Philadelphia Baseball Review - Phillies News, Rumors and Analysis
Philadelphia slugger Rhys Hoskins belts a pair of homers in Phillies win.
Hyun Soo Kim stood in the infield with his jersey ruffled and covered in a celebratory mix of water, sunflower seeds, and gum. For a few moments at least, it seemed the Phillies had erased a five run deficit and secured a walk-off victory.

Instant replay, however, proved otherwise as Cesar Hernandez was ruled out at the plate after an awkward slide and the game continued into extras. Six innings later the Phillies celebrated again, this time via a Nick Williams RBI-double to secure a 9-8 win at Citizens Bank Park.

"I think that's the first time in the history of baseball that that's taken place," Williams said.

Trailing into the ninth with the bases jammed, Kim hit a single to right allowing Nick Williams to score the tying run. Hernandez was waved around too, appearing to beat Giancarlo Stanton's throw to the plate but a poor slide resulted in an out.

The oddities continued.

Marcell Ozuna took Hector Neris deep in the 10th, crushing a splitter to left-center field to give the Marlins an 8-7 lead. Rhys Hoskins answered for the Phillies in the bottom of the frame, launching a solo-shot to even the contest at 8. The homer was his second of the night and 16th of the season.

"He's an alien. He's not human," Williams said. "That's not real. That's crazy. And I'm hitting behind him, too, and I'm just constantly watching him and I'm like, 'Oh, my god."'

Aaron Altherr reached on an infield single in the 15th, paving the way for Williams to crush a double into the left-field corner to drive home the game-winning run.

Another celebration ensued.

The contest lasted three minutes shy of five hours.

"Two walkoffs in one game, bizarre is the best word to describe it," Hoskins said.

With 16 homers on the year, Hoskins has the potential to finish the year as the Phillies' home run leader, an almost unthinkable feat considering he joined the team in the second week of August. Tommy Joseph leads the club now with 21.

"My biggest disappointment was that Hoskins didn't hit his third home run to win the game," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said with jokingly. "That kind of disappointed me."

Nick Pivetta struggled on the mound for the Phillies, surrendering seven runs in five innings. The 24-year-old now has an ERA of 6.75 which ranks as the second-highest ERA among rookies with 20 or more starts in a season since 1899.

Hoskins Rewrites History
With his two blasts in Tuesday's win, Hoskins set the Major League record as the fastest player to hit 16 home runs to open a career, hitting that mark is just 32 games. Wally Berger held the record previously, hitting 16 homers in his first 41 games in 1930.

Up Next
The two clubs resume their three-game set on Wednesday with Aaron Nola set to oppose Dan Straily. Nola has struggled as of late, posting a 6.59 ERA over his last five starts after looking masterful for much of the season. He's 0-3 with a 10.67 ERA in three starts against the Marlins this season.
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Follow Patrick on Twitter: @PGordonPBR

BY PATRICK GORDON
Managing Editor
pgordon@philadelphiabaseballreview.com

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Philadelphia Baseball Review - Phillies News, Rumors and Analysis