Phillies took a gut punch Saturday night in Atlanta. They surrendered a 3-1 lead with two outs in the bottom 9th inning and a 7-4 lead in the bottom 12th inning.
Phillies manager Joe Girardi has made a notable adjustment in his batting order for Sunday night's game against the Braves in Atlanta.
Girardi dropped slumping Rhys Hoskins from the No. 2 spot in the order to the No. 7 spot. It's the first time this season he's hit below third.
Jean Segura, hitting .391 after going 7 for 9 in his first two games off the injured list, was in the No. 2 spot for the second straight night.
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The Phillies are facing right-hander Huascar Ynoa (3-1, 2.36). Aaron Nola (3-1, 2.89) will be on the mound for the Phillies.
"I just don't think you can ignore what Jean's doing," Girardi said of his adjustment to the batting order. "He's been so good against right-handers and left-handers, so I just flip-flopped them.
"As I told Rhys, this is not a permanent thing, but I think sometimes when a guy has swung the bat well for a substantial amount of time, sometimes you have to make adjustments."
Segura is 27 for 69 on the season and his on-base percentage is .411.
MLB
Hoskins did not start Saturday's game but came off the bench. Over his last 12 games, he is 7 for 41 (.171) with a .261 on-base percentage. He has racked up 16 strikeouts and collected just five walks over that span. He has struck out seven times in the last three games and entered Sunday tied for the NL lead with 47.
For the season, Hoskins is striking out at a rate of 34.1 percent, well above his career rate of 24.2 percent. He's walking just 6.5 percent of the time, well under his career rate of 14.6 percent.
Hoskins leads the Phillies with eight homers. Half of them came in a three-game span on the last road trip. Since then, Hoskins has gone 12 games without a homer. He has just two extra-base hits over that span.
"I just think his timing is a little bit off," Girardi said. "Sometimes he gets ahead of pitches. His work has been great. I just think it's a timing issue and we've got to get it ironed out and he'll be the Rhys we expect him to be."
In recent at-bats, Hoskins has reduced the size of his leg kick.
"I don't get too much into the mechanics of the swing," Girardi said. "Joe (Dillon, the hitting coach) handles that. Sometimes guys don't get comfortable and make adjustments. He'll get going again."
Here is the Phillies' starting lineup:
1. Andrew McCutchen LF
2. Jean Segura 2B
3. Bryce Harper RF
4. J.T. Realmuto C
5. Alec Bohm 3B
6. Didi Gregorius SS
7. Rhys Hoskins 1B
8. Odubel Herrera CF
9. Aaron Nola P
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