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The game had felt so out of reach that the Phillies used their closer in the eighth inning to get some work in.
But down to their final six outs, a furious five-run rally against the Rockies — capped with Justin Crawford’s first career major league home run — brought the Phillies all the way back into it.
Crawford’s two-run shot tied the game in the eighth, but the Phillies weren’t able to finish off Colorado and they fell, 9-7, in extra innings.
“It took us a while to get anything going,” said interim manager Don Mattingly, “but the boys kept going, and got us back to a spot that we had a chance.”
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They had the opportunity to walk the Rockies off in the ninth and 10th, but each time, the offense came up empty. Colorado pulled back ahead for good with two runs on three hits against Brad Keller in the 11th. Bryce Harper came up to the plate with two outs and the tying run aboard in the bottom of the inning, but he grounded out to end it.
A big eighth inning helped the Phillies claw back from a disastrous outing for starter Jesús Luzardo, after the lefty unraveled in the fourth inning. All seven batters he faced in the inning reached base — on three singles including a bunt, two walks, a double, and a homer — and five of them came around to score. A day after an early collapse from Andrew Painter forced the Phillies to use three relievers plus Garrett Stubbs, they turned to their bullpen early once again.
“I feel like they were grinding out every at-bat throughout the whole game,” Luzardo said. “A lot of foul balls, falling behind early, getting back in counts late, and then just a lot of foul balls, difficult to put them away.”
Luzardo’s pitch count when he walked out for the fourth was already up to 67. By the time he was lifted — still with no outs in the fourth — it had reached 95 and the Phillies trailed 6-0.
Mattingly said he thought the long at-bats wore Luzardo down.
“I feel like we all are mentally and physically prepared to go out there and throw a lot of pitches,” Luzardo said. “But I think that there’s an underlying toll. … As the pitch count got higher, I feel like they got some better swings off on even some good pitches.”
Luzardo’s ERA has skyrocketed to 5.98 through eight starts.
The Phillies offense didn’t have a hit against Rockies starter Chase Dollander until the fourth. But they started to get things going in the sixth inning, chipping away with two runs. Kyle Schwarber hit a towering solo home run to start it off. Brandon Marsh was safe on a fielder’s choice and was driven home by a double that J.T. Realmuto hit off the wall in right field.
The Rockies responded right away with a homer off Tim Mayza in the seventh.
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Harper started the eighth-inning rally with a single. Adolis García worked a walk and Marsh connected on a two-run single to extend his hit streak to 10 straight games. Bryson Stott’s two-run double brought Crawford to the plate, representing the tying run.
Off the bat, he wasn’t sure if it would make it over. Crawford started sprinting out of the batter’s box before watching the ball land in the right field seats.
“Really special,” Crawford said. “It was a great feeling to be able to tie the game up right there. Wish we would have won. But definitely a feeling and a moment that I’ll remember forever.”
He traded a signed bat and took some pictures with the fans who caught it in exchange for the home run ball.
The homer is a product of the work Crawford has put in lately trying to pulling the ball in the air more. Throughout his career in the minor leagues, he was known for his high ground-ball rate, and that has continued this year at a 61.2% clip. His elite speed helps him turn many of those grounders into hits, but unlocking some power would add another dimension to his game.
“It’s something that we think is going to grow over time with him,” Mattingly said. “He’s hit some balls off the wall in left field, driven some balls in that gap, along with what he does with his speed, and kind of putting the ball in play a lot.”
The Phillies had already used closer Jhoan Duran in the eighth, a preplanned move because he needed work after being activated from the injured list earlier this week.
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“We got to continue to get him built,” Mattingly said. “Can’t wait for the ninth, because we may not get to the ninth inning. At that point, we were down 7-2.”
After Crawford tied the game, 7-7, they brought in José Alvarado for the ninth. He hit Brett Sullivan with a pitch to put the go-ahead run on for the Rockies, but he bounced back with a big strikeout of Tyler Freeman to preserve the tie. The Phillies offense went down in order, but Orion Kerkering stranded two runners in the 10th to give them another chance.
Once again, they fell short. With García ghost-running on second, the Rockies intentionally walked the red-hot Marsh. With two on and no outs, Realmuto, who has only bunted once in his career, did not attempt to put one down.
“For me, it’s hard to ask a guy to do something that he doesn’t really do,” Mattingly said.
Realmuto, Stott, and Edmundo Sosa were each retired without advancing the runners.
Watch the latest episode
Despite playing only two seasons for the Phillies, Aaron Rowand left his mark. Literally. Twenty years ago Monday, Rowand smashed into the center-field fence and broke bones in his face to make a catch. And if that didn’t instantly boost his popularity with the fan base, his answer four days later to a question about why he would sacrifice his body certainly did. Rowand joins Phillies Extra to reminisce about “The Catch,” his role in helping to change the culture around the Phillies, and a lot more. Watch here.
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Previous episodes: Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola | Justin Crawford | Garrett Stubbs | Kyle Schwarber | Brad Keller
