Orioles 5 Phillies 4
Andrew Knapp doubled to left field to score Didi Gregorius ( walked ) in the bottom of the second inning. Dwight Smith Jr ( Orioles left-fielder ) misplayed the sinking line drive off of Knapp’s bat and it rolled past him to the fence.
Anthony Santander hit a solo home run against Zach Eflin against the fair pole in right field for Baltimore in the third inning.
Rhys Hoskins walked to lead off the bottom of the third, he moved up on a bunt single by Bryce Harper. Hoskins scored and Harper advanced to third base on an RBI single by JT Realmuto. Didi Gregorius hit a sac fly to right field to score Harper.
Baltimore scored twice in the top of the fourth as Chance Sisco singled to score Renato Nunez ( doubled ) and Dwight Smith Jr ( singled ).
Rio Ruiz hit a two out solo home run for the Orioles in the fifth inning.
Zach Eflin went six innings - 4 R, 7 H, 1 BB, 10 K’s ( new career high ), 91 pitches - 69 strikes. Pitched well but two long balls hurt and he couldn’t hold two separate leads.
Chance Sisco greeted Adam Morgan with a home run to right field to begin the seventh inning. Morgan was tagged for two more hits and left with two outs in the inning. Blake Parker came in and struck out Renato Nunez to end the inning.
Parker struck out two batters in a scoreless eighth inning ... sweat dripped off the brim of his cap like I’ve never seen 😳 ... dude must have lost a few pounds during the inning 😂.
Jean Segura led off the eighth inning with a single, he went to third on a Gregorius single. With one out Andrew Knapp singled to score Segura. The Phillies left two runners on without scoring another ... Orioles Third Baseman Rio Ruiz made a great diving play on a hard grounder to his right to rob McCutchen of a hit and end the inning.
Ramon Rosso tossed a scoreless ninth inning.
Phillies just aren’t good enough right now ... and in a short season it stands out and has an standings impact larger than normal. There are no excuses, just not good enough.
Record is now 5-8
Web Gems :
First Inning : Second Baseman Phil Gosselin made a play deep behind the bag on a grounder to throw out the runner at first ... it both saved a run and recorded an out.
Struggles :
Rhys Hoskins hit into three double plays.
The Offense :
Andrew Knapp had three hits and two RBIs. Bryce Harper and Andrew McCutchen each had two hits.
Useless Info Department :
Did ya know 🧐 ... that going into today’s action the major league rate of sacrifice bunts was .001 of total plate appearances ( 25/18,174 ) ...
In 2019 it was .004 ( 776/186,518 )
In 2018 it was .004 ( 823/185,139 )
In 2017 it was .005 ( 925/185,295 )
In 2016 it was .006 ( 1,025/184,580 )
In 2015 it was .006 ( 1,200/183,628 )
For National League clubs only it’s also .001 ( 12/8,584 ) in 2020 with the DH rule in place
For the prior five NL years without the DH rule ...
In 2019 it was .006 ( 531/93,238)
In 2018 it was .006 ( 564/92,885 )
In 2017 it was .007 ( 653/92,673 )
In 2016 it was .007 ( 675/92,540 )
In 2015 it was .008 ( 747/91,790 )
The AL the past five years ...
In 2019 it was .003 ( 245/92,280 )
In 2018 it was .003 ( 259/92,254 )
In 2017 it was .003 ( 272/92,622 )
In 2016 it was .004 ( 350/92,040 )
In 2015 it was .005( 453/91,838 )
The bottom line ... sacrifice bunts in MLB have been minuscule the past five seasons ( less than 1 % of plate appearances ) although done more in the NL than AL ... this year they are of even less a consideration all around .... almost non-existent ( .001 of all plate appearances ) ... just sayin 😎
