News
Phillies recalled OF Cal Stevenson from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Stevenson joins the Phillies ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Marlins with Brandon Marsh (hamstring) hitting the injured list. The 28-year-old provides Philadelphia with some extra outfield depth off the bench.
Jaylen Brown lit up the Knicks with 20 points (8-of-23 FGs), six rebounds, one assist, two steals, two three-pointers and six turnovers in Game 2 on Wednesday.
It was a tale of two halves for Brown, who entered the break with 17 points. In the second half, the only stats he contributed were one three-pointer and four turnovers. He shot 1-of-7 in the second half, and the Celtics blew a 20-point lead for a second straight game. They’ve been outscored by a total of four points in this series, but they will head to New York down 0-2. Brown will need to repeat his first-half performance for Boston to get back on track.
Derrick White led the Celtics with 20 points (6-of-17 FGs), nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and three three-pointers in Game 2 against the Knicks on Wednesday.
White had a strong night overall, though most of his work was done in the first half. He had 14 of his 20 points and all three of his three-pointers in the first half. White has shot a poor percentage through the first two games of this series, but he has been their best threat from beyond the arc. Boston will need White to be at his best in Game 3 on Saturday to avoid going down 0-3 in the series.
J.T. Realmuto is day-to-day with a left foot contusion.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters following Realmuto’s early exit from Wednesday’s contest after fouling a ball off his left foot that his level of concern is basically zero before adding that he won’t even need to undergo precautionary X-rays. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern for now.
Cristopher Sánchez allowed just one hit and no runs with three walks and five strikeouts over six innings to earn the win 7-0 over the Rays on Wednesday.
Spotted a huge lead early, Sánchez barely broke a sweat in this quality start and victory against the Rays’ paltry lineup. He didn’t force many swings-and-misses, but the Rays literally didn’t make any dangerous contact all game. Yes, literally: of their 14 balls in play, 12 were hit on the ground and the other two were simple pop-ups. It’s nice that he seems to have put the forearm injury scare of a few weeks ago behind him and he’s scheduled to face the Pirates and Cardinals in what should be nice a two-start week coming up.
Trea Turner went 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and two RBI on Wednesday against the Rays.
Has Turner’s power finally returned? His 107.8 mph home run was the third hardest ball he’s hit all season and his fourth inning single was hit harder than 100 mph as well. Other than the power, he’s had an excellent season to this point with a .307 batting average and eight stolen bases as a key cog in the heart of the Phillies’ talented lineup.
Shane Baz allowed eight hits and six earned runs with two walks and three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings in a loss to the Phillies on Wednesday.
The Phillies were all over Baz in their third time around the order. They wound up scoring five runs during that fateful fourth inning which started with a walk, single, fielder’s choice, and safety squeeze before Bryson Stott, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper had consecutive base hits to chase him from the game. All three of those batted balls were hit at least 100 mph and it felt like they were seeing him very clearly by that point. Turner himself had two batted balls over 100 mph, with the other being a home run. While Baz’s velocity was up, his command was off and he left far too many knuckle-curves in the middle of the zone. Baz now has an ugly 4.93 ERA after this poor start and he’ll have to get his command back before his next scheduled start against the Blue Jays.