The Phillies couldn’t overcome a nightmarish fifth inning Wednesday night.
The Red Sox scored six runs in the fifth and avoided a three-game series sweep at Citizens Bank Park, taking a 9-8 win in 11 innings. “The offense was good tonight,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
“The bullpen was good. That fifth inning was just a killer, that’s all.”Jesus Luzardo started for the Phillies and was stellar until the fifth. He wound up conceding six runs in five innings of work. Luzardo allowed two hits, walked five and struck out seven. Trea Turner knocked a first-pitch single to left field and Kyle Schwarber slugged him home three pitches later, nailing a high changeup over the right-center field wall for his 34th dinger of the season. Bryce Harper then stepped up and promptly cracked a milestone shot, hammering his 350th career homer. He crushed Giolito’s center-cut fastball 439 feet.Though Nick Castellanos couldn’t make it back-to-back-to-back jacks, he got in on the power-hitting fun next time up. Castellanos built the Phils’ lead to 4-0 in the third inning with a deep fly over the left-field wall. Bryson Stott added a solo long ball in the fourth. , Luzardo was flawless his first time through Boston’s order. He struck out five batters over the first three innings and the Red Sox whiffed at his first seven sweepers. Boston had no baserunners until Rob Refsnyder started the fourth inning with a walk. Masataka Yoshida picked up the team’s first hit on a fifth-inning leadoff double. Refsnyder popped up a 2-0 pitch behind home plate with the the bases loaded and it appeared Luzardo had escaped any damage despite shaky control. However, J.T. Realmuto couldn’t locate the ball and it plopped in the grass.Luzardo walked in a run … and then another run. The boos intensified and the inning grew much worse. Romy Gonzalez delivered a go-ahead grand slam. “It’s not physical,” he said. “My stuff is the best it’s been my whole career, so it’s not a stuff problem. It’s more command, making the right pitches at the right times, executing the pitches. … There’s no excuse. It needs to happen now.” The Phillies' bullpen prevented the game from spiraling away. Jordan Romano, Daniel Robert, Tanner Banks, Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm combined to throw four scoreless innings. Boston's bullpen also handled business through the seventh inning, but Aroldis Chapman was unable to polish off a 1-2-3 eighth. Realmuto evened the contest with one swing, lacing a Chapman sinker over the center-field fence. The Phillies caused no problems for Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock in the ninth inning and Boston went back on top in the 10th. Trevor Story's one-out double down the left-field line drove in ghost runner Jarren Duran. Two pitches into the bottom of the 10th, the game was tied again. Turner's fly out to right field advanced Stott to third base. Schwarber's single off of Greg Weissert leveled it up at 7-all. Carlos Narvaez landed the decisive blow in the 11th vs. Seth Johnson. He lined a two-run homer just over the left-field wall, a result that stood after a review for potential fan interference. The Phillies trimmed their deficit to one with a two-out Johan Rojas base hit, but Max Kepler struck out looking against Brennan Bernardino to wrap up a sour series finale. Next up for the Phillies is a weekend series with the Yankees. Taijuan Walker and Will Warren are the scheduled starters for Friday night’s series opener. After their stay in New York, the Phillies will head to Chicago for a three-game series against the White Sox. “Feels better,” Thomson said pregame. “He’ll stay here until Sunday. And then Sunday he’ll travel to New York, catch up with us and go to Chicago with us. I think by that time he’ll start doing some functional work. Probably not swinging the bat yet, but at least play catch and take some ground balls or something like that.”
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