Joseph entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning.
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A throwing error by rookie shortstop Jose Rondon on Cesar Hernandez’s grounder was costly in the seventh.
Freddy Galvis and Cesar Hernandez scored a run for the City of Brotherly Love in the seventh by hitting a pair of doubles, but who cares? Only two players remain from that National League Championship team, there’s a whole new coaching staff, a new front office and ownership has taken over, and an abundance of young players are looking to prove themselves in the big leagues.
The Padres got one back on an Alex Dickerson home run, but Eickhoff crashed through the fifth and didn’t get into real trouble until the sixth. He stepped on the bag and fired to second baseman Hernandez to erase Rondon. Hernandez, without shuffling his feet, threw to beat Padres outfielder Jabari Blash by a half step at first.
“I’m someone that wants to bring that tying run in or potentially put us ahead”, Blash said. “It wasn’t the ideal situation”. His short time in the game was eventful with his knocking in the go-ahead run and being part of the Phils’ first triple play since Eric Bruntlett’s unassisted triple play in August 2009.
Eickhoff had a terrific curveball early in the game, which helped him collect five strikeouts in his six innings of work. Jarred Cosart takes the hill, and he’s 0-1 with a 5.09 ERA and 14 strikeouts this season.
“I thought I would hit into one before I would be on the successful end of one”, said Joseph, not the fastest runner.
“I would grade myself much better today than my last start”, he said. “I was calmed down. I tried to settle in a little”.
As Mackanin said, Eickhoff deserves better. Despite his record, Eickhoff has been pretty solid this year and gives the Phillies a chance to win most nights.
Philadelphia sent nine batters to the plate in the fourth to seize a 5-1 edge as Cosart got knocked around.
With two outs and all the speed of an upside down auto on third base, this did not seem prime time for a rally.
San Diego tied it at 1 in the third, thanks to some sloppy Philadelphia defense. Ryan Schimpf added a sacrifice fly for a 6-3 edge. The rush of adrenaline he always felt when relating the tale to people, even if they’d heard it many times before, never failed to keep him energized for a full day, but his face fell as he watched the ball slap into Tommy Joseph’s glove at first. Odubel Herrera turned on Cosart’s 92-mph fastball for a solo homer, his 12th on the season.
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Phillies: RHP Zach Eflin (3-4, 4.77) gets the nod as the team continues its West Coast swing against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday.
