Dyson, D-backs put the bite on Lively, Phils
PHILADELPHIA » The Phillies lost 8-2 to the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday. Try to contain your excitement.
Gabe Kapler tried hard to do that after the game. But it wasn’t easy for him.
“Our bullpen’s work today — really impressive,” the Phils’ manager said after a sixrun loss. “Hutch and Rios and Ramos gave us a chance to stay in that game.”
No, that’s not an analytics accounting firm, it was the Phillies bullpen on a day where their work hardly mattered for the end result, but certainly carries weight in the long run. So Kapler had good things to say about long man Drew Hutchison (one earned run, three hits in 3⅔ innings of work), Yacksel Rios and Edubray Ramos, the last two of whom offered up a combined three clean innings.
Of course, the game was essentially over then, since Ben Lively wasn’t on this day. He allowed only seven earned runs while not making it through the third inning.
Or was it over? Depends on the eye of the optimistic beholder.
“Cesar Hernandez,” Kapler said as prelude to his next terrific tangent. “So we’re down six runs in the eighth inning and nobody’s ever going to remember Cesar’s at-bat. He goes down 0-2; so easy to throw in the towel in that situation. But like he’s done all season long, he battled back from being down in the count, got it to 3-2 ... lines a single and really gives us a chance, a spark, to win that game.
“Winds up bases loaded and Aaron Altherr at the plate, our hottest hitter, and we really felt like we were in that game in the eighth inning. A lot of that has to do with Cesar’s at-bat leading off that inning. So really impressive.”
Absolutely. Altherr hit into a double play and the Phillies didn’t score in that eighth, but hey, not the point.
“It’s difficult to stay mentally focused when there’s a big delta in the game,” Kapler said. “When you’re down five or six runs, it’s very easy to go through the motions. Our guys didn’t do that. Our bullpen didn’t do it, our hitters didn’t do it. We showed a lot of resilient characteristics today and we battled our tails off. I’m really proud of that.
“I learned today how resilient we are. I also learned that the Diamondbacks are a good club.”
For his somewhat hollow-sounding positivity on this day, still-new manager Kapler is smart enough to know that no matter how short the common sports fans’ sense of impatience might be — and remember this Phillies team hasn’t been playoff bound since 2011 — this first major league job for him can rightly be declared a rebuild. No matter how optimistic he might be. So the positive perspective, even in the wake of a six-run loss and dropping two of three games to a Diamondbacks team (17-7) that seems more long-haul contender than April pretender, would seem to be an efficient managing tool.
“A three-game series is no indication that one team is better than the other, that’s for sure,” Kapler contended. “We can definitely play with those guys, we can play with anybody in this league. I feel very confident in our team right now.”
As for topics remaining to be glossed over, the most obvious on this day was Lively, who allowed the seven earned runs on seven hits, with two homers given up and only one strikeout against four walks. All that inefficiency in only 2⅓ non-command innings.
“Just didn’t have his best fastball,” the manager explained away as Lively fell to 0-2 with a 6.85 ERA. “Like I said, that’s a really good lineup. When you don’t have your best fastball it’s difficult to get through that kind of lineup.”
Especially if there’s a reason for not having your best fastball ... a claim shared by the pitcher if not explained away by the manager.
“I just couldn’t really get loose today,” Lively said. “I felt off, everything’s leaking over the middle and that’s what happens. I threw alright in the bullpen. A little stiffness here and there, but you know, I felt like it was going to work out. But I couldn’t feel it.”
Instead of having the proper feel for the baseball, Lively said he could feel “a little bit” of stiffness in his lower back. “But I’m not going to blame that on anything,” he ascertained. “I still have to make my pitches. Just one of those days.
“It feels alright,” Lively added. “Doesn’t feel like I’m hurt or anything. It just sucks. ... I couldn’t follow through that well. That’s what happens when I can’t follow through. The ball comes back across the middle and I get hit pretty hard. But we’ve got a game plan. We’ll be alright.”
Lively thinks better things are in store, so long as he feels a little looser next time out.
“I was missing the plate with my fastball and they were ready for it,” he said. “Every single one I threw over the plate it got hit really hard.”
Doing most of the damage was (of course) Paul Goldschmidt, who had a pair of doubles among his three hits, and light-hitting shortstop Nick Ahmed, who had a three-run bolt in the third inning to end Lively’s short day.
*** While the manager was looking on the bright side of this loss, optimism still abounds in the clubhouse, too, for the Phillies, even if they slipped to a more realistic April mark of 15-9.
That’s because two hitters they are counting on have finally shown some signs of life. Even though Altherr couldn’t come up with a big bases-loaded hit in the eighth, he’s recovered from a nothing start to a .177 average, while Carlos Santana has it going at .174 after just as much of a non-start.
“I think results wise they quote, ‘struggled,’” Rhys Hoskins said of his two struggling teammates. “But both of them definitely were having good at-bats through and through. I think Santana especially, I heard somewhere that he was one of the quote, ‘unluckiest’ hitters in all of baseball. I felt like he was hitting balls all over the place, and ‘Stretch’ (Altherr) was having good at-bats as well . ... They’re hitting the ball on the screws. It’s a testament to them that they’re able to stick with that and not hit the panic button.”
*** NOTES » Hoskins when asked if the Phillies did indeed match up in this series with a team that was expected to be a top NL contender: “We came in today with a chance to win a series, against a good team, especially at home. That’s really all you could ask for.” ... A home series with the Braves starts Friday, with Julio Teheran (1-1, 4.00 ERA) against Aaron Nola (2-1, 2.30).