Phillies beat Nationals behind Rhys Hoskins’ home run
Hoskins, meanwhile, reached 10 home runs in 31 games, faster than any Phillies player since 2009 when Chase Utley got to 10 in 30 games and Raul Ibanez did it in 31 games.
One night, Rhys Hoskins rings the bell at half court before a Sixers playoff game. The next, he wins a game for the Phillies with a ding-dong.
It's good to be young and a slugger in Philadelphia.
Facing a left-handed reliever after a couple of eyebrow-raising pitching decisions by both teams, Hoskins lined a three-run home run into the left-field seats to spark a 4-2 victory Friday night in the opener of a three-game series against the rival Washington Nationals. It marked the Phillies’ sixth win in eight games and gave them a five-game cushion over the banged-up, fourth-place Nationals in a division race that could well go down to the wire this season.
"We know these guys. They're going to be tough games. They always are," Hoskins said. "It was just nice to get the first one."
Despite playing without their three best hitters — Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto are all injured — the Nationals led, 2-1, in the bottom of the sixth inning. Although starter Jeremy Hellickson had thrown only 79 pitches, manager Dave Martinez turned to lefty reliever Dan Jennings to face lefty-hitting Bryce Harper. And he stuck with Jennings after Harper drew a walk, noting that Hoskins is 0-for-15 against sliders from left-handed pitchers since the start of last season.
Hoskins recalled facing Jennings last season. He also laid off a slider for a ball on the second pitch of the at-bat. When Jennings threw another slider, Hoskins was ready.
"I wasn't sitting on it by any means. He just happened to leave it up a little bit," Hoskins said. "I was just excited to finally do some damage against a lefty."
Hoskins tends to do his most damage when the Phillies need it. Thirty-four of his 62 career homers have either tied a game or given the Phillies a lead. Since Hoskins' major-league debut in 2017, only Oakland A's slugger Khris Davis (36) has more tying or go-ahead homers.
Maybe that's why the Sixers invite Hoskins to ring the bell. (They're 3-0 in the three games he has done it, by the way.)
"I think it just happens that I get to be in those spots more often than some other guys," he said of his clutch hitting, not bell-ringing. "My job is to drive in runs. I don't think there's a little extra focus. I'm trying to take every at-bat as the same. I just think I happen to come up in those spots a little bit more."
Hoskins’ latest big homer came after the Phillies got burned on a pitching move.
Manager Gabe Kapler lifted starter Jerad Eickhoff for a pinch hitter with two outs, nobody on base and the game tied 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth inning even though Eickhoff had thrown only 87 pitches. Sure enough, reliever Seranthony Dominguez gave up a go-ahead solo homer to Kurt Suzuki in the top of the sixth.
Kapler explained that he wants to be careful with Eickhoff early in the season. The big right-hander missed most of last year with assorted injuries.
"We really have to be cognizant of Jerad's workload," Kapler said. "We have to pay very close attention to when he's on his game and we want to push him, and tonight, his command wasn't his best. It just proves how tough Jerad Eickhoff is. He went through a really tough lineup several times just based on grit and toughness alone."
Besides, Martinez saw Kapler's move and raised him. And the Nationals entered the game with a 5.87 bullpen ERA, worst in the league.
“The way this lineup’s constructed, it becomes a pick-your-poison,” Hoskins said. “If I don’t get the job done there, we’ve got an all-star hitter [J.T. Realmuto] right behind me as well. I just happened to be the poison they picked tonight.”