ARLINGTON, TX – Before and after the trade deadline, both Dave Dombrowski and Rob Thomson talked of more offensive production being needed from within. Especially when it came to power. Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper can’t be the only true long ball or gap-hitting threats in the lineup.
The trade for outfielder Harrison Bader brought hope for another slugging bat, but also somewhat overcrowded an already platooning group of left and center fielders. And while Thomson said he has still not exactly figured out who will be mostly manning those positions for the stretch run, one player’s arm seems to be being raised higher and higher – much like his batting average.
Since an 0-for-31 stint in April left him at 4-for-42 on the season, centerfielder/leftfielder Brandon Marsh has gone 66-for-210, a .314 average. More recently, since July 25 he’s 17-for-35 (.486) with six doubles and four home runs in those 12 games. And a telltale sign may have happened Friday against the Texas Rangers in the fifth inning when Thomson allowed Marsh to hit with a runner on first and a lefthander came out of the bullpen.
All Marsh did was hit his second double of the evening, to go with a home run and a single in the game, leading the Phillies to a 9-1 win over the Rangers. They are now 66-49 on the season and lead the New York Mets by 3.5 games as they lost to the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday.
“To be honest, I’m just trying to take it at-bat by at-bat, day by day,” said Marsh. “I’m really just trying to stick to the approach, stay stubborn, just let the body work.
“I do my best to try and treat it the same way (facing a left hander). Them bringing in (Robert) Garcia was a little bit of a shock, but they’re going to their guy to try to get out of a situation and keep them in the game. I totally understand it. I do treat it like as a little challenge, but I feel like the more I do that the more I press. Just got to stay relaxed and treat it like any other at-bat.”
Cristopher Sánchez not only continued his domination throughout the league but proved again how high his maturity level has risen as he overcame a shaky first inning and finished the night with six innings pitched and just one earned run. He improved to 11-3 on the season.
He threw a whopping 25 pitches in the first inning while allowing a run and three hits. In the following five innings, he allowed no runs, just three more hits and threw a total of 100 pitches. He struck out six.
“Just staying calm and staying focused throughout that situation,” said Sánchez. “I think that’s one of the keys that got me through it today. They were showing me something else than what I had thought. I just tried to pitch to the opposite of what they were trying to do.”
The Phillies grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first as Schwarber blasted his 41st home run of the season, this one hitting three-quarters of the way up on the foul pole. It was his fourth homer in the past five games. The Phils put three more on the board in the fourth when Marsh led off with a line drive home run to right. After Otto Kemp and Bryson Stott walked, Trea Turner drove them in with a double down the left field line and the Phillies opened the lead to 4-1.
A bases-loaded double in the ninth by Bryson Stott knocked in two and a three-run home run by Turner turned the game into a route. Turner finished the night 2-for 4 with five RBI, a pair of walks and a stolen base.
“I think the power is there,” said Turner of the team. “Marshy has been swinging the bat really well, Nick has been hitting some homers, Kyle is obviously doing his thing, Bryce is going good. We talked about that power a lot in the first half and it’s starting to come out all down the lineup, not just one person and I think that makes a big difference.
Max Kepler, who started in left Friday, is among those trying to win the majority of playing time in left. Though he went 0-for-4, he didn’t disappoint his manager. “First at-bat he got the runner over, runner at second base, nobody out (on a dribbler to first after a Marsh double.
“Then he got jammed up a little bit the next couple at-bats and then he hits a bullet (hard liner to right). Outfielder made a great play. All in all, he did his job. You can’t control what happens after you hit the ball. As long as you hit it hard, that’s what you want.”
The way the pitching worked out Friday was almost exactly the way Thomson hopes it plays out for the rest of the season and in the playoffs. Have a starter, in this case Sánchez, give six or so strong innings, followed by an inning apiece from relievers (in Friday’s case Matt Strahm and Orion Kerkering), and then have closer Jhoan Duran nail it shut. Problem was, after Duran got warmed up, the Phillies put five on the board in the ninth. And Sánchez was his usual self.
“We’ve put a lot of innings on him the last couple of starts” said Thomson. “I think he was up a little bit today and just didn’t have the finish to his pitches that he normally does. But he grinded and battled through some adversity and got through it.”
Saturday, the platooning/auditioning will continue, as Thomson said he will start Harrison Bader against the great Jacob deGrom. Marsh’s lefthanded bat probably will be in the lineup against the righthander. Heck, he’s making the case that he should be in there against anybody. Maybe he’s making the manager’s decision a little bit easier.
“It was a really good offensive night,” said Thomson, “Nine walks, eleven hits and we put a lot of pitches on the pitching staff. It seemed like we had traffic early but just didn’t capitalize. Finally we got it done in the ninth.”
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