7-6ers: Phillies 7, Rockies 6

This win was courtesy of Kyle Schwarber and the offense

When the Phillies started the game with back-to-back home runs, it looked like we might be in for a fun romp. When the bats quieted down over the next few innings, it looked like it wasn’t going to be quite that easy. When the Phillies extended the lead to six, it once again felt like a tension-free win. But a rough eighth inning ended those hopes. Finally, Jose Alvarado was able to close things down, and the Phillies escaped with a 7-6 win over the Rockies to complete the three-game sweep.

The Rockies struck first with an unearned run in the top of the first, thanks to an error by Alec Bohm. (It was not a good night on defense for Bohm, who in addition to that error, probably should have had at least one other ball that was ruled a hit.) But the Phillies quickly answered back in the bottom of the first thanks to Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner.

After those blasts, three straight hits by J.T. Realmuto, Bohm, and Brandon Marsh put the Phillies up 4-1.

Starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez took that run support and ran with it. He only had one clean inning, but he easily worked around whatever baserunners he allowed. His final line: Six innings, one unearned run on five hits, and ten strikeouts.

Another home run by Schwarber extended the lead to 7-1, and it felt like we would be free to pay attention to the local basketball team while the Phillies coasted to victory.

The Phillies’ bullpen had other ideas. Yunior Marte did his job in the seventh, but Gregory Soto was not quite as effective in the eighth. To be fair, the first three batters reached via infield single, infield single, and a single to right that a better fielder might have caught. But Soto lost it from that point on. A sacrifice fly brought in one run, and then Soto walked two straight batters to bring in another.

That ended Soto’s night, and Jeff Hoffman entered to coax an RBI groundout. The third out proved more elusive. Hoffman walked Jacob Stallings to re-load the bases, and Ezequiel Tovar’s single pulled the Rockies within one before Hoffman was able to escape the inning.

Jose Alvarado was now forced to protect a one-run lead in the ninth. He got the first two batters relatively easily, but Elehuris Montero singled and stole second (Barely; Realmuto made a great throw that came extremely close to ending the game) to put the tying run in scoring position. Finally, Alvarado got Sean Bouchard to pop up and end the game.

It was an ugly game from the bullpen, but considering they’ve helped compensate for several poor showings by the lineup, I think the offense owed them this one. The important thing is that the Phillies played three games against a team they should beat and won them all. Hopefully they’ll be able to do the same this weekend when the similarly awful White Sox come to town.