The Phillies played \u201cBeat the Rain\u201d on Saturday.<\/p>\n
While they were at it, they also beat the New York Mets.<\/p>\n
The Phils rode Kyle Schwarber\u2019s MLB-leading 33rd\u00a0home run to an early lead and never trailed in notching a 6-1 win at muggy Citizens Bank Park.<\/p>\n
Jesus Luzardo pitched five innings and allowed just one run before exiting with a three-run lead after 90 pitches. The bullpen trio of Orion Kerkering, Jose Alvarado and Chase Shugart combined on four scoreless innings to close it out. For the day, Phillies pitching allowed only three hits and walked just two.<\/p>\n
Schwarber clubbed a two-run homer in the first inning against Mets lefty Sean Manaea. The Phillies sustained their offense with two runs in the fifth and two in the sixth.<\/p>\n
Shortstop\/leadoff man Trea Turner\u2019s game was a microcosm of his play in recent weeks.<\/p>\n
He committed an error for the second game in a row, giving him 14 on the season.<\/p>\n
He also homered for the second straight game.<\/p>\n
The Phillies entered the day with the third-worst on-base percentage (.303) in the majors, but getting runners on base was not a problem in this one. They had 12 hits and walked five times. Bryce Harper, who had a two-run single, was also hit by a pitch.<\/p>\n
Turner had two infield hits and a walk to go with his 12th\u00a0homer. He scored three runs. He is hitting .311 (32 for 103) with five home runs over his last 25 games.<\/p>\n
\u201cTrea is in a good spot,\u201d manager Don Mattingly said. \u201cWhen he\u2019s going, it gets a lot easier for us offensively. It puts speed on the bases. It puts them in pressure spots.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s controlling the zone a little better where he\u2019s getting the ball in the zone. Three hits and a line out today. He\u2019s one of those guys that gets all kinds of different hits and then you see the explosion, too, the doubles and the balls out of the ballpark.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Turner\u2019s defense \u2026<\/p>\n
The flaws are still worrisome, but they get a little easier to tolerate when he\u2019s helping produce runs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re going to get some hops here and there,\u201d Mattingly said. \u201cThat one (in the second inning behind Luzardo) looked like it was a little nasty. He\u2019ll continue to work and keep getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turner works daily on his defense with infield coach Bobby Dickerson.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just need to read the ball better,\u201d he said. \u201cPhysically, I feel good. The last few mistakes I\u2019ve made have just been judgement on a hop I think I\u2019m going to get and then the second or third hop is not exactly what I envision and I just put myself in a bad spot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turner won his second NL batting title at .304 last season.<\/p>\n
This season has been mostly a struggle.<\/p>\n
After bottoming out and seeing his batting average dip to .216 and his on-base percentage plummet to .268 on June 15, he is up to .241 and .290 — not great, but certainly better than where he was. In the heat of a pennant race, the Phillies need Turner\u2019s bat to continue to warm.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve been hitting the ball pretty good for the last month,\u201d he said. \u201cThe last 10 games or so I\u2019ve been lining out quite a bit, which is frustrating. I even lined out today again. But I need to stay where I am. Don\u2019t change anything. I feel like the at-bats have been pretty good for the most part. I\u2019m taking a couple of walks here and there. So, continue to just get on base. Find a way to get on first base for the guys behind me and good things happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
Turner was quite introspective talking about his season at the plate. He mentioned that the analytics show he was pitched extremely tough \u2013 right on the corners, he said \u2013 through the first half of the season.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it doesn\u2019t matter,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s all about production. I\u2019m not the prettiest player. I don\u2019t do everything perfect. I just find a way to help the team. It might be a swinging bunt. It might be chasing a ball off the plate and hitting a double down the right field line. Who knows. I feel like when I try to be perfect, it sets me back. I just have to be who I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
The start time of Saturday\u2019s game was moved up an hour to 3:05 p.m. in anticipation of stormy weather. The entire game seemed like a race against the rain, which started in the top of the seventh inning and intensified in the bottom of the inning, forcing a 48-minute delay.<\/p>\n
Early in the game, Luzardo battled a high pitch count, which led to his exit after five innings. The Phillies are 11-1 in his last 12 starts and he\u2019s pitched to a 2.01 ERA over that span.<\/p>\n
The Phils and Mets have split the first two games of the series. Alan Rangel will start for the Phillies in the series finale Sunday. Nolan McLean pitches for the Mets. Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler will start Monday and Tuesday, respectively, when the Phils host the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Phillies played \u201cBeat the Rain\u201d on Saturday. While they were at it, they also beat the New…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":809906,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,591,227211,85],"class_list":["post-809905","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-mlb","tag-phillies-analysis","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809905","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809905"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809905\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/809906"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809905"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809905"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809905"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}