Game Recap:
The Phillies had leads of 4-0 and 9-5 during this game, but the Seattle Mariners were able to come back once against Jerad Eickhoff and another time against the Phillies bullpen to end up with a 10-9 win tonight. This was honestly, the most frustrating loss of the season so far for the Phillies.
What went right?
Aaron Altherr was 2-5 at the plate with a three run home run in the fourth inning.
Odubel Herrera went 2-4 with a walk, a run scored and a run batted in.
Tommy Joseph had a good game, as he walked three times, scored twice and hit a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Michael Saunders went 1-4 with a two run home run in the first inning.
Freddy Galvis only had one hit in five at-bats, but his RBI double in the fourth inning tied the game at 5-5.
Cameron Rupp went 2-3 at the plate with a walk and a run scored.
Pat Neshek was the only pitcher that pitched well tonight, as he gave up just a single base hit in his one inning of work.
What went wrong?
Maikel Franco had a very bad night. He made a great barehanded play early in the game, but then went 0-5 at the plate with three strikeouts, and had a critical error in the sixth inning that allowed Seattle to cut the lead from 9-6 to 9-8.
Jerad Eickhoff had the shortest outing of his career, only last three and two-thirds innings while allowing five runs on eight hits. He struck out two and walked three.
Joely Rodriguez pitched an inning and two-thirds for some reason, and came undone in his second inning of work. He allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits. He didn't walk a batter and struck out one.
Mark Leiter Jr. struggled out of the bullpen as well, as he was asked to pitch past an inning of work also. He allowed two runs (also with just one earned) on one hit while walking one and striking out one.
Hector Neris struggled once again in a big situation. This time, he allowed the game winning run on two hits and a walk.
Game Analysis:
After the bottom of the first inning, it looked like tonight would be an easy night for the Phillies. After an RBI double from Odubel Herrera and back-to-back home runs from Michael Saunders and Tommy Joseph, the Phils had a 4-0 lead, and all that seemed left to do tonight was to play the career tribute to Carlos Ruiz and call it a night.
After a scoreless second inning, this seemed like even more of a possibility, but then, the third inning began, and the wheels began to fall off for Jerad Eickhoff. For the third start in a row, Eickhoff struggled with his control, and it came back to bite him when the Mariners came around in the lineup for the second time. While Eickhoff pitched well enough through the first two innings, the third and fourth inning tonight proved to be his undoing, as a general lack of control and just overall bad night allowed Seattle to score five runs in an inning and two-thirds. Just as quickly as the Phillies had built their four run lead, it was gone, and Eickoff was out of the game as well.
The leash on Eickoff has to be getting shorter by the start right now. While he started the year pitching well, his last three starts have all been disasters. Tonight was just the icing on the cake, as he failed to make it out of the fourth inning for the first time in his Major League career. With that being said, something has to be done about his lack of command when it comes to big pitches. Right now, Eickhoff seems to lack a true "out" pitch, which every big league pitcher needs if they are going to be successful. At the moment, his lack of a true pitch that can get him out of any situation is costing him runs and confidence, and it's past time that Pete Mackanin and Bob McClure figure out how to fix what is wrong with this kid, because he can be a very good pitcher if he works these things out.
Luckily for Eickoff, the Phillies showed some heart at the plate, as Aaron Altherr hit his second three run home run in as many games to put the team ahead by four runs one again. There's not much else to say about Altherr at the moment, save for that he's clearly on the hottest hitting streak of his life, and hopefully he turns out to be more than what Domonic Brown turned out to be after a great month and a half back in the day. However, from what he's shown both at the plate and in the field, it looks like Altherr is going to be one of the few building blocks that's already on this team.
With that being said, the same hopes are still out there for Maikel Franco, also. However, those thoughts might be dimming just a little bit after a poor showing tonight. While Franco has had a decent go of things at the plate of late, he went 0-5 tonight with three strikeouts, and swung at the very first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eighth inning. Considering the Phillies had the bases loaded with one out, that was a poor choice. What made it even worse was the fact that Juan Samuel decided to send Daniel Nava from third on a shallow fly ball into right field. Ben Gamel, who had a great game at the plate, decided that wasn't enough, and nailed Nava at the plate to end the inning.
Franco's bad luck also trickled into the field tonight, as he botched a play in the sixth inning that allowed Seattle to score two runs, turning a 9-6 lead into a 9-8 lead. Sure enough, the Phillies didn't have enough in their bullpen to stop Seattle from scoring two more times, and that's how we ended up with the final score of tonight's game. I could go through every member of the bullpen individually, but there's only so much to say about each person. Aside from Pat Neshek, the bullpen tonight was a poor showing of a minor league pen. Every relief pitcher that stepped on the mound tonight, save for Neshek and Edubray Ramos (who faced one batter) allowed a run to score, and they were a huge reason why the Phillies managed to blow two four run leads in the same game.
I don't know at this point what needs to be done about this bullpen, but something has to happen. Tonight just showed poor control over the pitchers by Pete Mackanin. He never should have let Joely Rodriguez pitch into a second inning of work. If you want another left-handed pitcher, that's what Pat Neshek is here for. After that, you have Joaquin Benoit, and maybe Hector Neris, though tonight, you got that really, really bad Hector Neris. This bullpen has far more questions than answers right now, and after a game like the one tonight, I wish I could answer them all for everyone. However, my first idea of just replacing every pitcher up here, save for Benoit and Nesheck, with Triple-A pitchers just isn't a viable option. We'll have to see what the Phillies decide to do with this train wreck of a pitching staff, because right now, they are losing too many games that they should have won, and that's the worst part about this whole season to this point. Just count the close games that they've had that simple mistakes have lost them, and this team is either at, or above .500 right now. It's basic baseball that's costing this team, and that hurts.
Later on today, Zach Eflin (0-0, 2.42 ERA) continues his quest for his first win of the season. He'll be facing Yovani Gallardo (1-3, 4.46 ERA).
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