A pair of Phillies comebacks were not enough as the offense continued to struggle at the plate. José Berríos tied his career-high in strikeouts, despite allowing three runs, handing the Phils their third straight loss.
The Phillies fell behind early and struck out 13 times in six innings against Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios Tuesday in Toronto but still had a chance to win the series opener.
In a bullpen game started by Andrew Bellatti, the Phils were unable to pick up the one late hit they needed, losing 4-3. Just one of the final 14 Phillies hitters who came to the plate reached base, all with the game within a run.
The Phils put the tying run on first to start the ninth on Didi Gregorius’ single, but two lineouts and a strikeout later, the game was over. The Phillies are 46-42 after three straight losses. They’ve scored a total of 10 runs in their last five games.
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Toronto scored twice in the first inning when Teoscar Hernandez doubled in George Springer and Bo Bichette with two outs.
The Phillies responded with two-out runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings. Bryson Stott was involved with a solo homer off of Berrios, a line drive single and two runs scored. Stott nearly made it a huge night, lining one on the screws directly to center fielder Bradley Zimmer in the ninth.
The Phillies were without four players in J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, Aaron Nola and Kyle Gibson. All four are unvaccinated and prohibited from playing in Canada. The Phils were able to call up two “substitute players” for Realmuto and Bohm in catcher Rafael Marchan and right-handed reliever Nick Duron. Substitute players are not subject to options or waivers so the Phillies can simply send both back after Wednesday’s game.
They will be able to call up another substitute for Gibson on Wednesday and it looks like it will be third baseman Will Toffey, who is with the team in Toronto. Toffey has hit .372 over his last 20 games and .266/.385/.438 in 235 plate appearances overall at Triple A this season.
MLB
The Phillies will turn to their ace, Zack Wheeler, in the second and final game of the Blue Jays series. Wheeler has pitched 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts and his ERA is down to 2.46. He’ll be pitching with a little added motivation after being snubbed from the All-Star Game. It’s still possible he could make it as a replacement for Atlanta’s Max Fried, who pitches this weekend.
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