New starter Jason Vargas went 6 1/3 innings and gave up 2 runs on 5 hits–a pretty nice debut. New reliever Mike Morin pitched 2/3 of an inning, followed by Nick Pivetta, who pitched a scoreless 8th inning.
Juan Nicasio came in for the 9th, because Hector Neris is suspended, Ranger Suarez was unavailable, and everybody else is injured. He got Jose Abreu to ground out, gave up a double to Eloy Jimenez, and then struck out James McCann on a 3-2 pitch. Out came Kapler who decided to bring in lefty Jose Alvarez to face the left-handed hitting Ryan Goins.
Alvarez got ahead of Goins, 0-2, and then followed with 3 straight pitches out of the strike zone. With the count full, Goins fouled off 3 more pitches before grounding a ball to third baseman Maikel Franco. Instead of throwing to first, Franco inexplicably tried to tag Jimenez who was advancing to third. Franco was late and the White Sox had runners on the corners.
Rookie Matt Skole came up for the first time this season, and naturally singled to right to tie the game after being down in the count 0-2. Blake Parker and Zach Eflin each pitched 2 scoreless innings, which brings us to the bottom of the 13th. Eflin reached base on a failed sacrifice bunt and moved to second on a walk. Before hitting, Eflin told Kapler he could go another inning with a sore triceps, but Kapler decided to use Velasquez as a pinch-runner for Eflin.
Velasquez wasn't a bullpen option because he started Wednesday's game and threw a bullpen session earlier in the day on Friday. But Rhys Hoskins popped out to end the inning, and Eflin was out of the game.
So now Kapler is out of pitchers and is forced to use Quinn, who pitched like an outfielder. He gave up a run on 3 hits and 3 walks in 2 innings of work. But here's the thing–the Phils had a pitcher available. Aaron Nola, scheduled to start today's game, should've been inserted into the game. The Phils could have made a roster move after the game to get an emergency starter for Saturday. But he didn't get used, and the Phils lost.
But Velasquez was a revelation in the outfield. He nailed Jose Abreu at the plate in the 14th and nearly got another assist in the 15th but replays showed Leruy Garcia just beating the tag. But Velasquez prevented further damage by making a diving grab on a line drive to end the inning.
And if you want to point some more fingers, Hoksins, Bryce Harper, JT Realmuto, and Scott Kingery, the 3-4-5-6 hitters, went a combined 2 for 24 in the game and left a combined 16 runners on base. Against a team that's 13 games under .500.
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