It will be time for rookie right-hander Tyler Phillips to apply some lessons learned when he takes the mound for the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday night in a road game against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Phillips was rocked for eight runs on five hits with three walks in just 1 2/3 innings of a road start against the Seattle Mariners on Friday. The outing came just six days after he was dominant in his third career start, firing a four-hit shutout against the Cleveland Guardians.
After throwing 105 pitches in the shutout, Phillips looked as if he was operating on less than a full tank against the Mariners.
“I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I let the team down,” Phillips said. “I’ve got all these guys in here relying on me. I’ve got an entire fanbase relying on me to go out there and do my job. I’ve got my family relying on me. And it doesn’t feel very good.”
Give credit to Phillips for taking ownership of his impact on the team, but the six-game losing streak the club was on at the time was far from his doing.
His chance to get back on track will come in his first-ever matchup against the Dodgers. The Phillies recorded a 6-2 win on Tuesday behind six strong innings from Cristopher Sanchez and a home run with three RBIs from Edmundo Sosa.
The Phillies prevented the Dodgers from taking over the top spot in the National League while winning for just the second time in nine games.
“It’d be nice to get a winning streak going,” Phillies left-hander Matt Strahm said. “I’d feel a lot better about that, but this game is really hard. None of it matters unless we do what we need to do at the end.”
The Dodgers will counter on Wednesday with rookie right-hander Gavin Stone (9-5, 3.63 ERA), who is 20 starts into his first full major league season and starting to look as if he has hit a wall. Stone had a 2.73 ERA through June but has given up a combined nine runs over his past two starts.
At Philadelphia on July 10, Stone took the loss when he gave up four runs on a season-high nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. That hit total was matched two starts later in a loss to the Houston Astros.
“Everything I hear from our guys, he still feels strong and the fastball velocity at times during an outing is right in line with where it has been,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s a good thing. I don’t know if it’s fatigue, but it very well could be.”
Said Stone: “I feel good with all my pitches. I’m just not executing in certain situations.”
The Dodgers’ offense was sluggish Tuesday with seven hits. Teoscar Hernandez had two, including his 25th home run.
Just as Dodgers hard-throwing right-hander Brusdar Graterol made his season debut Tuesday following a shoulder injury, he left after eight pitches with what appears to be a season-ending hamstring injury.
“It’s heartbreaking,” Roberts said. “Brusdar, he’s been so good for us. He’s done a lot of good things, he’s pitched in a lot of big ballgames for us, postseason games. He had a tough road back, and to come back to blow out (his hamstring), that’s (another) long road back. I feel terrible for him and his teammates.”
–Field Level Media