Rooker, A’s hit 8 homers as Phillies head into All-Star break with series loss Originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
The All-Star break came a day early for the Phillies, apparently.
They had been unbeaten in 15 straight home series and the visiting A’s entered the weekend with 25 losses in their last 29 road games, but anything can happen on a major league field and the A’s crushed them Sunday, hitting eight home runs to win 18-3 and claim the series.
The game and the first half ended for the Phillies with catcher Garrett Stubbs on the mound.
“It’s not the ending you want, but hey, we had a great first half,” coach Rob Thomson said. “Still, we went on a 4-2 run at home. You get to see that in games like that. Still, it was a very good first half.”
The Phils were coming off a sweep of the Dodgers at Citizens Bank Park and this was their first loss in the series since the first three days of April against the Reds. They have a 62-34 record and still enter the All-Star break in excellent shape with no less than an 8½-game division lead over the Braves and no less than a 5½-game lead over the Dodgers in home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs.
Even though they are a far superior team to Oakland, the Phillies knew Sunday would be a challenge. They were without their scheduled starter and three key relievers.
Zack Wheeler was originally scheduled to start, but left Tuesday’s game with back spasms and was ruled out until the All-Star break. He and Ranger Suarez will start in Minnesota in the Phillies’ second series of the second half.
Without Wheeler, the Phillies used Orion Kerkering as their starter and Michael Mercado as the primary pitcher behind him. Kerkering pitched 1-2-3 in the first inning and Mercado was unscathed in the second and third innings, but the A’s hit four balls off him in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, three of which left the park for two-run homers.
Brent Rooker, a potential Phillies trade target, hit two of the homers, from 450 and 452 feet, both over the ivy wall in center. He made a big impression this weekend, going 7 for 12 with three homers, a double and seven RBIs.
Jose Alvarado and Jeff Hoffman had been used three times in four days and Gregory Soto pitched Friday and Saturday, so all three were unavailable Sunday. The Phillies were hoping to get Mercado past the sixth inning and use Jose Ruiz, Matt Strahm and Seranthony Dominguez to close the game, but the A’s held a five-run lead when Mercado’s afternoon ended and Dominguez was pitched twice.
The Athletics hit three homers off Mercado, two off Dominguez, two off Jose Ruiz and one off Stubbs.
“I think there’s a big picture,” Kyle Schwarber said. “Obviously today and not getting off on the right foot will probably linger a little bit, but the big picture is we put ourselves in a really good position.”
Mercado looked good in his first major league start on July 2 at Wrigley Field, limiting the Cubs to one run and two hits in five innings. The last two have been tough. He allowed five runs and put eight men on base without making it past the second inning last Sunday in Atlanta, then caught too many pitches against Oakland. Even in the top of the third inning Sunday, when the A’s sent just three men to the plate, two of them hit balls that left fielder Brandon Marsh had to run to catch fully extended.
Tyler Phillips has surpassed Mercado on the starting pitching depth chart with four solid innings of relief in Atlanta and six innings in a win on Saturday. Phillips is lined up to start either Saturday or Sunday at Pittsburgh in the Phillies’ first series after the break.
It’s unclear what they’ll do with Mercado. The Phillies could send him back to Triple-A to continue as a starter and call up another pitcher such as left-hander Kolby Allard, who has a 3.09 ERA with 33 strikeouts and seven walks in his last 32 innings.
The starting pitching situation is more complicated now than it has been all season, with Wheeler and Suarez dealing with minor back injuries, Taijuan Walker out with a blister and Spencer Turnbull out until at least August with a latissimus dorsi strain. making progressalthough.
As has often happened during the first two weeks of July, Trea Turner led off the scoring with a home run. Oakland right-hander Joey Estes threw him a sixth-pitch slider that didn’t go far enough, and Turner took the same short, simple, seemingly low-effort swing he’s taken time and again this month.
Turner has 11 homers on the year, with eight homers and 20 RBIs in his last 13 games. The Phillies had the NL Player of the Month in May and again in June, Bryce Harper, and Turner appears to be the favorite now that July is half over.
Turner is one of six Phillies players who will not get a full rest because he will travel to Texas for the All-Star Game on Tuesday. Suarez and Wheeler were also selected but will not travel because they are recovering from injuries.
It was an ugly end to the first half, but it’s hard to play better than the Phillies have done in 96 games, entering the break with a 105-57 pace. They were one win away from tying the National League record before the break, and their eight All-Stars tied a major league record. They have been by far the best and deepest team in baseball, but not this weekend.