Bryce Harper homers twice, but Padres get to Phillies’ bullpen to avoid a sweep
Ranger Suárez allowed one run in six innings, but San Diego scored four runs on relievers to stave off a season sweep by the Phillies.
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Wednesday was not the best day for the Phillies at the plate. But for a moment, it seemed like their two-time MVP would make that a moot point. Bryce Harper hit two home runs, his 16th and 17th of the season, but it wasn’t enough to eke out a win for the Phillies, who managed just six hits. They fell to the Padres, 5-2, at Citizens Bank Park to come up short of a series and season sweep of San Diego.
The Phillies were facing a formidable opponent in Padres right-hander Matt Waldron, who throws more knuckleballs than he does any other pitch. It was difficult for the Phillies to prepare for. Normally, they simulate pitches in the batting cage before games, but because the knuckleball doesn’t spin, and therefore moves unpredictably, it was hard to simulate. Some knuckleballs dive and fade away, some cut one way or the other, and some stay up.
“You can’t put a knuckleball in the machine,” said Bryson Stott.
He added: “When you face a guy that throws a knuckleball you tend to know what to do with it. He’s a lot different than the other guys. He has four or five other pitches that he also throws. And he had good command of his knuckleball today and it kept us off balance just a little bit.”
The result was the Phillies combining for two runs with 10 strikeouts. They went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position. Harper’s pair of home runs were the only runs they scored.
Because of the lack of offensive rhythm, there was very little room for error. Starting pitcher Ranger Suárez kept the Phillies in the game with another stellar outing, allowing just one earned run on six hits with four strikeouts in six innings. But the bullpen and the defense were uncharacteristically shaky.
Orion Kerkering entered after Suárez in the seventh, and allowed one earned run on two hits with one strikeout. After a string of 11 straight outings without allowing a run, Phillies reliever Seranthony Domínguez was charged with three unearned runs in the eighth, which all scored after he was relieved. He allowed back-to-back singles to Jurickson Profar and Manny Machado, struck out Donovan Solano, and Ha-Seong Kim reached on a fielding error by third baseman Alec Bohm.
“The runner got in front of him and [he] lost sight of the ball,” said manager Rob Thomson. “So, not much you can really do.”
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Gregory Soto entered in relief, and induced a pop out but allowed a triple to Kyle Higashioka that enabled pinch-runner José Azocar, Machado, and Kim to score when center fielder Brandon Marsh tried to make a sliding catch, but the ball went right under his glove. Jose Ruiz pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
The Padres’ Robert Suárez — of Bedlam at the Bank fame — pitched the bottom of the ninth after blowing a save on Tuesday night. He fared much better on Wednesday, striking out Marsh and retiring Edmundo Sosa and David Dahl to end the game.
It wasn’t the way the Phillies wanted to end the series, but after back-to-back series losses in Boston and Baltimore, they were happy with two out of three. After an off day on Thursday, they’ll play a three-game set against the Diamondbacks this weekend.
“I think it’s well deserved for everybody,” Thomson said. “It’s good to get back on the winning side of a series. Difficult loss today, but we still won the series and hopefully that’s a trend.”