Big Night for Hoskins Not Enough as Philadelphia Phillies Fall to Marlins

Rhys Hoskins played one of the best games of his career on Tuesday night, but it wasn't enough for the Philadelphia Phillies to top the Miami Marlins.

Leo Morgenstern | Jun 15, 2022

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Philadelphia Phillies

Following a nine-game winning streak to open the month of June, the Philadelphia Phillies have managed to lose two of their last three games in absolutely spectacular fashion.

On Sunday afternoon, they suffered a beating at the hands of the Arizona Diamondbacks, losing thirteen to one. But on Tuesday night, Philadelphia somehow managed to suffer an even more miserable defeat, falling to the Miami Marlins by a score of eleven to nine.

Miami took the lead early, scoring four runs off of Zach Eflin in the first. With two outs, Jorge Soler doubled, Jesús Aguilar homered, Jesús Sánchez singled, and Avisail García homered, and all of a sudden the Marlins had a commanding lead.

Thankfully for the Phils, Eflin settled down after that rough first inning and threw five more scoreless frames. He put his bad inning behind him and pitched like the Eflin we know and love. After giving up two home runs in the first, he induced seven ground ball outs, struck out three, and allowed just one hit throughout the rest of the night.

Despite this, manager Rob Thomson took him out of the game after just six innings and eighty pitches. It seemed like an odd move at the time, and it looked even worse in hindsight as the bullpen went on to blow the game, but afterwards Thomson explained Eflin was removed because of soreness in his right knee.

Rob Thomson said he pulled Zach Eflin after 80 pitches because of some discomfort in his knee.
— Todd Zolecki (@ToddZolecki) June 15, 2022

Eflin had surgery on his knee last fall, and out of an abundance of caution Thomson removed the right-hander from the game. According to Alex Coffey of The Inquirer, Eflin is confident he will still make his next start as scheduled. Judging by his stellar performance in innings two through six, the knee could not have been bothering him too badly, which is a promising sign.

Back to the game at hand, the Phillies tied up the ballgame in the fourth inning thanks to a three-run bomb off the bat of Rhys Hoskins. They had scored their first run in the previous inning on an RBI groundout from J.T. Realmuto, and with Hoskins' home run, things were all tied up.

Rhys Hoskins and Kyle Schwarber celebrate a game-tying home run. — Rhys Hoskins and Kyle Schwarber celebrate a game-tying home run / © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

The following inning, Alec Bohm would put the Phillies on top with an RBI single, driving in both Realmuto and Didi Gregorius.

A few batters later, Hoskins would make it a commanding eight to four lead with an RBI double to center field, scoring Bohm and Matt Vierling. It was his third hit and fifth RBI of the night.

Unfortunately, in the top of the seventh, the Phillies bullpen would blow things for the first time, allowing home runs to Jacob Stallings and Jazz Chisholm Jr. Jeurys Familia gave up the first homer, raising his ERA to 4.50. In his last fifteen games, Familia has allowed 18 hits and 6 walks in just 13.1 IP. His ERA in that time is 5.40.

The second home run came off of Seranthony Domínguez, who had yet to allow a home run all season. His 1.88 ERA is still stellar, although he now has the dirty mark of a blown save on his stat line.

Heading into the eighth, each team had scored eight runs, but the game was far from over. In the bottom of the frame, Hoskins crushed his second home run of the day to deep left field, putting Philadelphia back in front. Hoskins could barely contain his excitement as he ran the bases, having just given his team the lead while playing what was probably the best game of his career.

The hero the Phillies needed. What a series for the number one Phillies boy.
pic.twitter.com/iojlcoB4KO
— Inside the Phillies (@InsidePhilsFN) June 15, 2022

If the game had only ended there, this would have been such a lovely evening for the Phils. But alas, a ballgame is nine innings, not eight, and there was still plenty of baseball left to play.

Closer Corey Knebel came in to pitch the ninth and immediately got into trouble. The first batter reached on a bad throw by Bohm (which still could have been an out had Hoskins made the catch at first) and Knebel subsequently walked the next two batters. The next man up, Garrett Cooper, singled past a diving Gregorius, and the game was knotted up at nine.

Knebel was then lifted from the game, having thrown just four strikes in sixteen pitches and having recorded no outs. It was his fourth blown save of the year.

With Familia, Domínguez, Hand, and Knebel already out of the game, Thomson called on Andrew Bellatti to try and limit the damage. Entering a tie game in the ninth inning with the bases loaded and no outs is just about the highest leverage situation a reliever can find himself in, and unfortunately Bellatti wasn't quite up to the task.

Andrew Bellatti exits the field after a difficult ninth inning. — Andrew Bellatti exits the field after a difficult ninth inning / © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

He got the first batter he faced to pop out to shallow left field, keeping the go-ahead run at third. The next batter was Aguilar, and it looked like Bellatti had retired him too when he got him to pop up in foul territory. Realmuto, however, had other plans. He dropped the ball – it popped right out of his glove – and the at-bat continued.

Aguilar took advantage of this stroke of luck, and he knocked a two-run double a few pitches later. Miami now had an eleven to nine lead, and that is how the score would remain.

Had Bohm made a better throw, had Hoskins made the catch, or had Realmuto held on to the ball, the Phillies might just have escaped with the win. Nevertheless, the most blame for the loss has to fall on Knebel's shoulders, as he allowed four straight batters to reach base and could barely throw a strike all night.

Corey Knebel blew his fourth save as the Phillies lost to the Marlins on Tuesday evening. — Corey Knebel blew his fourth save as the Phillies lost to the Marlins on Tuesday evening / © Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports

It was a heartbreaking loss for the Phillies on many counts. Hoskins' great night at the plate (4-for-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI) was wasted. Eflin might be hurt. Poor defense cost the team badly, as did a poor showing from the bullpen.

Nevertheless, the game wasn't without its bright spots. Hoskins was on fire, and his energy was electric. Nick Castellanos went 2-for-5, Kyle Schwarber walked three times, and everyone in the starting lineup reached base at least once. Eflin demonstrated impressive resilience after a tough first inning, and Brad Hand looked very good pitching a scoreless eighth.

The Phillies may have lost, but at least they put up a fight. They'll be back out there on Wednesday afternoon to try and secure their fourth straight series win.

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Published Jun 15, 2022

LEO MORGENSTERN

Leo Morgenstern is a writer and editor for Inside the Phillies. He also writes for FanGraphs and Just Baseball, and his work has appeared on Pitcher List and Baseball Prospectus. He previously covered the Phillies for SB Nation's The Good Phight. You can follow him on Twitter @morgensternmlb.