The bullpen just keeps Therrien your heart out: Marlins 9, Phillies 8

Looking at the pitching matchup this game had to offer, I had to rub my eyes a few times to make sure I was seeing things right. Van...Vance...Vance Worley? He’s still around? And he’s a starter, you say? Really? I’d have thought that guy was toiling away in some team’s AAA rotation somewhere, but hey, everyone deserves to work somewhere right?

Jake Thompson opposed him, getting the call up to make a spot start for the Phillies. He seemed to have a plan of busting the Marlins hitters in on their hands. His first inning wasn’t exactly fun, as Nick Williams lost two easy outs in centerfield in the sun that led to a run in the top of the frame. As they said on the broadcast, it happens. From there, things went on a roller coaster.

Babe Ruth Rhys Hoskins hit another home run to open the Phillies scoring. It’s his eighth home run in his first 15 games, which puts him in some elite company:

After the Marlins scored two in the 3rd (including another home run from some guy, Gian-something or other), the Phillies answered right back with 5 in their half of the inning, highlighted by two more runs driven in by who? You guessed it, our man Hoskins. Since he left for the West Coast last week, he has been on an absolute tear. Nick Williams drove in two of his own in the fourth inning, making it an 8-3 lead for the Phillies. All is well, right?

Perhaps you haven’t heard, but Thompson isn’t good anymore. Presented with a golden opportunity to make a name for himself, especially with all of the transactions and injuries that have depleted the Phillies’ starting rotation this month, Thompson went out and laid an egg. He gave up a two run home run to AJ Ellis in the fifth, which ended up being his last inning of work. He finished with five innings of work, seven hits, five runs (all earned), four walks and four strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, 48 of them for strikes. Unless he makes some major changes, either mechanically or in his approach, he can be considered the bust of the Cole Hamels trade.

However, you’d think that maybe, with the sun out, a gorgeous day with no humidity, that the baseball gods would look on the Phillies bullpen and smile, saying, “Hark! Thou shalt not allow baserunners to score!”

Yeah, well Jesen Therrien and the rest of the bullpen would have none of that.

He promptly gave up three runs, all on home runs, that brought the score even, ripping the hearts out of the fans all over the place. If you want to play devil’s advocate, on the second one, though, the inside the parker, Hyun Soo Kim decided that spectating on the play was preferable to actually backing up the play. Oh well. They way that the bullpen has been performing lately, the run was going to score anyway.

Once they tied up the game, it all seemed inevitable what the final outcome would be. Luis Garcia finished the bullpen meltdown by giving up two singles and a sacrifice fly in the eighth that the Marlins made sure would hold up. In the end, the Marlins took three of four from the Phillies to suddenly make their wild card hopes a little more real.

Game Notes:

• The 3-4-5 hitters for the Phillies (Williams, Hoskins, Joseph) went 7 for 14 today with two doubles, two home runs and eight runs batted in. It’s been really nice to see not only Hoskins developing, but also Williams. You’ll be hearing more about both of these players on this website soon.
• Hoby Milner and Yacksiel Rios were pretty good for the bullpen today, but overall this is not a good unit. I just don’t see what other people saw in Therrien. He has been really bad.
• Even though Williams misplayed two balls into a run in the first, he did have a really nice play later in the game and is becoming a really good player. Especially nice is the patience at the plate as well: