Storybook: Phillies 2, Braves 1

It wasn’t looking good.

The offense for the Phillies didn’t back up anything either Zach Eflin or Ranger Suarez did. They both were outstanding on the mound, but after the fourth inning, the offense didn’t get anyone on base. Not even a sniff of anything. It looked terrible for the Phillies, another loss that would have left us all frustratingly throwing up their hands in collective anger at this team. They needed a boost, something to get them woken up.

It looks like they just got that.

Now, let’s rewind to the beginning of the ninth inning.

Joe West was doing Joe West things all night, missing obvious calls repeatedly. When Rhys Hoskins started the inning by striking out looking thanks to this,

you just don’t feel good about how the game is going to end. Andrew McCutchen came up and drew a key walk thanks to some incredible takes on his part, giving the team their first baserunner since the fourth inning double by Williams. Brad Miller would pop up on the first pitch he saw, a strange but defensible decision that put Williams in a tough spot: hoping for a big hit that would pick the team up.

Will Smith, the Braves’ closer, had been throwing sliders and fastballs in to the right handers, so Williams knew what he was looking for and boy oh boy did he get it.

If you were like me, you sat straight up as soon as the crack of the bat was made because those are the kinds of sounds where...you just know. You know something good is going to happen just by the sound.

The Phillies needed this game. They needed this win since they looked so lifeless all game long. Now, thanks to Luke Williams, they can go for a series win with Zack Wheeler on the mound in Philadelphia, a winning recipe thus far this season.

Tonight belongs to Luke Williams. Enjoy it, young man.

You earned it.