do nothing.

[Lucky_Beagle]

I did not see the play, but my take would be with 1 out and runners on the corner and a ball hit back to the mound and Alvardo pitching the play should be to prevent the runner from scoring. Alvardo has to think he can strike out the next batter or at least get him out. What are the odds of turning a double play even if the throw is to second? If the infield was playing in and not at double play depth isn't that a signal that the entire team is looking to cut down the runner at the plate and not immediately try to turn 2?

I disagree with Z, I feel it is a worse way to lose than if the Freeman would have actually gotten a hit. At least with a hit you can feel the Braves did something to win the game. I will say it wouldn't have been any different if an infielder made a similar "mental" error.

[zambonir]

The more I read about it the more I agree it was a bad way to lose, because it doesn't seem like there was any plan at all. But to me a two-run homer, even by the best player in the game, would have been worse. I don't expect we'll lose another game on a play like that again, but I do expect Freddie Freeman to beat up our best relievers. What stinks in this case is that Alvarado won the battle, and in a situation where all Freeman needed was a fly ball too.

[BostonRoss]

Remember that the Phillies win probability is still less than 50% even if they throw the runner out at home.

[zambonir]

Right, people say the play "cost us a win" but no more than the Swanson double, and who knows what would have happened next, or in the later innings (especially with the additional home advantage of the new extra-inning rule, though as a road team I think I'd also take that crapshoot over normal baseball).

[andyb]

Well, last year Freeman would have hit a 3 run home run. Now we have a reliever who is not perfect, but there is some confidence he can actually get tough outs.