It was the kind of night that reminded the Phillies you don’t need fireworks to close down a ballpark.
One night after launching eight home runs and pounding their way to history, they managed just a single RBI groundout. And somehow, that was enough.
Because this was Walker Buehler night in South Philly.
Buehler, the late-season reclamation project picked up on a minor-league flyer, tiptoed his way through five scoreless innings Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. Three hits, three walks, one hit batter, and a bases-loaded escape that required every ounce of guile he’s still got. He wasn’t dominant. He wasn’t perfect. But he was slippery, bend-but-don’t-break, and the Marlins never solved him.
Since joining the Phillies, Buehler has given up just one earned run across 13 2/3 innings — a 0.66 ERA over three outings, two of them starts. He’s scattered 10 hits, issued six walks, plunked two batters, and recorded eight strikeouts.
The only run the Phillies needed came in the bottom of the first, when Alec Bohm rolled a grounder to third that scored Harrison Bader. After that? Ten at-bats with runners in scoring position, zero hits. This lineup, fresh off a power surge for the ages, suddenly looked like it was swinging underwater.
But defense bailed Buehler out in the fourth—Edmundo Sosa spearing a liner and doubling off Otto Lopez—and the bullpen did the rest. Taijuan Walker wriggled out of his own jam in the sixth, Matt Strahm handled the eighth, and after a one-hour rain delay at midnight in September, 40-year-old David Robertson closed the door on Miami with his second save.
So the Phillies won, 1-0, improved to 94-65, and sent the Marlins officially packing from the wild-card chase. Buehler, now 3-0 with one earned run allowed in three games as a Phillie, gave them another reason to think he might just matter in October, even if it’s only in the shadows of the bullpen.
And that’s how, on a night when the bats took the evening off, the Phillies still found a way to write another strange September story.
Buehler, the late-season reclamation project picked up on a minor-league flyer, tiptoed his way through five scoreless innings Thursday at Citizens Bank Park. Three hits, three walks, one hit batter, and a bases-loaded escape that required every ounce of guile he’s still got. He wasn’t dominant. He wasn’t perfect. But he was slippery, bend-but-don’t-break, and the Marlins never solved him.
Since joining the Phillies, Buehler has given up just one earned run across 13 2/3 innings — a 0.66 ERA over three outings, two of them starts. He’s scattered 10 hits, issued six walks, plunked two batters, and recorded eight strikeouts.
The only run the Phillies needed came in the bottom of the first, when Alec Bohm rolled a grounder to third that scored Harrison Bader. After that? Ten at-bats with runners in scoring position, zero hits. This lineup, fresh off a power surge for the ages, suddenly looked like it was swinging underwater.
But defense bailed Buehler out in the fourth—Edmundo Sosa spearing a liner and doubling off Otto Lopez—and the bullpen did the rest. Taijuan Walker wriggled out of his own jam in the sixth, Matt Strahm handled the eighth, and after a one-hour rain delay at midnight in September, 40-year-old David Robertson closed the door on Miami with his second save.
So the Phillies won, 1-0, improved to 94-65, and sent the Marlins officially packing from the wild-card chase. Buehler, now 3-0 with one earned run allowed in three games as a Phillie, gave them another reason to think he might just matter in October, even if it’s only in the shadows of the bullpen.
And that’s how, on a night when the bats took the evening off, the Phillies still found a way to write another strange September story.
Quotable
"It’s above my pay grade, man. I’m here to win a world title, and whatever piece I can be in that -- from a starting pitcher to a cheerleader -- I really don’t care. I haven’t been here really long, but I’ve really enjoyed this team. Next time we celebrate, I want to feel like I was a part of it. Whatever they ask me to do.” - Buehler, per MLB.com, when asked about his potential role in the postseason.
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