With the calendar turning to September the MLB Playoff push is in full swing. The Phillies enter play on Friday as the number 1 seed in the National League Wild card standings. Meaningful September baseball is once again on the menu for the Phillies. The Phillies will begin a six-game road trip with a stop-off in Milwaukee WI, and the NL Central-leading Brewers. The Phillies look to keep the good vibes of August rolling after posting an overall record of 17-10 for the month and hitting a club and National League record of 59 home runs for the month.
Friday
Owen Miller kept his approach simple. Back from a stint in the minors. Miller stepped up in a big way for the Brewers Friday night. “Just put the ball in play there at the end, put pressure on them and good things happen,” Miller said. That strategy couldn’t have worked out any better for the Brewers in their dramatic 7-5 victory over the Phillies on Friday night.
Facing a 2-2 count with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning of a one-run game, Miller hit a grounder that third baseman Alec Bohm failed to backhand the ball. Bohm’s error enabled all three runs to score, putting the Brewers in front for good. Each team scored four runs in the eighth inning of this potential playoff matchup between the NL Central-leading Brewers and the Phillies, who are on track to earn a wild-card spot.
Turner had given Philadelphia a 5-3 lead by hitting a three-run homer off Devin Williams with two outs in the top of the eighth. Turner connected on a 1-1 changeup and delivered a 362-foot drive that sailed just inside the left-field foul pole. Williams failed to convert a save for the fourth time in 35 opportunities.
More Friday
The Brewers responded in the bottom half of the inning. The Brewers cut the Phillies’ advantage to 5-4 when pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor took a 3-2 pitch inside to draw a bases-loaded, one-out walk from José Alvarado (0-1). Jeff Hoffman took over for Alvarado and struck out Willy Adames before Miller delivered the grounder that got past Bohm and rolled down the left-field line. Williams (8-3) preserved Milwaukee’s lead by retiring the side in order in the top of the ninth.
This marked the second straight game in which the Phillies lost after rallying to take the lead in the late innings. They fell to the Angels on Wednesday by allowing three runs in the ninth after Bryce Harper’s two-run homer had put the Phillies ahead in the eighth. Adames put the Brewers ahead 3-1 in the fourth inning with a three-run
That homer off Zack Wheeler. Adames’ 430-foot shot to center was his 22nd homer of the season. Brewers starter Freddy Peralta allowed a homer to Kyle Schwarber to start the game but struck out 10 and allowed only one other base runner in his six-inning stint. Philadelphia’s only other hit off Peralta was a one-out single by Jake Cave in the third inning.
Saturday
Devin Williams ensured he didn’t lose a duel with Trea Turner for a second straight night. Turner struck out swinging at a 3-2 pitch from Williams with the tying run on second base to end the game as the Milwaukee Brewers beat Philadelphia 7-5 on Saturday. Williams had allowed a three-run homer to Turner in the eighth inning a night earlier, enabling the Phillies to take the lead before the Brewers rallied to win that game as well. The Phillies trailed 7-2 after five innings but rallied to put the game in doubt in the ninth.
The Phillies’ comeback included a sixth-inning solo shot from Turner, who tied a franchise record by homering for a fifth consecutive game. Carlos Santana had a two-run homer and Mark Canha doubled twice for the Brewers. Milwaukee’s William Contreras, Brice Turang, and Andruw Monasterio added two hits each. The Phillies Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a homer for the second straight night and J.T. Realmuto also went deep for the Phillies.
More Saturday
The Brewers won by getting big contributions from players they added at the trade deadline. Former Phillies Santana was acquired by the Brewers at the trade deadline from Pittsburgh on July 27. Four days later, they landed in Canha in a trade with the New York Mets. Andrew Chafin (3-4), who earned the win with one inning of scoreless relief, arrived on August 1st with Arizona.
Philadelphia took a 2-0 lead on homers by Schwarber and Realmuto in the first two innings. Brewers starter Colin Rea settled down from there and left with Milwaukee leading 3-2 in the fifth. Rea struck out six and allowed three hits, two runs, and no walks in 4 1/3 innings in his first appearance for the Brewers since Aug. 4. The Phillies Aaron Nola had gone 6-1 with a 2.30 ERA in his 11 previous career starts against the Brewers, but he failed to protect that early lead Saturday.
The Brewers pulled ahead by scoring three runs in the second inning. Canha started the rally with a ground-rule double and scored on Turang’s one-out single. Turang came home on a two-out double from Tyrone Taylor, who scored the go-ahead run on Christian Yelich’s single to left.
The Brewers added four more runs in the fifth. After Contreras hit a one-out double, Santana homered to right center to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Canha hit a two-out RBI double that sent Nola out of the game, then Turang greeted Andrew Bellatti with a run-scoring single. Nola (12-9) allowed seven earned runs – a season high and one off his career high – and lasted just 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five and gave up eight hits and three walks.
Sunday
Wade Miley silenced the Phillies hitters his first two times through the lineup. The third time around, however, the Phillies responded in kind. Alec Bohm and JT Realmuto hit back-to-back homers off Miley to open the seventh inning and the Phillies defeated the Brewers 4-2 on Sunday to snap a three-game losing streak.
They avoided being swept. Miley had pitched 5 2/3 innings of no-hit ball before the Phillies rallied to maintain their 2 1/2-game lead over the Cubs in a crowded NL wild-card race. Miley (7-4) didn’t allow a hit until Trea Turner delivered a shot that went off the glove of the Brewers third baseman and headed into left field for a two-out single in the sixth. Nicky Bats followed that with an RBI double.
The Brewers nearly pulled back ahead in the bottom of the seventh. Phillies reliever Matt Strahm walked Owen Miller and Mark Canha to start the inning. William Contreras then hit a fly ball that Pache caught on the center-field warning track. Strahm ended the threat by striking out Carlos Santana and retiring Willy Adames on a pop to first.
Suárez worked four innings and struck out five while allowing five hits, two runs, and two walks in his first appearance since Aug. 13. Jeff Hoffman, Seranthony Domínguez (4-3), Strahm, José Alvarado, and Craig Kimbrell combined for five innings of scoreless relief. Kimbrel worked around a one-out single to earn his 22nd save in 25 opportunities.
Off To The Coast
The Phillies will head off to San Diego as this road trip continues. The Phillies will try to return to form on their final visit to the West Coast this regular season. So far, the Phillies are failing in September.
Matt Bednarczyk is your host of Talking Philly Sports With Matty B. He is a proud retired US Army Sergeant First Class, he is also a combat veteran with over 80 months served in Afganistan, and Iraq . Huge Hockey Fan. Matt is a lifelong 4 for 4 Philly sports fan. Born and raised on the Mayfair and Tacony neighborhood lines of Northeast Philly. He brings over 40 years of Philadelphia Sports passion and provides a realistic look at our Major Sports Teams and the most passionate sports fans on the planet. Look for his show live on Edge of Philly Sports.
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