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Now make a mistake against the Phillies and they will make you pay for it.
The Phils won their eighth straight game on Friday night, beating the Diamondbacks 7-5 in front of 37,423 fans at Citizens Bank Park.
They seemed to put the game out of reach in the second inning when they scored five goals against D-back ace Zac Gallen, three on Kyle Schwarber’s 16th homer of the year. But Arizona made it interesting with four runs in the seventh to briefly turn it into a one-run game.
Schwarber has 6 home runs, 12 RBI and 12 runs in his last 10 games. His longball in the second inning was preceded by a sharp groundball from catcher Garrett Stubbs with an out and runners at the corners. The ball just went under second baseman Ketel Marte’s glove and into right center, scoring a run and putting the runners back in the corners with an out. Had Marte gloved it clean it could have been a double play at the end of the inning and a completely different tone for the night.
Instead, the Phillies paused, took advantage, and broke the game wide enough to survive late stumbles from Kyle Gibson and Brad Hand.
“That’s what happens when things go well,” said interim skipper Rob Thomson, who starts his managerial career 7-0. “If you don’t run well, the next player pops out and then a strikeout and you’re out of the innings. But we’ve certainly taken advantage of those situations lately.”
Rhys Hoskins, who started a homer down the middle in the first inning, provided crucial insurance with a solo shot to the left in the bottom of the seventh. Hoskins is up to 11 homers in the season. It was important to react in that moment after Arizona got going.
Connor Brogdon and Corey Knebel ended it in scoreless innings.
“It feels like we’ve made it a few times in this little streak that we’ve had,” Hoskins said of the tack-on runs. “It’s huge. They kind of caught the momentum, we had it early but they get it late in the game. We’ve seen it before, it’s nice to come back in the dugout and know we’re still in the lead lie. The goal is to get a run, get the momentum back. Obviously the homer gives us a little bit more momentum, brings the fans back.”
The South Philly audience was large and boisterous. The Phillies have averaged more than 36,000 fans in their last three home games, and that’s been felt in the dugout.
“It’s great, it’s flashy, we talk about it in the dugout,” Hoskins said. “You can just feel the energy in the stadium, the noise is loud too. That creates a home advantage, it’s more fun to play. We try to be as relaxed as possible in the dugout and a.” A lot of this starts with the energy that the fans bring. I can’t wait to see what the weekend has in store.”
The Phillies have scored at least five runs in seven of their last eight games. At 29-29, they’re back to .500 for the first time since they were 17-17. They haven’t been over .500 since they were 3-2.
The Phils have had two very good right-handers working hard for the past two days. Gallen and reigning NL Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes needed a combined 179 pitches to go through six innings combined. Gallen entered with a 2.40 ERA a day after Burnes with a 2.50 ERA.
“They’re both hot and they’re both grinding at bats,” Thomson said of the top two hitters in his order, Schwarber and Hoskins. “Again tonight with Gallen we reached out really quickly and got him out of the game. … We made a number for the starter, who’s a pretty good pitcher.”
Gibson pitched in the seventh inning. He had allowed a run of three to six hits, but in the seventh he boarded the first two men and both hit on Hand, who gave up two of his own later in the inning. Since May 4, 13 straight games had gone without a hand. Seranthony Dominguez grabbed two big outs with the tie in goal position to end that shaky seventh place, benefiting from an inning ending called Strike several inches outside.
Friday’s game began a stretch of 13 straight games for the Phillies against record-loss teams. They have two more with the D-Backs, three at home with the Marlins, then five on the road against the Nationals and two with the Rangers.
In the last three seasons, the Phillies are 18 games over .500 against teams with losing records. That might sound like a win, but to put it in perspective, the Braves are 35 games over .500 against losing teams in the same time span. With the second softest remaining strength on the National League schedule by opponent’s win percentage, the Phillies need to do a better job against inferior teams in 2022.
Ahead of Friday’s game, Thomson spoke of the need for the Phils to treat these clubs the same way they treated their opponents last month as they played 23 of 26 against teams over .500 and went 14-12.
“You have to be careful because these are major league teams and anyone can beat anyone any night,” Thomson said. “That will be our message in our upcoming pre-meeting. You have to go out there and play the same way you played against the Milwaukees of the world.
“High energy, I liked the energy level, the offensive approach, the way we play defense, the way we set up. We just have to keep it that way and stay consistent. It doesn’t matter who you are playing.”
A Saturday afternoon win would give the Phillies a third straight win and their longest winning streak since 2011. They’re loving their chances with Zack Wheeler, back from paternity leave and on the mound, who has conceded eight earned runs in his last seven starts.
With a win on Saturday, Thomson would draw level with Pat Moran in 1915 for most consecutive wins to begin a tenure as manager with the Phillies.
“He’s pushing all the right buttons, he’s keeping us as loose as possible,” Hoskins said. “I think we’re seeing a pretty good product on the field, we’re playing a really good ball right now.”
