Phillies explode in ninth inning to avenge last Friday’s loss at Coors originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
DENVER – When Trea Turner suffered a hamstring injury on May 3, who expected the Phillies’ production at shortstop to increase?
Edmundo Sosa has been a big reason the Phillies are 17-4 since the day of Turner’s injury and was the catalyst again Saturday night in a ninth inning comeback.
Sosa tripled off Brandon Marsh with no out in the top of the ninth to tie the game and scored on Garrett Stubbs’ single. The Phillies didn’t stop there, scoring four more times on a three-run homer by Bryce Harper and an RBI single by Nick Castellanos. They won 8-4 after trailing most of the night.
Harper drove in four runs per game after being ejected in the first inning for arguing balls and strikes. That’s how he seems to respond the night after any small fight or controversy.
Stubbs had a productive game with two hits, a stolen base, a run scored and the game-winning RBI.
Sosa has caused significant damage this month. Turner was hitting .343 when he hit the shelf. Sosa has hit .367 in 16 games since then, with four doubles, three triples, two home runs, 11 RBIs and 15 runs scored. He also narrowly missed a home run to dead center in the second inning, flying 415 feet to the wall.
Sosa has slugged .688 since Turner’s injury to lead the National League during that three-week span.
The Phillies avoided their first loss in the series since their second of the season. They have yet to lose consecutive games since April 23-24 in Cincinnati, going 23-5.
The win went to José Ruiz, who pitched a scoreless ninth inning one night after pitching a scoreless 10th.
Aaron Nola worked, especially early, and allowed single runs in the first three innings before bouncing back for a quality start.
Nola started the night with two quick outs, then lost control, walking two straight and giving up an RBI single to Brendan Rodgers. It was a 32-pitch first inning. The Phillies then fell to 1-2-3 on just six pitches, forcing Nola to return to the mound after just a five-minute cooldown.
Brenton Doyle greeted Nola with a dribbler down the third base line to start the bottom of the second, stole second and scored on a groundout. The Rockies led from there until Sosa’s triple in the ninth.
Nola was approaching 80 pitches in the fourth inning, but recovered to go over six. The line itself looked great for Coors Field (six innings, two earned runs) which speaks to the stinginess of this MLB-leading rotation even on an off night.
It was yet another example of a Phillies starting pitcher limiting the damage and keeping the game close until the offense finally broke through.
The Phillies are 38-15 and looking to win their 12th series of 15 on Sunday afternoon when undefeated Ranger Suarez (9-0, 1.36) faces right-hander Cal Quantrill (3-3, 3.59).
