Big hits from the Phillies who needed them most in series-opening win originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
PHOENIX — The lull lasted nearly a month, but the Phillies appear to be back playing the kind of baseball that kept them at the top of MLB all summer.
The only thing hotter than the 108-degree temperatures when they arrived in Arizona was the Diamondbacks’ offense and the Phils calmed them down with a 6-4 win, batting in the top of the sixth and holding the lead with four different relievers.
They scored all four runs in the sixth inning with two outs, working quality plate look after quality plate look. And once the Diamondbacks responded with two in the bottom half, the Phillies offered an answer of their own in the seventh for insurance.
“We kind of lost our way a little bit,” Trea Turner said. “We’ve had a break in the last 15 games, where we’ve played a lot of good teams. I think in the last three, four, five games we’ve played better, competed more and the results are showing.”
Their two coolest hitters, Turner and JT Realmuto, were able to take a breather after finally getting big runs.
Turner singled between short and third with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth to break the game.
Realmuto capped a seven-pitch at-bat in the seventh with a no-doubt homer to left-center, his first extra-base hit in 13 games since returning from the injured list. He took second the next time out, doubling and scoring on a two-bager by Edmundo Sosa in the top of the ninth.
“It felt good to finally hit some balls,” Realmuto said. “I was watching a video with (hitting coach Kevin Long) yesterday and we figured out some things mechanically. My club just didn’t stay in the zone for long, kind of losing my barrel. Kind of in between, I just tried to work on clearing my bat path.”
It was timely too. Realmuto officially reached 10 years of major league service on Thursday, a milestone for any player. There were balloons in his locker after the game.
“He is one of the best catchers I have ever met and his physical, mental and emotional toughness is unmatched,” said coach Rob Thomson. “He cares about his pitching staff, he prepares like nobody’s business. He just does it all. He’s a complete catcher.”
Johan Rojas left five baserunners stranded in his first two at-bats over the nine holes, but for the second night in a row his patience paid off. He drew a walk with two outs in the sixth and Kyle Schwarber was equally selective, doing the same to load the bases for Turner’s hit.
Rojas and Weston Wilson will see an increase in playing time with Austin Hays sidelined with a hamstring injury. The Phillies were still awaiting test results on Hays’ hamstring when Thursday’s game began. Wilson had a productive night, striking out Jordan Montgomery in the second inning, missing a three-run double by a literal inch in the fourth and doubling in the Phillies’ first run in the sixth.
The game was about to disappear after the Phillies took a three-run lead when Orion Kerkering walked, two-run home run, single, walk for the first four batters he faced in the sixth. But Kerkering dug deep and navigated his way out of the jam, inducing a groundout and striking out the next two.
What started as a worrying entry could be a building block.
“Kerk is a perfectionist. He was a little discouraged after giving up those two runs, but that’s going to happen, especially when you’re pitching in high-leverage situations like he’s been pitching his entire career,” Realmuto said. “To be able to come through that and end up having a really clean inning after that, have a few more issues, but to be able to come out of it and know that he can pitch that deep into an inning and have success, I thought that was encouraging.”
Jeff Hoffman, Jose Alvarado and Carlos Estevez closed out the win against a D-backs offense that scored 99 runs in a 12-2 stretch. The addition of Estevez was doubly beneficial in allowing Kerkering and Hoffman to appear earlier in games. Without him, the Phillies could have used someone like Jose Ruiz when they used Kerkering and Kerkering when they used Hoffman.
Left-hander Kolby Allard pitched the first five innings and did his job, holding the D-backs to one run on a solo home run by Eugenio Suarez. Allard pitched 13 innings as a Phillie and 10 scoreless. This may have been his last match with Taijuan Walker, potentially on Tuesday.
The Phillies are 69-46. They have won four of five games after losing 13 of 17. Their division lead is eight games over the Mets and 8½ over the Braves. They are 2 1/2 games ahead of the Dodgers for the best record in the NL and 1 1/2 games ahead of the Guardians for the best overall record.
Thursday’s series opener was the Phils’ first win since July 9 against the Dodgers. They are gaining momentum again and will look to continue it on Friday night behind their ace, Zack Wheeler.
“We’re feeling a lot better now than we did a week ago because we’re playing a better brand of baseball, we’re putting together better at-bats, our starters are giving us a chance to win every game,” Realmuto said. “We’re feeling good right now.
