Alex McFarlane, who ‘doesn’t really pitch like a rookie,’ helps preserve a 2-1 Phillies win over Diamondbacks
McFarlane retired Lars Nootbaar, Nolan Arenado, and Tim Tawa in order in a gutsy performance that helped the Phillies to their fifth straight victory.
PHOENIX — As the Diamondbacks’ next hitter stepped into the batter’s box, catcher Garrett Stubbs studied Alex McFarlane.
Looking across the mound, he could see no hint of fear or nerves in the rookie reliever. Even in a one-run game in the sixth inning, even with two inherited runners looming behind him, even with eight-time All-Star Nolan Arenado setting up at the plate.
“In that moment, you look out at him,” Stubbs said, “and he didn’t show anything but wanting to attack the zone.”
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And Stubbs was game. They started Arenado off with a fastball, a 99.4 mph offering he watched at the bottom of the zone, but the Diamondbacks third baseman battled back to a 3-1 hitter’s count.
Still, McFarlane didn’t waver. He evened things up with a perfectly placed fastball on the outside edge before Stubbs made a gutsy call on a 3-2 sweeper. McFarlane missed his spot — it was intended to be low and away, and the righty left it up — but it was not a pitch that Arenado was anticipating. He froze, watching it land in Stubbs’ glove for strike three.
The Phillies’ 2-1 win over the Diamondbacks on Monday night was ensured by several nervy performances from their relievers. But perhaps none more than the one in the sixth inning from the 25-year-old, who a month ago was pitching in double A.
“Just doing what this bullpen has helped me out with the whole season,” McFarlane said. “Just breathing and slowing down and understanding, just trusting your stuff in the zone.”
McFarlane entered the game with two runners on after interim manager Don Mattingly’s decision to send Aaron Nola back out for the sixth backfired. The Phillies starter held Arizona to one run, working around a fastball that didn’t have as much life as normal, but his pitch count was already at 92 after five.
The long at-bats caught up to him, and Nola departed the sixth inning without recording an out.
“I notice that when I don’t have that much life on the fastball, they foul more pitches off and run the pitch count up, and work better [at-bats],” Nola said.
McFarlane induced a flyout from Lars Nootbar, and after striking out Arenado, got a groundout from Tim Tawa. Looking on from the dugout, Nola raised his fist in triumph.
“That’s pretty special right there,” Nola said. “Pretty awesome. Left him in a tough spot to come in.”
The Phillies bullpen, which was without setup man Jonathan Bowlan for workload reasons, covered four scoreless innings to cinch the win.
Bryson Stott gave the Phillies an early lead with the longest home run of his career. Brandon Pfaadt left a fastball over the middle of the plate and Stott sent it 464 feet, a towering shot that landed a few rows in front of the concourse in right field.
“I wasn’t sure if it was going to go out or not,” joked Mattingly. “No, that was a long one.”
The Phillies scored another run in the third inning as Bryce Harper extended his career-high on-base streak to 33 games with an RBI double. He drove in Stubbs from second base and advanced Kyle Schwarber to third.
But they missed a few opportunities to add on more. Schwarber was tagged out at the plate in the third and the Phillies stranded the bases loaded in the eighth. So a one-run lead was all the bullpen would get.
But it proved to be all they needed. Brooks Raley bailed out Orion Kerkering by stranding an inherited runner to end the seventh with a strikeout. José Alvarado left two runners with a big strikeout to end the eighth. Tawa chased four pitches out of the strike zone to go down swinging.
Against closer Jhoan Duran, the Diamondbacks advanced the tying run 90 feet away after a pair of infield singles to shortstop, followed by a wild pitch. But the third time proved to be the charm, and Trea Turner fielded the next grounder for the third out to seal the Phillies’ fifth consecutive win.
“I think we got a lot of different mix out there. … I think we think we feel OK with the way the bullpen’s going. This is who we are at this point,” Mattingly said.
The rest of the bullpen has taken McFarlane, who has the least major league service time on the team, under its collective wing. McFarlane’s locker in the visitors’ clubhouse in Phoenix is in the corner, neighboring Duran’s. The two hard-throwing righties were chatting as the clubhouse was emptying out late Monday night.
Arenado has become the latest future Hall of Famer added to McFarlane’s mantle of outs. The first hitter he retired in the majors — just over a month ago — was Shohei Ohtani. A few days ago, he struck out Mike Trout on a 101 mph fastball.
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“That’s kind of been my story, the whole season, is facing those big guys,” McFarlane said. “And just seeing him in the box is a great thing.”
What stands out the most to those around him is McFarlane’s composure. On July 18, he threw his last pitch in double A. Now he’s here.
“I’ll tell you what,” Stubbs said. “For a kid who debuted a month ago or whatever it was, the demeanor that he’s got on the mound in a situation like that is pretty incredible.”
“He seems to not be bothered, honestly, by it,” said Mattingly. “He kind of comes in right away and just says, ‘Hey, Skip, how you doing?’ He’s been good, and he’s a worker, too.”
As Nola put it: “Doesn’t really pitch like a rookie.”
The Phillies and Braves are set to square off again this weekend in Atlanta, so it's the perfect time to check in with Jeff Francoeur, who played for both teams and calls Braves games on TV and radio. Francoeur joined Phillies Extra to help break down the race for NL East supremacy. Watch here.
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