Ugly Sixth Inning Breaks Tie and Cards Lose to Phils 5-3

Johan Oviedo, just recalled today to serve as a sixth starter, took the mound for the Cards. Brad Miller flied a low 1-1 curve to shallow left to lead off the game. Rhys Hoskins struck out swinging at a nasty 2-2 slider on the corner low-and-away. Bryce Harper grounded a 1-0 up-and-in fastball down the first base line into the shift for Goldschmidt to end the inning. Righty Vince Velasquez took the hill for the Phils. Tommy Edman struck out swinging at an 0-2 down-the-middle fastball to start the bottom of the 1st. Dylan Carlson ripped a low 1-0 fastball to right field that two-hopped the wall for a double. But he was stranded there when Paul Goldschmidt flied a 3-2 hanging curve to shallow center (he was ahead in the count 3-0) and Nolan Arenado flied a low 3-2 change to shallow right to end the inning.

Didi Gregorius rocked a low 3-2 fastball for a liner just past the infield into right-center, but it rolled all the way to the wall for a double to lead off the top of the 2nd. Andrew McCutchen then walked on 5 pitches. Odubel Herrera struck out swinging at a nasty low 2-2 curve. Andrew Knapp sliced a hanging 3-2 slider to left for a base hit to score Gregorius, move McCutchen to 2nd and give the Phils a 1-0 lead.

Nick Maton grounded an outside 0-2 slider down the 1st base line for an unassisted play that moved the runners to 2nd and 3rd. The pitcher Velasquez struck out swinging at a 1-2 low-and-away slider to end the inning. After DeJong drew a 3-2 walk to lead off the bottom of the 2nd, Tyler O’Neill torched a 1-0 hanging slider into the seats in left for a 2-run homer to give the Cards a 2-1 lead.

Justin Williams struck out looking at an 0-2 curve down the middle. Andrew Knizner lined a high 3-2 fastball to the gap in left-center, where McCutchen made a running catch. Oviedo struck out looking at a low-and-away 0-2 fastball to end the inning.

To lead off the top of the 3rd, Miller struck out looking at a 2-2 fastball that caught the edge of the very top of the zone. Hoskins blooped an inside 3-2 slider to shallow right. Williams was playing deep, but ran forward and made a nice sliding catch.

Harper struck out swinging at a low 2-2 curve to end the inning. Edman popped a low 1-0 change to short to start the bottom of the 3rd. Carlson flied a low-and-in 1-1 curve to shallow center. Goldschmidt skied a 1-0 outside fastball into the seats to the left of the center field wall for a solo homer to extend the Cards’ lead to 3-1.

Arenado grounded a low-and-in 3-2 fastball to 3rd to end the inning.

Gregorius struck out swinging at an outside 3-2 curve to lead off the top of the 4th. McCutchen struck out swinging at an 0-2 up-and-in slider. Herrera grounded a low-and-away 2-2 slider to short to end the inning. DeJong popped a 1-1 inside change to first in foul territory to lead off the bottom of the 4th. O’Neill grounded an 0-2 down-the-middle fastball towards the hole. Brad Miller, playing 3rd base, dove for the ball, cutting it off from Gregorius and knocking it down. By the time he got up with the ball, he had no shot to get O’Neill, who was safe at 1st with an infield hit without a throw. The 2-0 pitch from Velasquez was an inside changeup that got away to the backstop but neither a wild pitch nor a passed ball was charged because O’Neill was running on the pitch and was credited with a stolen base instead. Williams then sharply grounded a low-and-away 3-0 fastball over the 2nd base bag, but Gregorius stopped it and made a nice off-balance throw for the out. O’Neill moved to 2nd on the play, and the Phils intentionally walked Knizner to put runners at the corners for Oviedo. Oviedo struck out looking at an 0-2 outside fastball that looked like it was a few inches outside.

Knapp drew a 3-2 walk to lead off the top of the 5th. Maton flied an outside 2-1 slider to center. The pitcher Velaszuez sacrificed Knapp to 2nd base 1-4. Miller then drove a hanging 2-0 slider into the seats in right field for a 2-run homer to tie the game.

Hoskins grounded a first-pitch inside fastball to 3rd to end the inning. Edman sharply grounded an outside 0-1 fastball through the hole to left for a base hit to lead off the bottom of the 5th. Carlson struck out looking at an 0-2 slider that clipped the corner low-and-away. With Velasquez at 74 pitches, Joe Girardi decided to bring in righty Brandon Kintzler to pitch to Goldschmidt, who walked on 5 pitches. But the Cardinals could not bring the runners home. Arenado struck out chasing an 0-2 slider about two feet low and outside and DeJong grounded a 1-0 low-and-away change down the 3rd base line. Miller grabbed it and stepped on the bag to end the inning.

Oviedo’s night was done after 86 pitches, and Shildt brought in Genesis Cabrera to pitch. He promptly hit Harper with a 97 mph fastball right in the face to the left side of his nose. Harper got up, but had a gash on his nose and was taken out immediately in favor of Matt Joyce. Cabrera then hit Gregorius in the back with his very next pitch. This video shows both pitches by Cabrera:

After that, the umpires huddled together and warned both benches. Joe Girardi went ballistic just like David Bell did this past Sunday and motioned like he was throwing the home plate umpire out before getting tossed himself. As Girardi walked off of the field, he yelled to Cabrera “Throw the ball over the fucking plate!” The camera then panned to Shildt, who said something like “Leave my fucking pitcher alone now Joe!” McCutchen lined an outside 1-1 fastball to left-center for a base hit to score Joyce, move Gregorius to 3rd and give the Phils a 4-3 lead.

Shildt went out and got Cabrera as fast as he could under the three-batter minimum rule and brought in Tyler Webb, who would get the Cards out of the rest of this inning unscathed. J.T. Realmuto pinch hit for Herrera and popped a first-pitch low change to Knizner in foul territory. Knapp struck out looking at a 2-2 low-and-away fastball near the corner. And Maton sharply sliced a first-pitch inside fastball towards the 3rd base line. Arenado dove to his left, got the ball, got up, spun around and threw him out in a great play to end the inning.

Joyce stayed in the game in right field in the #3 spot and Roman Quinn came out to play CF in the #6 spot. O’Neill sharply grounded a 2-1 low sinker through the right side for a base hit to start the bottom of the 6th, but was erased when Williams grounded an outside fastball to short for a 6-3 double play. Gregorius raced over to tag the bag just ahead of O’Neill and flipped the ball sidearm to first for a slick play. Knizner grounded a low 3-2 sinker to 1st for the 3-1 flip to end the inning.

Alec Bohm pinch hit for the pitcher Kintzler to start the top of the 7th, and drove a low 1-0 change to left that one-hopped the wall for a double. Miller drew a 3-2 walk on the 9th pitch of the plate appearance on a low fastball that looked like it could have been called a strike at the low edge. Hoskins popped a 2-2 inside curve to Goldschmidt. Joyce then walked on 5 pitches to load the bases. Gregorius flied a high 0-1 fastball to shallow center. Carlson’s throw to the plate was short and off-line to the left, and Bohm scored on the Sac Fly to extend the Phils’ lead to 5-3.

McCutchen struck out swinging at an outside 1-2 fastball to end the inning. For the bottom of the 7th, Bohm stayed in the game at 3B in the #9 spot. Righty Connor Brogdon came out to pitch in the #1 spot. Matt Carpenter pinch hit for Helsley and sharply grounded a low-and-in 2-1 fastball to the right side. Maton dove to his left and stopped the ball to rob Carpenter of a base hit. Edman lined a first-pitch high fastball to left-center for a base hit. Carlson flied a low-and-in 2-2 fastball to left. Brogdon made three pickoff throws to 1st base, apparently as a stall tactic, because after the third throw, the Phils brought in lefty Jose Alvarado to pitch to Goldschmidt. Goldy flied a low-and-away 2-2 fastball to right to end the inning.

Andrew Miller came out to pitch the top of the 8th, and retired the Phils in order on 7 pitches. Quinn softly lined a low-and-in 0-1 slider to left. Knapp popped a first-pitch outside slider to shallow right. Edman raced over from close to the 2nd base bag, and made a fantastic sliding over-the-shoulder catch.

Maton struck out swinging at a low-and-in 0-2 slider to end the inning. Righty Sam Coonrod came out for the bottom of the 8th. Arenado softly lined a first-pitch low-and-in fastball to right for a base hit. Joyce was playing very deep and the ball dropped in front of him. DeJong struck out swinging at a low-and-away 2-2 fastball. O’Neill shattered his bat on an inside 1-0 fastball. Gregorius could have caught it, but let it bounce, grabbed it, stepped on the 2nd base bag and fired to first for an inning-ending 6-3 double play. After the commercial break, the cameras showed Coonrod walking off the field and yelling and pointing at the Cardinal dugout.

Daniel Ponce de Leon came out to pitch the top of the 9th. Bohm chopped a low 1-1 change to the mound. It looked like it would bounce over Ponce’s head, but he jumped high to knock it down. He then recovered the ball off of the ricochet and threw Bohm out from his knees. Scott Kingery pinch hit for the pitcher Coonrod and flied a low-and-in 1-0 fastball to right. The Phils are now out of bench players. Hoskins lined a 2-2 outside fastball to left-center for a 2-out base hit. Joyce popped a 1-1 down-the-middle fastball to Arenado at 3rd on the outfield grass to end the inning. For the bottom of the 9th, Kingery stayed in the game in the #1 spot in RF and righty Hector Neris came out to pitch in the #3 spot. Williams struck out looking at a nasty 0-2 splitter that dropped off the table and just above the bottom edge of the zone. Knizner grounded a first-pitch hanging splitter to short. Austin Dean pinch hit for Ponce and grounded an inside 2-1 fastball to 2nd to end the game.

Oviedo 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO, 1 HR; Cabrera (3 days rest, top 6, tied 3-3) 0 IP (pitched to 3 batters in the 6th) 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 2 HBP; Webb (9 days rest, top 6, nobody out, men on 1st and 3rd, down 4-3) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO; Helsley (4 days rest, top 7, 1 out, bases loaded, down 4-3) .2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO, allowed 1 out of 3 inherited runners to score.; Miller (9 days rest, top 8, down 5-3) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 SO; Ponce de Leon (8 days rest, top 9, down 5-3) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 SO.

BRIEF UPDATE ON HARPER

It’s still early, but Bryce Harper posted the following video to his Instagram that was reproduced on the Phillies’ Twitter page. He said everything was fine, and all the tests like a CT scan came back fine. His face did not show any bruising. While that might not be the case tomorrow, it is miraculous that he did not appear to suffer any serious injury.

ODDS AND ENDS

Oviedo had 17 swings and misses on the night. This broke down into 6 whiffs out of 17 swings on the fastball, 8 whiffs out of 14 swings on the slider, 3 whiffs out of 5 swings on the curveball and 0 whiffs out of 1 swing on the changeup. The overall whiff percentage came out to 45.9% (17 whiffs out of 37 swings)...The Braves rocked the Cubs 10-0, logging 11 hits, 7 earned runs and 3 homers off of Kyle Hendricks in just 3.2 IP. Alec Mills gave up another 2 homers in 2.1 innings of relief...The Brewers purchased the contract of Zack Godley today to take the rotation turn of Brett Anderson, who is on the injured list. He looked alternately good and bad, walking 5 and striking out 5 and got hosed on a bogus obstruction call. But he only pitched 3 innings because when he sacrificed bunted for the 2nd out of the bottom of the 3rd, the pitch clipped his right index finger and bruised it. It’s not broken but he will be placed on the injured list and Eric Lauer will be recalled tomorrow to start and give Freddy Peralta an extra day of rest. The Marlins went on to win the game 6-2, and the Brewers are close to running out of healthy pitchers...The Dodgers skunked the Reds 8-0, but most of the damage was done in the bottom of the 8th when the club scored 6 runs off of reliever Sal Romano. The Reds brought in Alex Blandino to get the final out...Mitch Keller only lasted 2.1 innings in his start in a 9-6 loss to the Royals, walking 5 out of the 15 batters he faced.