If the Wednesday game was any indication, the Philadelphia Phillies’ hitters are ready for the postseason.
The Phillies hope to author another dominant power display on Thursday when they wrap up their home series with the Miami Marlins.
In an 11-1 victory on Wednesday, Philadelphia (93-65) hit a franchise-record eight home runs — including three by Edmundo Sosa and two by Kyle Schwarber. Bryson Stott, Alec Bohm and Otto Kemp also went deep for the Phillies, who clinched a first-round playoff bye with the victory.
“There are no personal stats anymore,” said Schwarber, ignoring the fact that he needs two home runs to tie Ryan Howard (58 homers in 2006) for the Phillies’ franchise record. “It’s all about how do you win baseball games at the end of the day.”
The resounding win was a welcome sight for the Phillies, who had lost four of their previous five games.
Meanwhile, it was a rare setback of late for the Marlins, who had their seven-game winning streak halted. After beating Philadelphia 6-5 in 11 innings on Tuesday, Miami managed only five hits in the middle contest of the three-game set.
The Marlins have lost eight of their 12 matchups against the Phillies this season.
“They have a good offense and a good team and they’re capable of nights like this throughout the course of the season, and tonight was one of those,” said Marlins manager Clayton McCullough, whose team is one loss (or one win by the New York Mets or the Arizona Diamondbacks) away from being eliminated from playoff contention.
Miami will look to bounce back behind Janson Junk (6-3, 4.27 ERA), who is hoping to build off one of his best starts of the season. The right-hander gave up just one run and three hits in seven innings against the Texas Rangers on Friday.
In uncharacteristic fashion, the Marlins’ coaching staff called pitches from the dugout, relaying the signals to catcher Liam Hicks, who then used PitchCom to deliver the signs to the mound.
“I think it was just a good blend, I would say. It went seamlessly today,” said Junk, who matched the longest outing of his career. “Everything was good. There were no hiccups.”
Junk will be facing the Phillies for the first time.
Philadelphia will give the nod to Walker Buehler (9-7, 5.13 ERA), who has made one start and one relief appearance for the Phillies. The veteran right-hander spent most of the season scuffling for the Boston Red Sox.
However, he has given up just one run and seven hits in 8 2/3 innings for the Phillies. Last time out, he pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief to record a win against the Diamondbacks on Friday.
“Little bit of an uptick early for me in terms of velo,” Buehler said. “I kind of got out of whack in that last inning, but all in all, kind of another step forward for me. I think there’s a lot of ways to look at it and dissect it. I’m happy to be here and be on the team.”
Buehler has made six lifetime starts against Miami, going 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA.
–Field Level Media
