Andrew Painter overcomes migraine, tosses five solid innings as Phillies run into a loss to the Diamondbacks
Painter was scratched 30 minutes before the game but entered in the third inning. The Phillies wound up losing two of three to Arizona as Brandon Marsh's baserunning blunder proved costly.
Andrew Painter was supposed to start Sunday. Then he wasn’t. Then, 17 minutes before his called-off first pitch, the big rookie walked to the bullpen and slowly began loosening.
Finally, in the third inning, he entered the game.
Confused? Join the club of 43,060 paying customers, assuming they weren’t distracted by the Phanatic’s pregame birthday party or the Phillies’ temperamental offense and careless baserunning.
Painter can explain. But first, a few particulars: The Phillies fell behind early, grabbed a one-run lead, fell behind again, and ran themselves out of an eighth-inning rally in a 4-3 clunker in the rubber game of a weekend series against the Diamondbacks.
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It was as ugly as it sounds. With runners on the corners and one out in the eighth, Brandon Marsh took off from first base on the pitch and didn’t stop until he got to second. Adolis García skied a pop-up to second baseman Ketel Marte, who caught it and threw to first to double up Marsh.
“Just bad baseball,” said Bryce Harper, who ran into an out of his own trying to stretch a single in the fourth inning. “Had an opportunity right there and didn’t do the things we needed to do to come through in that situation.”
Marsh left the clubhouse before reporters entered to ask what happened. But his apparent mistake was not looking back at the plate once he started running.
“On your third step, you should peek,” manager Rob Thomson said. “I haven’t looked at the tape, but he lost the ball. On a 3-1 count, they were giving us second base. They were also in double-play depth, so if the ball’s on the ground, we score and tie the game. But that’s the way it is.”
There’s also this: For three consecutive games against the Diamondbacks, the Phillies scored all of their runs in one inning. Before that, they were shut out in back-to-back games in San Francisco.
It explains why, through 15 games, they’re 7-8.
“I feel like the traffic [on base], at least today, was out there,” said Trea Turner, who tied the score in the three-run sixth inning with a drive that cleared the right field wall and was ruled a home run after a replay review. “We just need to be more consistent, have a little bit better at-bats, more team at-bats, moving guys around and getting the little things done.”
Oh, and about Painter: Three hours before the game, he sat at his locker and reviewed scouting reports. Everything appeared normal.
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But Painter woke up with a migraine, a condition that he said he has dealt with from time to time since travel ball and high school in South Florida. Occasionally, the headaches affect his vision. This time, he said the most uncomfortable symptom was “pressure in my head.”
“I was throwing up all morning,” he added.
Painter took medication at home but said he didn’t feel appreciably better until about 15 minutes before the game. So, at 1 p.m., a half hour before first pitch, the Phillies announced that he was “scratched” and reliever Zach Pop would start in his place.
“It was probably 30-40 minutes before the game that we sat there and kind of made a decision,” Painter said. “The symptoms were going away. I started to feel better, but it was like, maybe you just need an inning or two extra to get ready.
“I didn’t know the extent of how long I was going to be able to go out, how good I was going to feel out there. But I wanted to go out there and at least get a couple innings in to just take that off the relievers.”
Pop gave up a run on James McCann’s one-out double in the second inning. Once Painter got into the game, he cranked up his fastball to 98.4 mph, its usual level, and threw his full complement of breaking pitches.
Late-arriving fans might not have known the difference.
Painter went five innings and gave up one run on three hits and a walk. He struck out seven.
“He was outstanding,” Thomson said.
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The bullpen, on the other hand ... José Alvarado, in particular, inherited a 3-2 lead on Turner’s homer and back-to-back doubles by Kyle Schwarber and Harper. He allowed a leadoff single and a one-out, game-tying single by José Fernandez.
In five innings, Alvarado has allowed nine hits, three walks, and seven earned runs for a 12.60 ERA.
Jonathan Bowlan took over for Alvarado and issued a one-out walk and a go-ahead single to pinch-hitter Adrian Del Castillo.
And if Painter felt nauseous before the game, a nearly sold-out crowd surely felt like retching when the Phillies ran themselves out of the eighth inning and went down quietly in the ninth.
“When you don’t come through in those situations, it’s tough as a team,” Harper said. “But we have to do it. We have to come through in those situations, especially no outs, things like that. Got to do better.”
As the Phillies continue to seek more production out of the cleanup spot, Rhys Hoskins was back in town with the Cleveland Guardians. Hoskins sat down with "Phillies Extra," The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss his role with the first-place Guardians, his legacy with the Phillies, and more. Watch here.
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Previous episodes: Terry Francona | Aaron Rowand | Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola | Justin Crawford | Garrett Stubbs
