• Hoskins’ 10th HR obscured
PHILADELPHIA » The magic continued Saturday night for Rhys Hoskins, who according to the professional stat geeks became the first major league player to hit 10 home runs in his first 17 games.
Hoskins hit that historic high in the first inning, taking Chicago Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks deep to left on a two-out, twostrike changeup. It was No. 10 of the season and of the month, and the seventh straight game in which the Phillies’ ridiculous rookie homered, posting a two-run lead.
Then again, he does indeed work for the Phillies, who took that two-run gift Hoskins had given them and turned it into a 17-2 loss to the defending World Champions at Citizens Bank Park. Congratulations all around? “To lead off the game like that and give the team a lead early, that’s always a good thing,” Hoskins said in an otherwise very quiet clubhouse. He even made note of this dubiously timed moment in history.
“I don’t think anyone can really explain it, so it’s kind of a lot of a wide eyes, I guess,” Hoskins said. “But it keeps us light in the dugout.”
Considering the kind of pitching the Phillies are getting these days, something has to keep the vibes easy.
While this worst club in baseball is clearly hitting better than earlier in the season, the starting rotation is coming apart at the seams. Saturday night starter Ben Lively lasted only five innings while doling out four of the Cubs’ six home runs for the game.
“One of the things he did was miss location 29 times on his fastball,” manager Pete Mackanin said, “which is not good.”
Mackanin had talked about that very thing before the game, listing several of his young starters — both injured Phils and temporary Lehigh Valley fill-ins — as sharing the gift of bad command of the fastball.
But Lively thought his problems on this night were partially because he wasn’t communicating well with his catcher, Jorge Alfaro, his usual IronPigs mate.
“I wanted to throw more in,” Lively said. “We just weren’t on the same page. My curveball was crap early and I tried to fix it but it was too late. They’re a good hitting team and they definitely hit mistakes.”
Whatever the issue, the Cubs had reversed Hoskins’ handicap homer and doubled up the Phils 4-2 after three. Lively gave up two more in the fifth before he departed, and a seven-run seventh was soon to follow.
Just another banner night for Phillies pitching, which lately has been responsible for their continued slide into the abyss, currently clocking 47-81.
At least this magical major league start by Hoskins has been a happy distraction.
“I’m going to start getting mad at him if he doesn’t hit a home run every game he plays,” Mackanin said. “He’s special. He just gives you good at-bats. He takes what they give him. He doesn’t try to do too much.”
That’s true even when the crowd is on its feet as he trots around those bases. Hoskins, now hitting .300 with 10 homers, 23 RBIs and an incredible .817 slugging percentage, says he doesn’t know if the feeling of what he’s done has fully sunk in.
“I don’t know if it has yet,” Hoskins said. “Obviously to be mentioned in a sentence that has the words ‘first-ever in MLB history’ is pretty special. It’s definitely an honor and I was just glad I was able to do it in a Phillies uniform.
“Once I step into the box it’s all me versus the pitcher kind of thing. If you guys can feel it, there must be something going on, which is great. That’s the kind of fans we have, so I can’t say I’m surprised. But it’s kind of just a pure bliss. When you’re running, you don’t really hear anything, you can’t really see anything except the ground in front of you and the bases.
“I don’t know ... it’s something I’ve never felt. Let’s hope I can repeat it.”