OOTP 6/13: Phillies 10, A’s 8

On a night where Zach Eflin imploded big time on the mound, seeing the Phillies take another late inning game away from its opponent was still thrilling.

The Phillies opened the scoring the first when Jean Segura singled to lead off, then when to third when A’s starter Chris Bassitt couldn’t find his control, uncorking two wild pitches in a row. Bryce Harper hit a lazy fly to left that was plenty deep enough to score Segura and give Philadelphia the lead. Jay Bruce led off the bottom of the second with his 20th home run of the year and the lead went to 2-0. A Marcus Semien home run in the third off of Eflin cut the lead in half, but the Phillies came right back, scoring three when J.T. Realmuto homered with a runner on base, and Bruce followed with his second home run of the night, stretching that lead to 5-1.

In the fifth, Eflin fell apart. Back-to-back doubles from Robbie Grossman and Austin Allen made it 5-2, then Semien hit another home run, making the score 5-4. Walks to Mark Canha and Matt Olson got the bullen stirring, but it was too late as Matt Chapman drove a 1-1 fastball into the left field stands for a three run home run, ending Eflin’s night and putting the Phillies behind, 7-5.

Roman Quinn homered in the sixth, making it 7-6. The A’s added one in the 8th on an RBI double from pinch hitter Sean Murphy, which the Phillies answered in the bottom of the frame on an Andrew McCutchen RBI double, setting the stage for an eventful ninth, the Phillies behind 8-7.

In that bottom frame, the Phillies got walks to Realmuto and Bruce off of Liam Hendriks, his control wavering when he struck out Scott Kingery for the first out. Manager Bob Melvin, sensing trouble, summoned Joakim Soria to try and get a calmer hand to put down the rally. Adam Haseley bunted both runners into scoring position, but with two outs, things looked dicey.

Logan Forsythe would have none of it.

A 2-0 fastball that Forsythe was sitting came in, then went out at 100 miles per hour, igniting the fireworks and bringing Harry the K back on the PA system. A 10-8 final was something that gave everyone “High Hopes”.