At 4;30 Thursday afternoon, Manager Joe Girardi met with members of the Media to drop two bombshells. It was a dark day in Phillies land. Scheduled starter, Zach Eflin would miss his start and the bigger story, Rhys Hoskins is done for the season due to a stomach issue and will undergo surgery on a lower abdominal tear. Matt Moore would get the start in another “bullpen game’. Moore matched up against a local player, Bishop Eustace Prep alum, Zac Gallen.
Gallen, making his first Citizen’s Bank appearance baffled the weak-hitting Philadelphia line-up in his 5 innings allowing 3 hits, 2 unearned runs with 2 free passes, and a half dozen strikeouts. Moore gave up 4 runs with 7 hits, 2 walks along with 2 strikeouts in just four innings in the Diamond Backs 8-7 victory. The game was not as close as the score would indicate. Josh Rojas kicked off the scoring with a single, Drew Ellis following suit pushing it to 2-0. Nick Ahmed took it to 4-0 with a homer. Jean Segura cut the deficit in half with a two-run shot of his own.
Asdrubal Cabrera answered with a run-scoring single followed by another RBI single from Carson Kelly. Kelly wasn’t finished and slammed a two-run shot making an 8-2 Arizona lead. On to the ninth and the anemic Philadelphia, bats awoke when Freddy Galvis got it to 8-3 with an infield ground out. Bryce Harper hit the fourth two-run homer of the game followed by Didi Gregorius closing the score with a two-run single.
Since Hoskins went down the first time, the right-handed bats have gone stagnant. Hoskins missed 14 games, 11 of which Brad Miller played first. Miller has gone 7 for 38 with18 strikeouts with three in this game. JT Realmuto is 10 for 53 with Andrew McCutchen 6 for 45 with 17 strikeouts.
Joe Girardi
Joe Girardi does have some options to address the situation. Most are questionable though, Freddy Galvis is one, but despite the fact that he has played six different positions, first base is not one of them. Recall Alec Bohm and put him at first base? The fact that Galvis was taking ground balls at the spot may speak volumes…or, with Girardi, maybe not. It was a dark day in Phillies land.
Kevin has followed and promoted the game of lacrosse since May 19, 1974.
The same day the Philadelphia Flyers won the Cup, the Philadelphia Wings were introduced to Neibauer and Philadelphia.
Kevin has covered many sports, including baseball, football, basketball, and.. lacrosse. A former licensed football referee and baseball umpire, Kevin brings a unique insight to his game coverage.
A published writer in JustHockey Magazine, Kevin covered the American Hockey League as well as a monthly story on a pugilist where Kevin used the pen name, The Rink Rat. Neibauer turned his attentions to lacrosse for a few years and does his part, whether podcasting or writing to grow the game. Kevin branched out to his roots and currently provides insight for all Philadelphia teams for Edge of Philly as well as his full-time duties with LaxPhilly.
