• March 19, 2024

Notes From The Phillies’ 4-2 Win Over Boston

San Diego Padres v Philadelphia PhilliesThe Philadelphia Phillies won their first game of the season on Wednesday night, taking down the Rex Sox 4-2. Their record improves to 1-1.

On The Mound

  • Aaron Harang made a strong impression in his regular season debut. Harang was excellent through 6.1 innings, allowing just two hits and a walk.
  • Harang kept the Boston lineup off balance throughout the night, striking out eight batters. He allowed just one hit through his first six innings of work.
  • Harang did allow two base runners in the seventh, and was lifted in favor of Jeanmar Gomez. Gomez came in and got Mike Napoli to line into a double-play.
  • Ken Giles took over in the eighth and had a rough outing. The first batter Giles faced reached on an error by Darin Ruf, and Giles struggled heavily with his command, allowing three walks including a four-pitch walk to Pablo Sandoval with the bases loaded.
  • Giles recorded two outs, but was unable to finish the inning and ended the night with two unearned runs.
  • Jonathan Papelbon was brought in to attempt a four-out save. With the bases loaded in the eighth from Giles’ struggles, Papelbon was able to pick up the final out of the inning with two pitches.
  • Papelbon locked down the save in the ninth, with only one batter reaching on catcher interference from Carlos Ruiz.

At The Plate

  • The Phillies scored four runs on six hits.
  • The offense was held scoreless until the sixth inning. 
  • Darin Ruf, making his first start of the season, began the frame with a walk. Cody Asche singled, and set up veteran Jeff Francoeur for a three-run homer to give the Phils the lead.
  • The Phils tacked on another run in the seventh on a sac fly RBI from Chase Utley. Ben Revere reached base on an error earlier in the inning, and would come around to score.
  • Revere finished 1-4, picking up his first hit of the season.
  • Carlos Ruiz had another solid game at the plate, going 2-3 with a couple of singles and a walk. Ruiz has three walks in the first two games.
  • Utley finished the game 0-3, still looking for his first hit.
  • Ryan Howard went 0-4 with two strikeouts.
  • Ruf started the team’s rally with a walk, but went 0-3 in his other appearances.
  • Francoeur finished 2-4, hitting a single to go with his homer.
  • Freddy Galvis remains hitless for the season, going 0-3.

Final Thoughts

After an embarrassing three-hit shutout on Opening Day, Ryne Sandberg shook up his lineup, removing Odubel Herrera and Grady Sizemore and inserting Darin Ruf and Jeff Francoeur to left and right field respectively.

Ruf and Francoeur’s presences would pay immediate dividends for Sandberg, as both players played important roles in tonight’s victory. Ruf helped spark the three-run rally in the sixth with his leadoff walk, and his disciplined approach is one that this lineup sorely needs. Francoeur of course supplied the game’s biggest hit, so give Sandberg some props for pushing the right buttons tonight.

How ridiculous was it to see the Phillies ask Jonathan Papelbon attempt a four-out save just two games into the season? That just shows how desperate this club is to pick up any kind of momentum early in the year.

Jonathan Papelbon has said in the past that he’s at his best in the most intense of moments, and tonight certainly presented a scenario that gave him the rush he needed to succeed. Papelbon had an opportunity to earn a save against his former club, a chance to deal them their first loss of the season, and he had a chance to do it in a situation where he would need to record four outs and face a bases-loaded situation the moment he entered the game.

Denny Basens

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Jeff Kolsky
April 9, 2015 7:17 am

Last year, Giles just threw the baseball, he didn’t think he just did what came natural. I’m sure he heard in the off-season that batters watch tape, make adjustments, and it’s almost as if he was trying to pitch to parts of the plate to avoid hitters instead of knowing he can win the 1:1 battle.

On a side note, I would think that 25 million a season should equal being able to sacrifice the body if need be to catch a ball in foul ground.

Ryan Howard, if you’re not going to hit homeruns and be average at best with defense, give the fan base some better effort and get the uniform dirty.

paulman
paulman
April 9, 2015 8:33 am

Looks like my main man, Jeff Francouer comes thru weith the Big Hit..
I wanted Francouer 3 Years ago to when GM Reuben Amaro gave away RF Hunter Pence to the SF Giants… I Guess Patience really does Pay-Off when Dealing with GM Amaro and his Roster Management. Good Grief…