Field Level Media
22 Sep 2022, 16:49 GMT+10
The Philadelphia Phillies appeared to be on the verge of a six-game losing streak.
Instead of another loss, the Phillies rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the eighth inning and defeated the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 in 10 innings on Wednesday.
Thanks mostly to Matt Vierling.
Vierling hit a walk-offRBI single in the 10th and capped his first career five-hit game. J.T. Realmuto also ripped a solo homer, his 21st of the season.
The Phillies (81-67), who lead the Milwaukee Brewers by 2 1/2 games for the third wild-card spot in the National League, now open a huge four-game series at home against the Atlanta Braves on Thursday.
"It was a great win," Vierling said in a postgame interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia. "The team needed it. We got some momentum."
All five of Vierling's hits were singles.
"I hit balls in good spots and they happened to fall," Vierling said.
Even when the Phillies were struggling, they never gave up. Since interim manager Rob Thomson took over for Joe Girardi, that has been the team's mantra.
"It's par for the course for this group," Thomson said. "They continue to fight."
The Phillies will hand the ball to Ranger Suarez (9-5, 3.53 ERA) in the series opener. Last Friday, in Suarez's most recent start against the Braves, he was stellar in six innings as he allowed two hits and one run.
He didn't get a decision in that game, but Suarez is 1-2 with a 3.75 ERA in 14 career games (five starts) against the Braves.
Brandon Marsh (left knee contusion) was available to play if needed Wednesday and potentially could be back in the lineup against the Braves.
The Braves (93-56) could have moved into a tie for first place with the New York Mets in the National League East on Wednesday, but some sloppy baserunning helped lead to a 3-2 loss to the Washington Nationals.
The Braves are looking for their fifth straight NL East division title and enter Thursday's contest one game behind the Mets and 11 1/2 games up in the NL wild-card race. They're also aiming to repeat as World Champions and won't let a tough loss to a bad team won't faze them.
"It's just a matter of continuing to win games," Austin Riley said. "We've been here and we know what to expect."
William Contreras got caught in between second and third in the eighth, which was a key play in the one-run defeat.
"Young guys have a hard time not putting the pedal to the metal all the time on the bases," Braves manager Brian Snitker said. "It's something they'll learn."
And continue to learn.
"It's just when you're playing close games, those are the things you can control," Snitker said. "There's so many things in this game you can't control, but we can control our baserunning. It's the awareness more than anything. We talk about it a lot."
Max Fried (13-6, 2.52) is scheduled to start against the Phillies. In Fried's most recent start, also against the Phillies, he gave up four hits and two runs in six innings but didn't get a decision in the 7-2 Atlanta win.
Fried is 4-3 with a 3.88 ERA in 17 career games (11 starts) against the Phillies.
--Field Level MediaGet a daily dose of Toronto Telegraph news through our daily email, its complimentary and keeps you fully up to date with world and business news as well.
Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Toronto Telegraph.
More InformationLONDON, U.K.: This week, BP appointed Simon Henry, former Shell finance chief, to its board as a non-executive director effective September...
OTTAWA, Canada: With Canada Post struggling to maintain operations amid labour unrest, rivals like FedEx and UPS are stepping in to...
NEW YORK, New York - U.S. and global markets showed a mixed performance in Tuesday's trading session, with some indices edging higher...
PARIS, France: French military and intelligence officials have accused China of orchestrating a covert campaign to damage the reputation...
NEW DELHI, India: Birkenstock is stepping up its efforts to protect its iconic sandals in India, as local legal representatives conducted...
HONG KONG: China has fired back at the European Union in an escalating trade dispute by imposing new restrictions on medical device...
OTTAWA, Canada: With Canada Post struggling to maintain operations amid labour unrest, rivals like FedEx and UPS are stepping in to...
The delay adds yet another twist to Trump's original 90 deals in 90 days promise -- so far yielding only two vague trade agreements...
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): India's share in the global equity market capitalisation rose to 4 per cent in June 2025, recovering...
(Photo credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images) Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had two hits and two RBIs, Davis Schneider homered and Chris...
New Delhi [India], July 9 (ANI): India's share in the global market capitalisation rose to 4 per cent in June 2025, recovering from...
(Photo credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images) Giancarlo Stanton hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning, Aaron Judge added his 34th...