It was a pitcher’s duel on Monday when the Tampa Bay Rays faced NL East division leaders, the Philadelphia Phillies. Cristopher Sanchez, Orion Kerkering, and Jeff Hoffman combined for eight scoreless innings for the Phillies, while the Rays’ quintet of Cole Sulser, Tyler Alexander, Kevin Kelly, Mason Montgomery, and Manuel Rodriguez allowed just one solitary run over the first eight innings.
It had been a frustrating evening for the Rays. They had out-hit their opponents, but 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position suggested they would start this three-game series with a lacklustre 0-1 defeat.
From the Phillies perspective, it was a perfectly acceptable win. Nothing special, apart from the gargantuan power of Kyle Schwarber’s solo homer. In the London Series, we were treated to a 7-2 scoreline in Game 1 and then a stunning Mets comeback win in Game 2. I watched the highlights of the Phillies v Rays game with muted interest until the ninth inning.
The Phillies brought in their closer, Carlos Estevez, to record the save and seal the win. This piqued my interest. In 2023, Estevez was the Angels’ All-Star despite a near-4.00 ERA, but give him his due, he secured 31 of 35 save opportunities. Preseason this year, he was dubbed the closer most likely to lose his job. But to prove all analysts wrong, he produced a career year in Anaheim and was shipped to Philadelphia in a deal that sent pitching prospects Samuel Aldegheri and George Klassen in the other direction.
The trade was notable to me for two reasons. Firstly, the Phillies and Angels were involved in another win-win trade a couple of years ago when Brandon Marsh was exchanged for top prospect Logan O’Hoppe. I yearn to see behind the curtain of trade talks. What makes the Angels and Phillies such good trade partners? And secondly, my Italian heritage has compelled me to follow the progress of Aldegheri’s career.
The 22-year-old became the first Italian-born-and-raised pitcher to make the big leagues when he debuted for the Angels at the end of August. His success could pave the way for other young pitchers on this side of the Atlantic who can see the path from domestic baseball in Europe to making The Show.
Incidentally, GB will face Italy in the World Baseball Classic on Sunday 8 March 2026. It is no secret that the lack of star pitching quality is one of the biggest obstacles that faces coach Drew Spencer. Who knows, perhaps Great Britain’s recent WBC success means it’s sooner rather than later that we will see a British-born-and-bred 22-year-old pitcher in MLB.
It would, of course, be remiss of me to fail to point out that London-born flamethrower Michael Petersen picked up three wins with the Dodgers in his 11 appearances this season. The 30-year-old was claimed off waivers by the Miami Marlins this week.
Anyway, back to the Phillies-Rays game. Estevez’s fastball was driven to centre by pinch hitter Brandon Lowe. Remember 2021 when Lowe hit 39 home runs on his way to MVP consideration? Those days seem like distant memories now, but the 30-year-old had given his one a chance.
It headed for the 409 feet marker, but star centre fielder Johan Rojas was tracking it. The Dominican didn’t need his 100-percentile sprint speed to attempt this home run robbery. He timed his jump perfectly, but as he came down, his arm hit the outfield wall, and the ball spilt out of his mitt for a game-tying home run.
He slumped disconsolate against the wall as Lowe trotted around the bases for his 17th homer of the season.
With the scores tied, the Phillies came to bat at the bottom of the ninth inning with a chance to walk it off. Cometh the hour cometh the man, and that man is frequently Bryce Harper. He drilled a poorly located Garrett Cleavinger slider for what looked like a game-winning home run, but it bounced hard off the wall. Having admired his bomb, Harper was stuck at first.
The Phillies commentary team was apoplectic about Harper’s lack of hustle. Plenty of “Phillies fans frustrated at Harper” articles followed. And indeed, the superstar apologised to manager Rob Thomson for his lack of hustle, but I don’t know. Maybe you don’t always need your oft-injury generational talent to hustle to second, especially given what happened next.
Cleavinger allowed the Phillies to load the bases before Kody Clemens drove in the winning run… scored by Bryce Harper. So, that was a lot of Phillies media and fans drivel about nothing.
At the end of the eighth inning, what had seemed like a routine end to a routine game reminded me again why I love this sport.
Article by Gav Tramps. Gav quit Twitter X with frustration at the platform’s unwillingness to address its promotion of toxic content, but you can still find him on Instagram and Threads
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