Herrera digs deep in center, but Phils fall short at home
PHILADELPHIA » When is a loss nothing more than a non-win to learn by? Seemingly all the time with Gabe Kapler as the Phillies’ manager.
After his hitters stranded eight teammates on base en route to a 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves at Citizens Bank Park Saturday night, Kapler concluded there was reason for excitement because ... well, they didn’t lose by more.
“It was nice to get down early and then come up three or four times during the game, where we felt like, we really had a chance to get that one big hit to put us right back in it,” Kapler said. “Every moment we were thinking about who the bullpen (choice) would be if we tied the game. We had that conversation just about every inning and you don’t always get to do that. If we tied the game, who do we go to? That’s the right kind of position you want to be in when you start the game from behind.”
Actually, the Phillies (1610) didn’t get a chance to tie because Jorge Alfaro hit into a fielder’s choice with two men on in the seventh, then Aaron Altherr flew out to kill the rally.
And because, with two on and one out in the eighth, first Rhys Hoskins then Nick Williams struck out. At least in the ninth, they only got one man on before respective catchers Alfaro (.193) and pinch-hitting Andrew Knapp (.182) were KO’d to end the game.
The “big hit” just wasn’t there on this night.
“But some nights it has (been),” Kapler would counter.
The only thing for the Phils resembling a big hit came a bit early, that being Maikel Franco’s fifth inning home run that cut one off what had been a four-run deficit.
That was mostly dug in the third inning as Phils starter Nick Pivetta ran into a little bad luck while losing a lot of command. He breezed through the first, then made a mistake in the second that resulted in a Nick Markakis home run.
Of course, Markakis does that to the Phillies every year, sometimes several times a summer.
What happened in the third, however, left Pivetta shook. Not mad, just moved.
As his pitch count soared toward 50, Pivetta saw Ryan Flaherty ground to deep short and beat it safely to first. Then pitcher Mike Foltynewicz bunted to the right side, past the mound and pulling first baseman Carlos Santana far to his right. Santana’s off-balance soft throw to the covering Pivetta was too slow to beat ... the Braves’ pitcher.
Two on, none out, and Ender Inciarte stroked a single to right for a 2-0 lead, then Ozzie Albies brought in another run with a sacrifice fly.
Little lack of luck, Pivetta would point out. But also ... “Lack of fastball consistency,” Pivetta said. “I was lagging balls out over the middle of the plate.”
It was what happened next, however, that had positive vibes subsequently bouncing around in the Phillies’ clubhouse.
Following Albies’ sacrifice, Freddie Freeman drove one toward center that looked every inch of a two-run homer. But staring at the ball all the way, Odubel Herrera ran to the track, timed his jump and pulled the ball out of the hedges beyond the center field fence to save a couple of runs.
Pivetta raised his arms like a cheerleader, and was so fired up he may not have noticed at first the call for a review of the play. Herrera did.
“I was a little worried at first,” he said through Diego the Translator, “because my glove hit the bushes first.”
But indeed it was a catch, and according to shortstop J.P. Crawford, “one of the best I’ve ever seen.”
Getting the picture that he’d done something special, Herrera took a dramatic clubhouse turn, showing the media the three scars on his upper right arm he said came from the hedges. The fact that the scars looked a few years old and that replays show his arm — covered by a shirt — didn’t seem to be slashed by branches...
What, you’re going ruin a good story? to
“Didn’t want to get the Braves too excited,” Herrera said. “And I wanted to help Pivetta. I was able to see the ball, and immediately I knew I had a chance.”
Positive vibes must have been flowing with him the whole way then. Just the way everybody likes it.
“Timed his jump perfectly, having his glove go into the bushes like that, you never know what’s going to happen in that kind of situation,” Kapler said of Whoa-du-bel. “But more and more he just shows you how engaged he is, how dynamic he is, how athletic he is and how invested he is in our baseball games. You see how emotional he is and we love that.” *** It’s been clear that Crawford has struggled at short, especially with his throws, compiling five errors this month. So you wonder if it was a coincidence that he was pulled in the fifth inning with what was later described as a strain in his right arm.
“I relayed to third (on a Freeman triple in the top of the fifth) and my arm went number after,” Crawford said. “They say I had a right arm strain. There’s no ligament or any of that type of damage. That’s good news. Hopefully I can just take it day by day and see how it is tomorrow.”
Crawford said he’ll get an MRI Sunday for the strain, which is near his elbow. Asked if ever had a similar injury, he added, “Back when I was 11.”
But Crawford said he’s been bothered by some pain there “for a couple of days, nothing too serious.”
*** NOTES » Pivetta was touched for four runs on six hits in 5.0 innings of work. That ends his streak of eight starts of allowing five or fewer hits . ... Herrera’s firstinning single extended his career-high on-base streak to 28 games dating to last Sept. 27 . ... Vince Velasquez faces Braves’ Brandon McCarthy Sunday in series finale.