It’s Birds season. A national holiday (even if the rest of the nation won’t admit it). But the Phillies played too, and their feats and doings proved to be a worthy prelude to the launching of the Eagles’ championship defense.
Not every matchup between great starters becomes a pitcher’s duel (wouldn’t it be nice if it were so?), but this one did: Freddy Peralta and Ranger Suárez traded punches in the first three innings, allowing a baserunner or two, but no runs.
The Phillies seemed like they’d finally
make hay in the top of the fourth, when Harper walked and Realmuto singled on a bloop to shallow right. That put two on, none out. But Brandon Marsh and Harrison Bader both went down swinging—the former on a fastball well above the zone, the latter on a changeup well beneath it. Max Kepler walked to load the bases, bringing up Alec Bohm. But he, too, went down on a swinging strike, and the game remained tied.
The Brewers recreated the feat of the Phillies’ bats in their half of the fourth, putting runners on first and second with singles, none out. But Suárez recreated Peralta’s feat as well: a bunt turned into a force out at third, a popup got the second out, and the danger was finished off when Ranger put a trio of pitches in the lower outside corner against Blake Perkins, all taken for strikes.
After another scoreless inning, Peralta’s day ended: it didn’t go down as a quality start by the official definition (you need six IP for that), but five innings pitched, eight strikeouts, and only two hits will nevertheless be regarded as a quality outing colloquially. He was replaced by Aaron Ashby, who carried on the scoreless work.
Suárez however, stuck around for the sixth, and soon found himself in trouble. A walk and a double to center put runners on second and third with none out. A grounder to second got the first out and a fly ball to center another; the Brewers chose not to challenge Bader’s arm. A grounder to third for an easy out finished the job, and Suárez’ day. His most impressive work was saved for last.
Bohm made up for his bases-loaded strikeout in the top of the seventh, when he hit a liner off Tobias Myers to right. It ended up sailing past the outstretched glove of Isaac Collins, who dove (but shouldn’t have). By the time Collins corralled the ball, Bohm was safely on his way to third. Bryson Stott hit a worm burner that found Andrew Vaughn’s glove at first, and there were two away. But the Phillies had drank enough of the bitter brew of scorelessness. Trea Turner reached for a splitter beneath the zone, getting just enough of it to slap the ball over the leaping shortstop’s glove. Bohm dashed home, and the Phillies had the game’s first run. Myers was replaced by Rob Zastryzny, whose name has twice as many Zs as he needed batters to end the inning.
David Robertson, that grizzled vet, took the mound in relief of Ranger, and ensured that the steins of the Brew Crew remained empty. Matt Strahm took over after him, allowing a two out single to Vaughn that became dangerous when a combination of a passed ball and throwing error from Realmuto put the runner on third. But a flyout soon ended the threat.
The Phillies, not content with their slim lead, tried to get some extra cushioning in the ninth; a Bader ball up the third base line for a double was a good start. A productive groundout advanced him to third, and a double to right from Stott scored him.
That left Jhoan Duran to finish the job. Being on the road, he didn’t get his traditional entrance, but he didn’t need it. A deep fly ball to center looked like it was heading over the fences, but a leaping Bader ensured that the dreams of the Milwaukee faithful evaporated like suds. There was one more out to get after that, and it was easily obtained.
The Phillies won the series, and gave their fans a cheering appetizer as the city turns their eager eyes to the Eagles. The Phillies are 81-59, and will start a three game set in Miami tomorrow at 7:10.
