Phillies look to leave their disastrous first half behind
The flags weren’t moving a whole lot Sunday at Citizens Bank Park, nor were the deliveries by San Diego Padres pitchers.
So without heed to the prevailing winds or the shifting odds, the Phillies did something in this game that they hadn’t achieved in 13 years, hitting six home runs in the same game.
Even more remarkably, they won the game, and over one of their few competitors in the Major League doormat race, with a No. 1 draft pick awaiting the winner. Oh, the Phillies have been here, done this before — two seasons ago. So they shouldn’t have many worries about losing their last-place lead, though the very occasional 7-1 win via six home runs is a nice detour.
The last time they were able to hit as many as six out in a single outing was here, and in the park’s first year, on Aug. 11, 2004. That’s when a so-so (but oh so much better) crew was led on the mound and at the plate by Randy Wolf, who hit two of the six homers.
Jerad Eickhoff wasn’t about to attempt any such supernatural copycat act. He was fine with just getting his first victory of the year, that memorable achievement coming in the last game before a four-day All-Star break and on his first day back off a threeweek visit to the disabled list.
No wonder the clubhouse had an air of nostalgia about it on this day.
“It felt good to be back out there after that extended period of time and just contribute,” Eickhoff said. “I think that’s what I missed the most.”
What was missing for the Phillies in the first half is a list that would take a while to complete. There are too many baserunning mistakes, missed signs, popped bunt attempts, failures to move a runner along, missed cutoffs, thoughtless throws and way, way wayyyyy too many strikeouts in clutch situations to even begin to compile.
Do that and you won’t even begin to address low on-base percentages, lower slugging percentages and ... lack of consistent pitching.
Which brings us right back to Jerad Eickhoff. So how’s it feel to get one in the win column here in the early days of ... July?
“The season tests you a little bit,” Eickhoff said after getting some bullpen help to boost his season mark to 1-7 with a 4.63 ERA. “You never know when that first one is going to come, and sometimes it’s later than you’d like or than you want. But it was well worth it. It’s awesome.” Yeah, almost. He allowed no runs and five hits while striking out eight over five innings of work, and it only took 71 pitches. It might have taken more if the Phillies hadn’t reached back nearly 13 years for enough retro vibes to hit six freebies to their outfield stands fans.
Nick Williams had his first career homer. Cameron Rupp remembered how to hit one, all the way to the bullpen in center.
Odubel Herrera hit one out, as did Aaron Altherr. And doing them one better, Freddy Galvis stroked one into the second deck in right in the third inning, then hit another high off the scoreboard in the seventh. He ends his first half hitting .251 with 10 homers, 37 RBIs and a .724 OPS.
Not bad for a should-be No. 8 hitter.
But Galvis finding success in the 2-hole at this halfway point is indicative of how backward this Phillies team has been so far. With Cesar Hernandez out of the lineup they really have no leadoff hitter. Their former key No. 3 Herrera has been an enigma; ditto supposed power cog Maikel Franco, who has hit 14 homers but seemingly can’t hit anything deeper than shallow left whenever there’s a runner on third with less than two outs.
The pitching’s largely been a mess, save for a rejuvenated Aaron Nola, who came back off an injury and has been almost lights out over his last four starts.
But Jeremy Hellickson has been dealing out homers at a Padres pace for several weeks, and Eickhoff finally showed he can still break off enough magical curveballs to win a game. Time will tell if he can do it more often than every 15 starts or so.
Otherwise, it’s been a combination of injury and some occasional showiness from Lehigh Valley callup Nick Pivetta, but sudden consistency from all corners of the starting rotation seems like a real reach.
In baseball, however, you never know. For example, how would a 2016 Phillies team that improved eight games over its previous season record guess that halfway through 2017 they’d be back on a 100plus loss pace?
“We’ve struggled offensively, we’ve struggled defensively and with pitching; we just have to put it together and see how many wins we can string,” Rupp said. “It isn’t about how you start, it’s how you finish.
“Unfortunately, we’re in the situation we’re in because we didn’t play well. ... When we come back we’ll see if we can get that big hit, finish games out and string some (wins) together.”
The Phillies are 29-58 as all of them except Pat Neshek escape now for parts unknown. (Neshek messed up. Turns out, the National League All-Stars really needed a pitcher who only pitches one inning, and that inning is only the seventh inning, on its staff for the big game Tuesday).
Anyway, the odds are against it, but Rupp isn’t about to count anybody in his clubhouse even halfway out.
“You’ve got to ignore it,” Rupp said of the firsthalf record. “That’s why you play this game every day. It’s unfortunate that we’ve lost 20-something (23) games by one run. It sucks. But you know, that also says something about our team. We’re not getting blown out. We’re playing close games. We’re not getting the big hit or we’re not getting the big strikeout.”
Might be wishful thinking, but it also might be something to think about during the upcoming break. Of course, for these beaten down Phillies, it might also be best just to rest.
“I’m going to go to Stone Harbor for three days and eat, have a few drinks, and sleep, and go to the beach,” sacrifical manager Pete Mackanin said, “because my wife nagged me.”
Her too?