Game 2 – Phillies fight back in the 9th inning to win 4-3 – W: Marte (1-1, 5.02), L: Cano (1-2, 1.82)
Game two started out like so many others since the All-Star break. The opposing team gets out to an early lead and the top of the Phillies lineup is quiet. In this one, Taijuan Walker did an amazing job at keeping this close in the early parts of the game. In the top of the second inning, the Orioles started off with back-to-back singles to put runners on the corner. A double by Austin Hays scored one and there were still runners on second and third and zero outs. A walk loaded the bases still with no outs for Westburg, Henderson and Rutschman due up. Walker miraculous got out of the bases loaded jam with no more damage, striking out Westburg and getting the next two premier bats to fly out. I think everyone at this point would take the 1-0 deficient. The O’s added one more the next inning with a double by Adam Frazier and it was 2-0. The seven-, eight- and nine-hole hitters led off for the Phillies in the bottom of the inning and gave the team a spark. A Bohm double, Marsh single and Rojas single scored one, but Schwarber, Turner, and Harper swung themselves out of the threat. The game remained 2-1 until the bottom of the 6th when Harper connected on one sending it 396 ft to right-center field to tie the game at two. Both teams went down easily until the 8th inning when O’Hearn led the inning off with a solo homer to retake the lead for the visiting team. They could have added more but Nick Castellanos made a terrific play in right field using every inch of his wing span to track a fly ball down. It was 3-2 Orioles entering the bottom of the ninth when Cano took the mound. Turner grounded out weakly to shortstop for the first out but Harper singled to left to get the tying runner on bases. After a strikeout by Castellanos, Stott stepped up representing the last chance. He lined a double down to the right field corner. Harper raced around the bases and this time made it safely to tie the game up. An infield single by JT Realmuto extended the game and set up runners on the corner for Alec Bohm. Bohm took the third pitch past the third basemen into left field to score the winning run. Phillies fight back to take game two 4-3.
Game 3 – Phillies offense wakes up and take the game 6-4 – W: Dominguez (2-2, 4.18), L: Bradish (6-6, 3.29), S: Soto (2)
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Ranger Suarez and the Phillies dug themselves a three-run hole in the third inning when Suarez left a pitch over the plate to Adley Rutschman who belted it to left field for a three-run shot. However, as the Phillies have done so many times before, they started to fight back. In the bottom half of the inning Marsh led off with a walk followed by a Cave double to get the Phillies on the board. After another walk in the inning to Sosa, Castellanos hit a leaking ground ball up the middle for an RBI single cutting the lead to 3-2. The Phillies took the lead the very next inning with a lead-off single by Bohm followed by another single from Stott. Realmuto then smoked a double that scored two and the Phillies had the lead at 4-3. In the top of the 6th the O’s had a man on second with two outs and Ramon Urias at the plate. He drilled the ball to left field and Cave ventured back. He made a leaping, turned around catch while banging into the fence making quite possibly the best catch of the year. The Orioles wouldn’t go down without a fight though. McCann led the next inning off with a double in the 7th inning and Seranthony Dominguez, fresh off the IL, came in to relieve Suarez. He got two outs but gave up the game tying single before ending the inning. The game was 4-4 when Sosa came up and hit one down the line in right field. He knew it from the moment he hit it as he stopped to watch it sail over the fence and the Phillies retook the lead. They would add one more with a Harper single and the inning ended 6-4. Kimbrel came in, surprisingly in the eighth, to face the heart of the dangerous O’s lineup and set them down in order. Gregory Soto came in for the save in the ninth and made it look easy as the Phillies take the game and the series.