Phillies-Rangers: Five things we learned from the series
By John Town
Jerad Eickhoff is continuing to impress on the mound
Jerad Eickhoff taking the loss against Texas was more on the Phillies offense unable to hit against You Darvish, which is understandable. It was a pitchers duel early between the two former Rangers, and Darvish had too much swing and miss stuff.
Eickhoff threw 99 pitches in six innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, and just two were earned. What was most impressive was the eight strikeouts through six innings the young righty put up against an American League lineup on the road.
Maybe there was some desire to dominate his former organization that considered him the throw-in piece for Cole Hamels, but Eickhoff was dominant at points.
Had his pitch count been lower the Phillies would have sent Eickhoff out for one, maybe two more innings of work.
The kid has been a victim of a bad offense providing zero run support, something that always happened to Cole Hamels. One swing could give Eickhoff his first win of the season, but his record now falls to 0-4.
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Expect a good outing against Colorado next week for Eickhoff.