Jeff Hoffman’s Phillies Debut: Red Sox 7 Phillies 4

The Philadelphia Phillies come into a Saturday night affair looking to end a five-game losing streak. They relied on Bailey Falter to be their stopper against a blazing Boston Red Sox offense.

Skipping to the bottom of the second, Bryson Stott leads off taking a cutter to the leg. After a JT Realmuto flyout, Stott advanced to second after a curveball to go under Reese McGuire’s legs.

Alec Bohm has been struggling as of late, hitting just .205 in his last 12 games. However, it’s a new day, Bohm blooped a single into center to drive home Stott, 1-0 Phillies.

Falter made quick work of the first three innings, recording all nine outs in a row. However, the fourth inning was a completely different story, Rob Refsnyder jammed a single into left and Alex Vergudo roped a ball into right for a double to right and Justin Turner walked to load the bases.

It got ugly from there, Falter missed a two-strike fastball to Rafael Devers who lined it into the left-center field gap to give the Red Sox a 2-1 lead.

With 2 outs, Christian Arroyo takes a first-pitch curveball to left, dropping right in front of Schwarber to score two more, 4-1.

Did you think the inning would end there? Ramiel Tapia slaps a single to left to put runners on first and second. Then, Resse McGuire punched one into left to make it a 5-1 game.

Rob Thomson came out right after to pull Falter, who heard a rein of boos as he slowly walked back to the dugout in disgust.

With two outs in the fourth, Alec Bohm pulled a sinker in on his hands to left and Marsh pulled a hanging curveball just past the diving Turner at first to put runners on first and third.

Edmundo Sosa came into tonight’s game with a .555 OPS against right-handed pitching, after working an eleven-pitch at-bat, he punches a broken-bat blooper into right for an RBI, 5-2.

Bryce Harper recorded an out in his first at-bat with batting gloves, he then took them off, recorded a base hit in the third, and then hit a blast to make it 5-3.

In the sixth, Connor Brogdon came on for his second straight appearance and one he would like to forget. Arroyo hit a double to left-center and with two outs, McGuire drew a walk.

Refsnyder pulled a double down the left-field line, just past the reach of a diving Sosa. Schwarber misplayed the short wall in left so both runners were able to score, 7-3.

Trea Turner took a hanging two-out changeup in the seventh to make it a three-run game.

Jeff Hoffman made his Phillies debut in the top of the eighth and ninth. If you don’t remember Hoffman’s story, here’s a refresher.

Hoffman was the eighth overall pick in the 2014 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays, two spots behind Aaron Nola. He was then a part of a big trade to the Colorado Rockies in 2015 that sent Troy Tulowizki to Toronto.

Hoffman was supposed to be among the many young pitchers the Rockies had but never quite lived up to the hype, recording a 6.40 ERA across five seasons splitting time between the rotation and bullpen.

The Cincinnati Reds then took a shot on him in the 2020 offseason, sending reliever Robert Stephenson in exchange for him. He pitched fine for two seasons, recording a 108 ERA+ but was let go after 2022.

The Phillies signed him, converted him to a full-time reliever, and now throws 98+. After posting a 7.00 ERA in AAA, Hoffman exercised his minor league opt-out clause, making the phillies add him to the 26-man roster.

Kenley Jansen recorded his 399th career save in the ninth for the Red Sox to cruise to a victory.

First pitch tomorrow is at 1:35 with Tanner Houck facing Taijuan Walker, who has a 6.91 ERA to begin a four-year contract in Philadelphia.