Phillies’ bats come alive with 17 hits, bullpen hangs on in 9-8 win over the Brewers
One night after being one-hit by Jacob Misiorowski, the Phillies pounded out 17 hits but had to sweat out a late charge by Milwaukee.
MILWAUKEE — No offense to Shane Drohan, but after what they faced here Friday night, the Phillies were sure offense would be easier to come by Saturday.
Call it “The Miz” effect.
Because although Drohan has a respectable fastball, nobody throws more premium octane than his Brewers teammate, Jacob Misiorowski, whose 104-mph rocket fuel makes everything else looks like regular gasoline.
And sure enough, after getting held to one hit and striking out 15 times against Misiorowski, the Phillies blasted off for a season-high 17 hits, then staved off a late charge in a series-tying 9-8 cuticle-chomper over a National League heavyweight.
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“The first [pitch] I saw today, I think it was 94, and I was pretty far out in front of it,” said J.T. Realmuto, who interrupted a 2-for-33 slump with three hits, including a three-run homer. “It almost slows the game down for you a little bit after seeing 104 all night.”
And now, the Phillies (38-32) will give the ball to their ace, Cristopher Sánchez, with a chance Sunday to win the series over the Brewers (42-26) and clinch a winning road trip. Sánchez will also be able to rebut Misiorowski in the still-early Cy Young Award debate.
Before that, though, let’s get to the best part for the Phillies in their biggest offensive outburst of the season: The bottom of the order did the heaviest lifting.
Bryson Stott lined two RBI doubles, one of which broke a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning; Realmuto collected four RBIs; Brandon Marsh and Edmundo Sosa had three hits apiece; the Nos. 5-9 spots in the order went 12-for-24 with eight RBIs.
How’s that for shaking off a Misiorowski hangover?
“Obviously we weren’t bothered by what happened [Friday] night,” interim manager Don Mattingly said after the Phillies won for the eighth time in 11 games. “I didn’t think we would be, honestly. Any time you face that and he’s throwing the ball like he did, it’s kind of easy to flush it when a guy’s doing that.
“And then anybody you see after that is just not the same.”
» READ MORE: Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski made history on Friday. But the Phillies are ‘glad’ to have faced him.
But it wasn’t stress-free for the Phillies either. Not after Brad Keller loaded the bases with nobody out in the eighth inning. He wild-pitched in one run and gave up a sacrifice fly to Christian Yelich and an RBI single to Jackson Chourio to slice a four-run lead to one run.
Interim manager Don Mattingly said he was “close” to taking Keller out. Realmuto wasn’t sure the Phillies would emerge with the lead intact.
“Hopefully, I was thinking, best-case scenario, we get out with a tie with the at-bats they were putting up,” Realmuto said. “He made the pitches when he needed to, you know? I’m sure he’s not going to be happy with that outing, but the way he was able to finish it was big for us.”
Indeed, with Jonathan Bowlan warming, Keller struck out Brice Turang on a low-and-away slider and got William Contreras to foul out to leave the tying run on second base.
“Once he gets the sac fly, I’m like, ‘OK, he’s settled,’” Mattingly said. “It’s almost like the sac fly got us an out, settled him down, and he made some pitches. But yeah, a little hectic before that.”
Said Realmuto: “If that 3-1 pitch [to Yelich] is a walk or something positive doesn’t happen on that pitch, it might have spiraled pretty quickly. I think that kind of gave him the confidence to get through it.“
The Phillies staked Aaron Nola to a 3-0 lead. And after he fumbled it away on a pair of homers to straightaway center field — Garrett Mitchell crushed a two-run shot in the fourth inning; Chourio went deep in the fifth — the Phillies answered with five runs in the sixth inning.
Here’s how it went: Marsh single, Sosa single, Stott RBI double, Realmuto three-run homer, Derek Hill single, Kyle Schwarber single, Trea Turner strikeout, Bryce Harper sacrifice fly.
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Realmuto’s part in the rally, which came after his RBI single in the third inning, was particularly cathartic given the slump he has been dragging. It got so bad — or maybe Misiorowski is so good — that Mattingly considered it a “small victory” for Realmuto to line out on a fastball Friday night.
“Obviously I haven’t been myself this year,” Realmuto said. “It’s something that I can continue to work on to to try to get better, and tonight felt good. I felt like I got good pitches to hit and was on time for them and put good swings on them.”
Said Mattingly: “It was good to see.”
Better still was not having to see Misiorowski again, at least until the Brewers come to Philadelphia at the end of September.
Say this for the Phillies: They are what we thought they were, a playoff contender led by two aces atop the starting rotation and a dominant closer. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham joins "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss the state of the Phillies' pitching, from the success of Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler to the struggles of Andrew Painter. Watch here.
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