Bryce Harper ended his home run drought in a big way, Cal Stevenson hit a clutch RBI double and robbed a Mets homer, and the bullpen threw six scoreless innings of relief in a 6-4 Phillies win on Saturday.
It didn't look good early. Coming into the game, Phillies starters other than Wheeler/Sanchez/Nola/Suarez/Turnbull had a 6.78 ERA this season. And Saturday's starter, Kolby Allard, didn't help. His line: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 67 pitches (37 strikes).
Not a hot start for the “Thank God Kolby Allard is back” movement.
3 walks in the first inning. Good lord, Allard.
— Kei (@RealMamaEagle) September 14, 2024
Kolby Allard just has no clue where the ball is going
Down 4-0 in the fourth, the Phillies needed a spark. And after 30 games without a home run, Bryce Harper needed a dinger.
Well.
Bryce Harper hits his first home run since August 9! pic.twitter.com/jJPPG1jPBj
It was a start. But down 4-1 in the bottom of the sixth, the Phillies needed another spark.
Ok.
Back-to-back at-bats with a homer for Bryce Harper! pic.twitter.com/itI1vl2lsn
That was Bryce Harper's 150th home run as a Philadelphia Phillie. Today marks the 28th multi-homer game of his career and his 11th as a Phillie.
Taijuan Walker, in a long reliever role, kept the Phillies in the game as they mounted their comeback.
File this one under things I didn’t think I’d say this September: A pretty valuable three innings from Taijuan Walker today.
How about some flowers for Taijuan Walker today? Came in and shut it down to allow the bats to wake up
Taijuan Walker said he felt as good as he has all year in his outing today. All of his pitches felt sharper, and he saw a velocity bump across the board.
More on his transition to the bullpen here: https://t.co/CiWpi6KF57 pic.twitter.com/UlkdwN4kuc
Despite Harper's home runs, the Phils still trailed in the bottom of the seventh, 4-3. Bryson Stott and J.T. Realmuto both singled to start the inning, and Brandon Marsh moved them into scoring position with a nice bunt. The next batter, Weston Wilson, struck out. But Cal Stevenson came through with a two-out double.
Cal Stevenson puts the Phillies ahead in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/6XLEV1eOx6
Let's run that back en espanol.
¡EL JUEGO DE CAL STEVENSON™️!@Philliesbeisbol @ElGringoMalo365 @OscarBudejen @Angelibo0507 pic.twitter.com/O3nmPr92jm
What a day for Stevenson.
Bryce Harper on Cal Stevenson's big day/big week:
"I said to him today, I said to Buddy (Kennedy) the other day, if you can take those at-bats in that moment, 40,000-plus people, big situation ... you can take any at-bat in your career."
CAL STEVENSON THE MAN OF UNKNOWN ORIGINS THAT YOU ARE
Where were you when Cal Stevenson saved the 2024 phillies pic.twitter.com/Iz8r7KVhdP
Pretty good, Cal. But can you play defense?
CAL STEVENSON pic.twitter.com/54Gm83XrnI
give Mike Trout’s Eagles tickets to Cal Stevenson
Cal Stevenson is eating the dogs and cats of the Mets
francisco lindor is dead and “cal stevenson” owns us pic.twitter.com/biAyYKyE8e
The Cal Stevenson game pic.twitter.com/no9JjQ1vOJ
J.T. Realmuto added an insurance run in the eighth.
That right there is the BCIB pic.twitter.com/jQsBZlhiYE
I think J.T. Realmuto is finally starting to find his swing.
After a 2-for-4 day today, he's hitting .333 across his last 25 games, alongside a near-.950 OPS in that same span.
My God he's handsome. That's a special kind of shimmy.-- John Kruk on JT Realmuto
Carlos Estevez finished off the bullpen's scoreless night, and the Phillies' division lead increased to eight games with 14 to play.
The Phillies will go for the series win on Sunday afternoon. Cristopher Sanchez gets the start at 1:35 p.m.
Photo courtesy of @phillies on twitter
