Bullpen, farm system shine
Homegrown talent, relievers power team to victory in series opener
Chalk one up for the Phillies’ farm system.
The bullpen, too.
For good reason, there aren’t two more frequently criticized areas of the organization over the last several years. Yet here they were Friday night, rising up and carrying the Phillies to a 5-3 victory in the opener of a pivotal series with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Go figure.
Mickey Moniak, drafted first overall in 2016, ripped an RBI double in a game-tying fifth-inning rally.
Darick Hall, also drafted and developed in-house, continued his historic career-starting power surge by blasting the go-ahead homer in the sixth. Rhys Hoskins, the Phillies’ best homegrown position player in years, added a solo shot in the seventh.
And the bullpen — yes, the bullpen — made it all possible. After starter Bailey Falter lasted only four innings, Nick Nelson, José Alvarado, Andrew Bellatti, Seranthony Domínguez, and Brad Hand passed the baton for the final 15 outs.
For a change, the fireworks waited until after the game with the Phillies safeguarding a late-inning lead.
The Phillies overcame an early 3-0 deficit powered by Cardinals MVP candidate Paul Goldschmidt and basher Nolan Arenado, who became the 17th player in franchise history to hit for the cycle.
Somehow, Arenado didn’t even qualify for the game’s rarest achievement.
Hall led off the seventh inning and broke a tie by taking Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas deep into the right-field seats. It marked his third major league hit, all of which have been homers.
It’s a feat that has been accomplished only three times since 1900. Pittsburgh’s Rodolfo Castro homered for his first five hits last season; the Phillies’ Ed Sanicki’s first three hits were homers in 1949.
The Phillies called up Hall from triple-A Lehigh Valley this week to add left-handed power to the lineup during a stretch in which they’re facing mostly right-handed starting pitchers. Hall has had four 20-homer seasons in his minor league career and was leading the International League this season with 20 homers.
“It’s the same thing I’ve done throughout the minor leagues,” Hall said before Friday night’s game. “If I do what I do, I will help the team. That’s all I think I can ask of myself and they can ask from me.”
Sure, but homering for his first three hits?
Nobody would’ve called that. Moniak, meanwhile, notched his first hit against a curveball in his brief major league career. It came at an important time. After Garrett Stubbs and Matt Vierling singled, Moniak’s double drove home one run. Kyle Schwarber and Rhys Hoskins knocked in two more with a groundout and sacrifice fly, respectively.
After avoiding a sweep by the Atlanta Braves, a team they are chasing in the National League playoff race, the Bryce Harper-less Phillies play seven of their next 10 games against the Cardinals, also a postseason contender.
Third degree: Vierling is bidding to elbow his way into the lineup every day, not only against left-handed pitchers. It was notable, then, that he singled in the big fifth inning against Mikolas, a right-hander.
“We’ve always thought that he can hit righties and lefties,” interim manager Rob Thomson said. “He just got off to a little bit of a slow start against righties. But he’s coming.”
Vierling also made his second major league start at third base. After handling three chances, including starting an around-thehorn double play to end the second inning, he made a throwing error in the eighth inning.
Falter fills in: With Zach Eflin sidelined by a bruised knee, the Phillies called up Falter, as expected, to fill his spot in the rotation. Falter gave up three runs in four innings.
Falter threw 66 pitches and could’ve pitched deeper in the game. But the Phillies wouldn’t let him face the heart of the Cardinals’ order a third time. Goldschmidt and Arenado combined to go 4-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs against him.