“It’s hard to describe – it’s the whole culmination of a season, experiences, it just all comes together”, said Eickhoff, who only arrived to the Phillies organization 62 days earlier, on the day of the trade deadline.
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If that’s an indication of Howard’s true health as the Phillies’ season winds down to its final five games, then the continued emergence of Darin Ruf might become more of an intriguing revelation.
New York Mets’ Sean Gilmartin pitches during the third inning of a…
Philadelphia Phillies’ Jerad Eickhoff pitches during the third inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Thursday, October 1, 2015, in Philadelphia. After a season in which the Phillies seemed incapable of beating the Mets (89-70), however, a Philadelphia sweep was hardly anticipated.
Yoenis Cespedes was hit by a pitch on his left hand and has contusions on his middle and ring fingers.
Ruf’s home run came just after Jeff Francoeur broke up a short-lived ideal game bid by Mets starting lefty Sean Gilmartin.
Mets catcher Travis d’Arnaud struck out to end the contest, but Duda still came away with a piece of team history in the losing effort.
Loewen singled in the bottom of the fifth for his hit since 2011 with Toronto.
If there is still optimism that Ruf can be a longtime replacement option, he’s probably in a position now to start providing tangible evidence of his talents. He switched to the outfield after having elbow issues. He spent most of his time afterward in the minors until signing a minor league deal in 2014 with the Phils, with the understanding he convert back to a pitcher. “It felt pretty normal because I did it for five years”.
That seemed to be an ominous sign for a player like Eric Young, Jr. a base-running specialist who the Mets would like to use in the playoffs, but has not been hitting. With two on and two out in seventh inning of a 2-0 ballgame after a walk of Kevin Plawecki, the manager visited the mound, but it was just to tell Eickhoff he was giving him a breather and that it was his game. Buchanan has pitched much better in four starts since his return, but still has an ugly 7.54 ERA with a 1.93 WHIP and a 37/28 K/BB ratio over 68 innings. The Mets got off to a good start in that chase by finishing off a sweep of the Reds, but surprisingly got swept in Philadelphia to enter play Friday tied in the home field race.
““- Mackanin, whose team needs to win just one of the season’s final three games to avoid its first 100-loss season since 1961.
The Mets have a half-game lead over the Dodgers for home-field advantage in the division series, which begins next Friday.
Before the game, Collins reiterated that Matt Harvey won’t be limited by a pitch count when he starts in the postseason.
“If you’ve been down this path you knew that there was going to be a few energy drain”, Collins said. It took nine pitches, but a 75-mph curveball got the Phillies back to the dugout.
Ruf hit a liner way out to center in the first to give the Phillies a 3-0 lead.
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Despite struggling through a midseason slump in June and July, the 29-year-old Duda owns a strong.249/.356/.497 batting line for the year with 27 home runs, 73 RBI and 66 runs in 461 at-bats (131 games).
