Kapler pushing the right buttons for hot Phillies
PHILADELPHIA » It’s tough to argue who’s hotter, the Phillies or manager Gabe Kapler, who killed it with all of his moves Tuesday night.
Collectively they’ve won four of their last five starts after an 6-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds, who were poised to nohit them entering the sixth inning thanks to a solid start from Homer Bailey.
While Kapler said the players deserved the credit for the turnaround giving the Phillies a 5-5 record, he also conceded that he’s improved through the first 10 games.
“I think so,” Kapler said. “Obviously the players deserve all the attention and all the credit for the last couple games. They’ve played incredibly well. But I’ve learned a lot and I’ll continue to learn every day. But those guys the attention should be on them. They’ve done a great job.”
The Phillies scored all of their runs with two outs, Scott Kingery blasting their third grand slam of the homestand, in the bottom of the eighth.
Kapler played Kingery at third base instead of Maikel Franco, who was blistering hot with the bat, having thumped another of those slams.
No, it didn’t cross Kap’s mind to march Franco to the plate and pinch-hit for Kingery with the bases jammed.
“Scotty, does anything faze this kid?” Kapler said. “Biggest moment, big stage. Looking for a pitch to drive down in the zone and he got on a fastball.”
Shortstop J.P. Crawford, who said he’d gotten the barrel of the bat on just once all season, plated the game-winning run with a line-drive single in the seventh inning. Stop me if you’ve heard this, but Kap didn’t consider pinch-hitting for Crawford.
“He was swinging the bat well, he was managing his at bats well and we trust J.P.,” Kapler said. “It’s nice to see him reward the faith his teammates have in him.”
Reds slugger Joey Votto went 0-for-4 with a couple of groundouts thanks to Kapler’s shift, Cesar Hernandez moving to the outfield grass between first and second, Kingery to short.
Did we mention that Phillies starter Aaron Nola, who Kapler pulled in the sixth inning of the opener with a big lead, pitched eight innings to get the win? Nola scattered three hits and three walks, striking out six. He threw 103 pitches, 70 for strikes.
“One of the things we’re noticing about Noles is he gets stronger as the game matures,” Kapler said. “Really awesome to see him come out and attack. As the game got a little bit older, he got better and better command of his curve ball. He put the ball wherever he wanted. He just looked good out there. This was the time that we were going to ride him.”
The way the Reds (2-8) play, it would take a disaster in the getaway game Wednesday for the Phils to hit the road without a winning record.
Still, it’s tough to minimize the hole the Phillies dug themselves out of Tuesday. It started with Nola. Williams slammed a double to set Crawford up for the winner. Previously Odubel Herrera doubled in Hernandez, both players taking pitches, fouling off pitches and making Bailey throw 30 in the sixth inning. That was the end of the line for the veteran.
“Our pitching has been great these past two series’ and our offense has been doing their job,” Kingery said. “When we can get both sides going like that, this is a special team. I know we’re young. But we’ve got some veteran guys who are doing their part and I think we’re going to win some games.”