18 Philadelphia Phillies (Velasquez) @ St. Louis Cardinals (Weaver, L)

kikutaro 2018-05-18 02:50:02 UTC #121

Ozuna

Foul (83.2 mph slider)
Ball in dirt (85.9 mph slider)
Ball (93.9 mph four-seam fastball)
In play, out(s) (83.4 mph slider)

Marcell Ozuna grounds into a force out, shortstop Pedro Florimon to second baseman Cesar Hernandez. Jose Martinez out at 2nd.

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Philadelphia Phillies	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	3	2	6	11	0
St. Louis Cardinals	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	2	10	0

Final

Philadelphia Phillies

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	HR	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Hernández, C 2B	5	1	2	0	0	0	0	.271	.384	.426	.810
Altherr RF	5	0	1	2	0	2	0	.193	.321	.358	.679
Herrera CF	4	0	2	1	1	0	0	.361	.431	.558	.989
Hoskins LF	5	0	1	0	0	2	0	.263	.401	.460	.861
Santana 1B	3	1	1	1	1	1	1	.195	.309	.443	.752
Franco 3B	4	0	1	0	0	1	0	.273	.308	.485	.793
Kingery SS	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	.213	.265	.328	.593
Dominguez, S P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Williams, N PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.243	.325	.365	.690
Ríos, Y P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
García, L P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Morgan P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Ramos, E P	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Alfaro C	4	2	2	0	0	1	0	.250	.308	.375	.683
Velasquez P	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	.400	.400	.400	.800
Florimón SS	2	2	1	2	0	0	1	.289	.347	.489	.836

St. Louis Cardinals

Hitters	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	K	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS
Pham CF	4	1	0	0	1	1	.302	.412	.535	.947
Martínez, Jo 1B	4	0	3	0	1	1	.304	.382	.459	.841
DeJong, P SS	4	0	1	0	0	1	.260	.351	.473	.824
Ozuna LF	5	1	0	1	0	1	.242	.276	.327	.603
Fowler RF	3	0	0	0	1	1	.154	.273	.287	.560
Gyorko 3B	4	0	1	1	0	0	.295	.405	.525	.930
Carpenter 2B	3	0	1	0	0	0	.164	.297	.311	.608
Bader PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.254	.359	.418	.777
Brebbia P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Peña, F C	4	0	3	0	0	0	.258	.324	.258	.582
Weaver, L P	1	0	0	0	0	0	.214	.214	.214	.428
Garcia, G PH	1	0	0	0	0	0	.240	.304	.420	.724
Hicks P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Tuivailala P	0	0	0	0	0	0	.000	.000	.000	.000
Wong 2B	1	0	1	0	0	0	.190	.299	.300	.599

Philadelphia Phillies

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	P-K	ERA
Velasquez (W, 4-4)	6.1	5	0	0	2	5	96-60	4.37
Dominguez, S (H, 3)	0.2	0	0	0	0	0	8-6	0.00
Ríos, Y	0.0	0	1	1	1	0	4-0	3.94
García, L	0.2	2	1	1	0	0	18-8	3.24
Morgan (H, 7)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	3-2	2.38
Ramos, E	1.0	3	0	0	0	0	21-14	1.02

St. Louis Cardinals

Pitchers	IP	H	R	ER	BB	K	HR	P-K	ERA
Weaver, L (L, 3-3)	7.0	4	1	1	1	6	1	97-62	4.37
Hicks	0.0	3	3	3	0	0	0	12-8	2.29
Tuivailala	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	12-8	2.70
Brebbia	1.0	3	2	2	0	1	1	18-13	4.09

LoneStarPhan 2018-05-18 03:02:18 UTC #122

Yes, Ramos gets the non-save with the scoreless ninth inning. Never mind those 3 hits.

Phillies win the first game in St. Louis and get the road trip off on the right foot. Velasquez gives us a great start. He gets a well earned win. Five relievers struggle through to preserve the win. Doninguez and Morgan came on and finished innings without trouble. Garcia was not sharp and Ramos gave up the 3 hits in the 9th, but bottom line, no runs. I'm not sure I can take too many more nail bitters like these last two innings. Thankfully, the Phillies scored six runs tonight. Herrera and Alfaro with two hits each and home runs from Santana and Florimon drive the offense. Hoskins missed on multiple opportunities with RISP but they had enough that it didn't cost them tonight.

Record goes to 25-16 and they reach season high 9 games over .500 with this win.

DurhamBull 2018-05-18 04:05:51 UTC #123

I watched the play where Fowler was forced at home, and I don't think he was out. Alfaro had the ball and tagged him, but he tagged him with the glove while the ball was in his right hand. It's pretty clear on the video if you watch it in slo-mo. I guess Fowler was out once he walked to the dugout, but if the umps called him out at the moment of the tag, I think they were wrong.

Did anyone else see this?

Regardless, great win for the Phils. I'm happy to see the offense doing fine even when Hoskins struggles. When will Herrera come back to Earth? No time soon, I hope. He's so much fun to watch.

LoneStarPhan 2018-05-18 04:43:36 UTC #124

Yes, I saw Alfaro had the ball in his hand and tagged him with the glove. The runner did veer wide of the base line to try to avoid the tag as Alfaro swiped him with the glove. Maybe the ump called him out for that. If so, then he was out even if the ball was not in the glove that tagged him. Certainly the Cardinals didn't raise any question on the play.

tom81 2018-05-18 09:52:33 UTC #125

Both Kingery and Hoskins are scuffling really badly at the plate, Altherr too. I’d give some starts to Florimón and Williams if I was managing.

gmwannabe 2018-05-18 11:18:59 UTC #126

Tom, i would also give williams some time in LF for hoskins. i know i read where he (rhys) has the highest OPS of any left fielder, but that was based on a strong start. not much from him in the last few weeks. i'd let him sit for a few to watch. i hate to say it, and praying it's not true, but are we looking at another Domonic Brown? oh boy, that would hurt the process.
gm

andyb 2018-05-18 12:44:53 UTC #127

Crawford should be back next week (sounded like minor league rehab Monday or Tuesday). Wonder if they would send Kingery down for a few weeks to help him get his offensive footing back. Crawford is just a better SS than he is and I'd actually get Williams more at bats now than Kingery. Most likely we'll have future injuries, so everyone will get playing time. I just don't think Kingery is helping the team much if he is forced to play defensive positions he is not great at.

bigegypt0417 2018-05-18 12:48:12 UTC #128

I think you just have to let them go through it. I would think about letting them sit a day a week or something but they probably need the reps to get straightened out.

bkeich 2018-05-18 13:37:57 UTC #129

I would do this, but you really have to make it clear to Kingery what is going on. He was "rushed" to the majors a little because of his performance in the Spring, but either his hot streak has ended, the league has caught up to him or he is just in a plain old slump. He needs to get consistent at bats at one or two positions against a little easier competition and get his swing back to what it was doing. He is clearly lost. He needs to concentrate just on hitting at the moment in my opinion.

I dont think it is necessary to do the same with Hoskins, but wow, does he look bad when he is off. He doesnt look like he has any chance of hitting a ball hard at the moment. Every power hitter gets in streaks like this, but his is so strange to watch because everything has gone wrong for him at the plate, even plate discipline. He is just way, way off at the moment, he might need a few days off to clear his head and get his rhythm back. He isnt an emotional guy, but you can see the disgust in his face at the moment with how he is hitting.

Austinfan 2018-05-18 13:51:43 UTC #130

Hoskins is not D Brown, not even close. Just going through the funks all top hitters go through because pitchers are careful and it's easy to fall into the trap of being overeager - he should just sit down with Santana, who knows how to maximize a lesser talent through patiently working an PA - which was Hoskins does when he's confident.

Phillies have a lot of young FB hitters who have to learn the hard way that ML pitchers scout you, and won't throw you a hittable FB if you can't hit offspeed pitches or chase FBs out of the zone. But the way these coaches teach the players to work a PA, I'm not worried, someone like Kingery will learn to look for the offspeed pitch over the plate, hit a few, and then get some FBs again. In the minors, few pitchers can consistently throw strikes with offspeed stuff until AAA, and Kingery probably needed more time there for that reason, at lower levels you can just sit on FBs.

bigegypt0417 2018-05-18 14:08:53 UTC #131

How do you know?

I don't think many people thought D. Brown was going to be D. Brown until he turned in to D. Brown.

I think Hoskins will be fine.

Philsmania 2018-05-18 14:19:57 UTC #132

Austinfan:

Hoskins is not D Brown, not even close. Just going through the funks all top hitters go through because pitchers are careful and it's easy to fall into the trap of being overeager - he should just sit down with Santana, who knows how to maximize a lesser talent through patiently working an PA - which was Hoskins does when he's confident.

Phillies have a lot of young FB hitters who have to learn the hard way that ML pitchers scout you, and won't throw you a hittable FB if you can't hit offspeed pitches or chase FBs out of the zone. But the way these coaches teach the players to work a PA, I'm not worried, someone like Kingery will learn to look for the offspeed pitch over the plate, hit a few, and then get some FBs again. In the minors, few pitchers can consistently throw strikes with offspeed stuff until AAA, and Kingery probably needed more time there for that reason, at lower levels you can just sit on FBs.

Indeed. It could simply be that Hoskins is going through something of an good old-fashioned sophomore jinx...not that he's doing all that badly here in 2018. But, he is on pace for only 20 HR's at this point which is a disappointment considering that he hit 18 in only 1/3 of a ML season last year. Granted a 54 HR season may not have been realistic but you would think he would be a 30-40 something guy.

bigegypt0417 2018-05-18 14:27:16 UTC #133

so your disappointment is that he might not hit 30-40 homeruns?

his OBP is 401. I'm not really sure he's going through any type of sophomore jinx. He's a 25 year old with not even a full season under his belt that had an amazing showing if his first 200 or so AB's.

schillingfan 2018-05-18 15:02:36 UTC #134

I'm happy that the bullpen wasn't great this game. Pitchers are going to have bad games and give up runs. So anytime we win when the bullpen is bad makes me happy. It's like hitting with RISP. Get your hits when you need them, give up the runs when you have a cushion.

gmwannabe 2018-05-18 16:00:29 UTC #135

biggie has a good point. i really think any of us thought brown would turn out the way he did. with his past minor league stats, we all thought an all star (maybe more than one). i guess you never know. maybe a reunion with his old Bash Brother friend would help. We'll see. hopefully he can get back on the right track. kingery, i think was a half season too early. his spring training, off a lot of minor league pitchers, made the phils jump the gun. glad they didn't trade hernnadez. Also glad they didn't pony up to an early contract for hoskins. plenty of time for that now.
gm

zambonir 2018-05-18 19:06:41 UTC #136

Hoskins is probably not Brown, though as Andy has sometimes noted, if he's not an All-Star caliber hitter, he probably doesn't belong in LF (and being RH makes him a bit less valuable too).

But yes, I'd say it's just a normal ebb and flow. Too soon to even call it a sophomore slump. At this point there is no reason to even use Brown as a point of comparison. What about Franco? Herrera? It can take 2, 3 or even 4 years for some guys to hit their peak, and peak consistency.

I'm more skeptical about Altherr still. I just think he's probably a 4th OF in the end.

Hey, Ramos didn't even give any runs!

tom81 2018-05-18 22:21:42 UTC #137

Another bad break for STL:

We have been fortunate in that some of the teams we have played this year have been less than full strength when we played them. I wonder if we see any retaliation the rest of the series?

bkeich 2018-05-18 22:42:43 UTC #138

Tough break for DeJong, was a weird play. He almost didn't acknowledge being hit as the ball hit his hand where he was holding the bat. I was actually thinking at the time that he might have broken his hand just because of the way the ball hit him.

I actually would have argued that he should not have been granted 1B because he made no attempt to get out of the way of the throw, which is a requirement. Chase Utley was actually called for that at least once as a member of the Phil's, and of course anyone who watched him realizes he tried to be hit.

Philsmania 2018-05-18 23:35:23 UTC #139

Trips to St. Louis have been a bad omen for the Phillies going back to the 2011 NLDS. Hopefully, last night began to dispel those bad vibes!