Bamboo Brad Miller and bullpen deliver in Phillies’ 15-inning win over Detroit | Extra Innings

Rhys Hoskins provided his second extra-inning, game-winning hit in as many games early Wednesday as the Phillies pulled out a 3-2 victory in 15 innings over the Detroit Tigers. Hoskins followed up his 11th-inning solo homer against Pittsburgh on Sunday with a line-drive single to right field against Tigers reliever Daniel Stumpf, a former Phillies Rule 5 draft pick. Scott Kingery scored the winning run after opening the 15th with a triple off the top of the right-field wall, and lefty Jose Alvarez pitched a perfect bottom of the inning to seal the Phillies’ fourth win in five games.

Roman Quinn accounted for the Phillies’ first two runs with his first home run of the season, a two-run shot in the second inning off Tigers lefty Matthew Boyd, who was impressive in what might have been a showcase game in front of Phillies general manager Matt Klentak. Boyd is a potential trade piece for the Tigers, who have the worst record in baseball, but Klentak said he had scheduled his trip to Detroit long before he had any idea what the Phillies might need at the trade deadline.

The Phillies got seven strong innings from right-hander Aaron Nola and eight shutout innings from the bullpen to remain a half-game behind St. Louis for the second wild-card spot and one game behind Washington for the top wild-card spot in the National League. The Phillies pulled within 6 1/2 games of the N.L. East-leading Atlanta Braves, who lost at home to Kansas City.

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— Bob Brookover (extrainnings@inquirer.com)

It took 4 1/2 hours for the Phillies to beat the lowly Tigers, and it would not have happened without major contributions from reserve Brad Miller and converted starter Nick Pivetta, who was sensational in just his third career relief appearance.

Miller entered the game in the bottom of the 12th inning in left field after Nick Williams was lifted for pinch hitter Jean Segura in the top of the inning. Miller kept the game alive for the Phillies in the 14th when Nick Castellanos, after reaching on a leadoff double, tried to score on a one-out single by pinch hitter Brandon Dixon.

Miller’s strong throw home reached J.T. Realmuto in the air, and the Phillies’ agile catcher quickly turned and tagged Castellanos for the second out of the inning. Alvarez struck out John Hicks to end the inning and followed that with a perfect 15th inning as the Phillies bullpen allowed just three hits and six baserunners in eight shutout innings.

Pivetta was the unsung hero in the Phillies’ win. He came on with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired Miguel Cabrera and Castellanos, two of the toughest hitters in Detroit’s lineup. He then gave the Phillies three more shutout innings without surrendering a hit.

It was just Pivetta’s second relief appearance of the season, but with Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek out for the season, the Phillies could use some help in their bullpen.

The bullpen contributed 13 scoreless innings in the team’s two extra-inning winnings over Pittsburgh and Detroit, allowing just five hits and striking out 14 in those games. The 'pen also has a 1.11 ERA in the Phillies’ last five games to lower its overall ERA to 4.79 for the season. It was 5.06 after last Wednesday’s loss to the Dodgers.

Alvarez has pitched 9 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just three hits in eight July appearances to lower his ERA from 4.11 to 3.15. And fellow lefties Ranger Suarez and Adam Morgan have allowed a combined one run in 15 innings this month. Suarez has given up five hits and one run in 8 2/3 innings, and Morgan, who got one eighth-inning out Tuesday, has pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings and allowed just three hits.

Phillies general manager Matt Klentak made the trip to Detroit and got to watch an impressive performance by Detroit lefty Matthew Boyd on Tuesday night. Boyd is a potential trade target for the Phillies, but Klentak did not sound like a man in a hurry to make a blockbuster deadline deal before the Phillies’ series opener against the Tigers.

Almost all news has been bad news about the Phillies bullpen this season, and such was the case again Tuesday when the team learned that veteran reliever Tommy Hunter was out for the season after undergoing surgery to repair the flexor tendon in his right elbow. As our Scott Lauber notes, it’s also possible that Hunter, 33, has thrown his final pitch for the Phillies.

Jake Arrieta is hoping to pitch the remainder of the season with a marble-sized bone spur in his elbow, and if he does, it will make it difficult for manager Gabe Kapler to know when the veteran right-hander has thrown enough in each and every outing. Our Matt Breen talked to Kapler about the issue.

Today: Vince Velasquez will face Jordan Zimmermann in series finale against Tigers, 1:10 p.m.

Tomorrow: Off day

Friday: Zach Eflin opens three-game series vs. Atlanta’s Mike Soroka, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday: Jake Arrieta vs. Kevin Gausman, 7:05 p.m.

Sunday: Drew Smyly vs. Max Fried, 1:05 p.m.

The Phillies will pay the bullpen trio of David Robertson, Tommy Hunter and Pat Neshek $24.75 million this season mostly not to pitch. The team found out Tuesday that Hunter is out for the season, which means they will pay him $9 million to pitch in a total of five games. He will spend 151 of the 162 games on the injured list. Hunter will have received $18 million for pitching in 70 games.

If, as expected, Neshek is out for the season with a left hamstring injury, the Phillies will have paid him $5.75 million to pitch in 20 games and post a 5.00 ERA. He will spend a total of 111 games on the injured list, then likely receive a $75,000 buyout after the season. Neshek will have pitched in 50 games for the Phillies during his two-year deal worth $16.25 million.

Robertson is being paid $10 million this season and has been on the IL since April 15 with an elbow injury. No date has been given for his return, and he has already spent 86 games on the injured list. He will be back next season.

Send questions by email or on Twitter @brookob.

Question: We always hear a number of names bounced around for possible Phillies pitching targets. But for some reason Mike Leake never comes up. But there is a list of reasons why he'd be a great fit.

1) He is an innings eater. Like Kyle Lohse, he is prone to getting blown up every 5-6 starts. But his last start was a complete game, 4 hit, 1 run outing. His last 10 starts (innings pitched): 9.0, 0.2, 7.2, 6.0, 5.1, 7.0, 7.0, 9.0, 7.0 and 6.2.

2) It was recently reported that the Mariners and Leake want to be rid of each other.

3) He is controllable through the end of 2020.

4) He is making $16M/year as a number four type starter. The Phillies wouldn't have to give up much for taking that salary off the Mariners hands.

5) [Mariners GM Jerry] Dipoto and Klentak have already made several trades with each other.

— Ron C., via email

Answer: Ron, thanks for the email. You make some outstanding points about Leake, but I don’t see the Phillies make a run at him for one big reason. Since becoming a team driven by analytics under Klentak, the Phillies have made it clear that they prefer swing-and-miss-type pitchers.

That is not Leake. He has never struck out more than 6.9 batters per nine innings in a season, and in eight of his 10 seasons, he has allowed more hits than innings pitched. His greatest strength is that he does not walk a lot of batters. He has walked just 19 in 124 1/3 innings, which gives him the lowest walks per nine in baseball this season. Still, I don’t think he fits the profile the Phillies are seeking.