Phils Get Pounded, Gain Ground on ATL

It's nearly inconceivable that a team that loses a game 24-4, allowing the most runs in 89 years, would actually gain ground in the standings. But that's what happened last night. Thanks, Colorado Rockies!

After the Phils were shellacked/blasted/obliterated/embarrassed/throttled/dismembered/beaten like a red-headed stepchild in the lidlifter of the doubleheader, they came back and won the second game. And the Rockies beat the Braves, so the Phils picked up 1/2 game and trail division leading Atlanta by 1 1/2 games in the standings.

Early on, Game 2 looked eerily familiar to Game 1. The Mets scored 2 runs in the top of the first against Zack Eflin. But Rhys Hoskins hit a 3-run homer, his second of the day, to put the Phils ahead.

Back to Game 1 for a bit. There was the good–4 homers for the Phillies and Hector Neris (!) striking out the side in the 6th on just 13 pitches. There was the bad–Ranger Suarez and Mark Leiter getting tattooed for 15 runs in the first 5 innings. And there was the ugly–4 errors, 2 by Maikel Franco that lead to 3 runs.

I'm not sure  how to classify the "relief" appearances turned in by Roman Quinn and Scott Kingery. I guess comic relief is the best way to describe it. In Quinn's 1.2 innings of work, he gave up 7 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks, good for an ERA of 37.80. He also had a wild pitch and hit a batter. Kingery eephus-pitched his way through 1.1 innings, allowing 4 runs on 2 hits. His ERA is way better than Quinn's at 13.50.

Kingery explained his decision to lob the ball to the plate to philly.com: "That was on me. I went in the cage and threw a couple and it was like [batting practice] speed. I thought, 'That's not going to work.' So I figured if I slowed it down a bit it might throw them off a little bit. It was like softball."

How slow were Kingery's pitches? They were so slow the radar gun couldn't detect their "speed." Fun fact about Kingery's night–he's the first player to pitch in Game 1 of a doubleheader and then homer in Game 2 since Rocky Colavito did it for the Yankees 50 years ago.

But it's back to real pitchers tonight as staff ace Aaron Nola takes on Games of Thrones bit player Noah Syndergaard. Nola is unbeaten in his last 5 starts against the Mets (4-0, 2.40) while Thor is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA. All signs point to a low-scoring game. After last night, I know the statisticians could use a break.