"I was in the wrong," Hoskins told reporters afterward. "Someone said something in the stands that triggered me. I was pretty frustrated by the at-bat I just had and compounded the mistake. Got caught up in the moment. Shouldn't happen. Can't happen. But it did."
It was the sixth inning of a tension-filled tilt with arguably the best team in baseball. Trailing 2-0 with two runners in scoring position Hoskins whiffed on a third strike in the dirt and strayed from the plate for a second before making a non-comital jog to first base.
It was poor form for Hoskins. Lacksidasical.
He magnified the mistake by bouncing out of the dugout and chirping back at a fan from the top step.
What exactly was said?
"Obviously, there's a lot going on," Hoskins answered. "Big game. Big situation in the game. It's late in the game. Don't even remember. Can't even tell you what he looks like."
As for the contest itself, the Phillies were held hitless by right-hander Jonathan Loaisiga until the sixth inning and finally got on the board in the seventh with a Scott Kingery RBI-single to trim the Yankees lead to 2-1. The bullpen scuffled again though with Adam Morgan surrendering two runs in the eighth to essentially give the Bombers the win.
Hector Neris, making his return to the Phillies' bullpen, tossed a scoreless inning.
Vince Velasquez appeared to be heading down a disastrous slope early, surrendering walks to three of the first six batters he faced. He calmed down though and ultimately tossed six innings, surrendering two runs on three hits and four walks. He struck out seven.
The two clubs resume their three-game set on Tuesday as Jake Arrieta faces right-hander Luis Severino.
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