What a finish. The Phillies beat the Braves, 5-4, Sunday night on a play on the plate. Andrew Knapp made a great play, received a one-hopper and continued to tag Dansby Swanson to end the game.
It looked like Freddie Freeman had tied the game with two outs in the ninth to tie a gap to left-center, but Swanson was unable to score from the first.
“Exactly how you practice it,” said Alec Bohm, who hit his first major home game earlier in the night.
Despite the sick sign of strings from the bases loading two innings in a row, and despite a poor defensive play, the brutal five-player losing streak is over.
Credit the bull in this. The Phillies finally secured a lead after blowing five in a row. Newcomer Heath Hembree, Tommy Hunter and Brandon Workman picked up 11 outs.
The Phillies hit three homers. Rhys Hoskins hit his second of the season and Didi Gregorius hit his fourth.
It was the quietest game of the season for Bryce Harper. He went 0 for 5 with three strikeouts and a bases-laden popout with one out. It was the first game this season that he failed to hit the bases.
Hey, the Phillies will take it. They have not even won games lately when their superstars play as superstars.
The Phillies are 10-14. They beat the Braves by four games in the NL East and second place Marlins by two games.
The Phils were eliminated Monday before they face the Nationals in a three-game series in DC Tuesday through Thursday.
The new man steps up
In the biggest moment of the game, Hembree made his debut with rounds on second and third and one out in the sixth inning. Hembree protected a lead of two runs.
He needed five pitches to get out of the jam:
• 93 mph fastball, damp back
• 94 mph fastball, swing-and-miss
• 95 mph fastball, backflow
• 95 mph fastball, swing-and-miss (strikeout)
• Ground-up of 1st field
He then stood for the minimum in his second inning. In all, Hembree allowed one baserunner in 1⅔ innings and knocked out two.
Hembree brings speed, which the Phillies bull desperately needed and, honestly, still needed. His average of 94.4 mph with the heater the last four seasons is faster than the fastball of any Phillie in 2020 except Zack Wheeler.
Workman, who blew up a rescue and took a loss in his first day as Phillie Saturday, returned a night later to pick up the rescue. He was not sharp at all, but came away with his first save as Phillie.
Shaky defense
Hoskins threw a relatively routine throw to the first base in the sixth inning that nearly killed a Braves rally. The next battery doubled to put runners on second and third before Hembree picked up the threat.
Bohm struggled defensively again at third, missing balls hitting just to his left and just to his right. A good defensive third baseman makes both plays. In fact, one was an RBI single and the other a double.
The Phillies now have too many DH species for too few spots. Neither Bohm nor Hoskins are an above-average defensive player. Jay Bruce, currently at the IL with a quad injury, is a DH. The Phillies also want to use that spot to get Andrew McCutchen or JT Realmuto off their feet.
Bohm’s bat should be in the lineup, but there’s no doubt that his glove at the hot corner detracts from some overall value. He made two plays in the ninth in a situation of high pressure. That had to feel good.
Eflin packs well
Zach Eflin kept the Phillies in the game and would probably have completed six innings if not for the defensive miscues. He managed three runs over 5⅓ innings and struck out six. Eflin is 1-1 with a 5.12 ERA through four starts.
The Phillies have only had one quality start (6+ innings, 3 ER or less) in their 14 games not started by Wheeler or Aaron Nola.
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