After spending much of the day stranding runners on base, Derek Hill delivered in the most clutch of spots to give Philadelphia a huge win over Toronto on Sunday afternoon.
As the Phillies now hit the road to face the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, Hill’s hoping for more at-bats like his final one, rather than his first three against the Blue Jays.
“Happy flight, ain’t nothing like it,” Hill said after the Phillies beat the Blue Jays 7-6 in 12 innings to close out a 4-3 homestead.
Philly blew an early three-run lead and stranded 16 runners collectively before Hill — who had left six runners on base himself to that point — came through with a one-out, bases-loaded hit up the middle against right-hander Lazaro Estrada and a shallow infield.
The victory made certain that Kyle Schwarber’s two home runs — tying him for the major league lead at 35 — weren’t wasted. It was an even bigger deal for Philly in the standings, and probably for the team’s collective state of mind.
The Phillies had lost three of four coming into the game and were facing the wrong end of a three-game sweep until Hill finished off the Jays. Hill has contributed multiple key plays at the plate and in the field since coming over from the Chicago White Sox in a June trade.
“It would have been tough to go on the road after three tough losses,” Hill conceded. “But we rallied.”
Rookie right-hander Andrew Painter (1-8, 6.48 ERA) gets the start in the series opener against the Cardinals. He has performed better in two starts since July 31, allowing a combined three runs, six hits and four walks to go with 10 strikeouts over 10 innings against Baltimore and Washington. Painter might have done more but he left the game against the Nationals after four innings Wednesday because of hamstring tightness.
In his 16 career games, Painter has yet to face anybody on the Cardinals’ current roster.
Philadelphia currently holds a one-game lead over San Diego for the final wild-card spot, but six teams are within six games of the Phillies with a quarter of the regular season remaining.
“Every win. Every win is good,” Hill said.
In the middle of that convoluted chase are the Cardinals, who also won in their last at-bat Sunday afternoon. Rookie JJ Wetherholt’s two-run double in the bottom of the eighth capped a three-run inning in a 7-4 win over the visiting Colorado Rockies. The win was the Cards’ fifth in seven games, which also got them back to a .500 record.
At 3 1/2 games back of the Phillies and Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cardinals would have to hurdle one of them, along with the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins, to make the playoffs.
The Cardinals traded right-hander Dustin May at the deadline last week and were viewed by most as sellers. But Wetherholt said that doesn’t mean the players who remain are giving up on winning.
“We went through a rough patch, and have been kind of up-and-down since, so we’re just trying to stack some wins,” Wetherholt said. “Just be gritty.”
A top candidate for NL Rookie of the Year, Wetherholt is hitting .249/.353/.387 with 16 home runs, 45 RBIs, 57 walks, 74 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. Playing mostly second base, he also ranks second in MLB among all defensive positions in fielding run value — Cubs outfielder Pete Crow-Armstrong is first.
Cards right-hander Hunter Dobbins (2-2, 3.60) pitched well over 6 1/3 innings in a 2-0 loss to the Yankees in his previous start Tuesday. Dobbins allowed two runs, four hits and three walks to go with four strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
