Phillies shut out the Marlins, 4-0, behind another strong outing by Jerad Eickhoff

It was almost a foregone conclusion before the Phillies even gathered for spring training that Jerad Eickhoff would begin the season in triple A.

It had been 18 months since Eickhoff had pitched in a game of consequence and questions still lingered about the surgery he had in October to alleviate the carpal tunnel syndrome that sidetracked him throughout last season.

So he pitched for six weeks in Clearwater, Fla., arrived in Allentown, and waited for a chance.

“As frustrating as it was, going into camp I was competing like I do every year. Nothing really changed,” Eickhoff said after he continued to seize that opportunity in a 4-0 win over the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park. “I got optioned down. Nothing really changed. I went down, got to work and did what I needed to do. I focused on the task on hand and that’s get guys out. Focused on the curveball, throw strikes with all three pitches. I feel like I did that and just waited my turn.”

That turn came last week, when Nick Pivetta was sent to triple A after four rough starts. Eickhoff, who began his career with such promise, had not been part of the rotation since August 2017. He made a spot start last September, but that felt like a sentimental night after a challenging season

Eickhoff finally has a spot again and he is not showing any signs of letting it slip away.

He pitched seven shutout innings, struck out six, walked one, and allowed just two hits as he kept the Marlins hitless until the fifth inning. It was his first win since Aug. 25, 2017. His curveball, the pitch he rode to success in 2016, was exceptional and he used it for five of his strikeouts. He threw 16 curveballs before the Marlins finally put one in play, resulting in a weak pop-up.

“In 2016 when things were going pretty well, I never took the wins for granted or the quality games for granted,” Eickhoff said. "It just makes everything a little sweeter now. I think that’s what I’ve kind of learned from this whole experience and the perspective from everything has changed quite a bit. I’m just pitching for these guys. Not necessarily for myself, it’s for these guys, to keep us in the game. We’re trying to win a World Series and that’s what I’m here to try to help do. "

Eickhoff’s performance gave the Phillies a needed win because they entered the night just one game over .500 after losing six of their previous eight games. It helped wash away the sting of the previous night’s extra-innings loss and drives them into the weekend with two more games against the last-place Marlins, a stretch that the Phillies hope can remedy their recent woes.

The offense limped through the first seven innings before Bryce Harper blasted a 400-foot two-run homer to right field. It was Harper’s sixth homer of the season and each blast has traveled at least 398 feet.

All of the Phillies’ runs came off homers. J.T. Realmuto homered in the first inning off his former team and Maikel Franco homered in the fourth. It was Franco’s first opposite-field homer since June 23, 2017. His previous 42 homers traveled to left or center.

Jean Segura is expected to return Saturday. Odubel Herrera could join the Phillies on Tuesday. Reinforcements for a lineup that needs a spark are on the way. The Phillies have just 10 hits in the first two games of the series, but the four runs they scored Friday were plenty thanks to Eickhoff.

“Oh man. He was great,” Harper said. “Eick from the opposing side was always really tough to face. To see that in person again, I thought he threw well the first time and then that was his first seven inning game in a couple years. I’m very excited for him. I’m very happy to have that guy on our staff.”

Eickhoff paired the curveball with a slider, which seems to be developing into a solid third pitch. Eickhoff, in two starts in place of Pivetta, has allowed four earned runs in 13 innings with 14 strikeouts. The Marlins, who have been shut out seven times, had no answer. If they tried to sit on his curveball, he fired a fastball or slipped in a slider. Eickhoff changed his grip this offseason on his slider and he is reaping the rewards for it.

“It’s another weapon,” Eickhoff said.

The Phillies did not shop for a pitcher this winter, believing the production they would glean from a veteran like J.A. Happ or Charlie Morton would be equivalent to what they could get from Eickhoff but come at a much higher price. That would be the case, the Phillies thought, if Eickhoff pitched after surgery the way he did in 2016.

So far, he has. It is just two starts, and Friday was against the Marlins, but Eickhoff has looked like the pitcher he once was. After 18 months, all he needed was a chance.

“I think he’s kind of a throwback,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “He’s not a 2019 pitcher. He’s super-crafty, it’s changing speeds, it’s location over velocity, it’s throwing a ball when he wants to throw a ball and it’s being in the zone when he wants to be in the zone....It’s just a little more unusual. There aren’t a lot of guys like Jerad Eickhoff in most rotations if you look around the game right now.”