PHILADELPHIA _ For all the numbers-crunching and the metrics and the math, the winning formula has been rather elementary lately for the Phillies. Day after day, week after week, they have given the ball to a starting pitcher who, in turn, has thrown it effectively.
Phillies starters have allowed no more than one run in 14 games this month, the rotation's best run since September 2011. Not coincidentally, the Phils are as close to sole possession of first place as they have been since the end of that 2011 season.
It was striking, then, to see right-hander Zach Eflin throw such a stinker Friday night. So effective in his previous three outings since taking over as the No. 5 starter, Eflin gave up three runs in the first inning and dropped the Phillies down a hole from which not even furious ninth-inning rally could extract them in a series-opening 6-5 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays before an announced crowd of 21,374 at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies came close. They went to work on Blue Jays substitute closer Ryan Tepera in the bottom of the ninth, scoring one run on a wild pitch and loading the bases with one out and two of their best hitters coming to the plate. But struggling Rhys Hoskins looked at a close fastball for strike three before Odubel Herrera hit a bouncer to second base for the final out.
With a victory and a Braves loss in Boston, the Phillies could have overtaken Atlanta and gained control of the division lead in the National League East. The Braves were doing their part, trailing the Red Sox in the late innings of their game in Fenway Park. But first place will have to wait at least another day, just as it has eluded the Phillies for the past seven years.
Eflin did his best to eat into the deficit by clocking his first career home run in the third inning against Blue Jays starter Sam Gaviglio. Ultimately, though, Eflin gave up as many homers as he hit, with Justin Smoak's two-run shot in the fifth inning restoring a big enough lead that the Jays didn't really have to sweat until the last inning.
The biggest reason for Eflin's resurgence since getting recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley has been a more electric four-seam fastball. Over the past two seasons, Eflin's heater averaged 92.5 mph and left questions about whether he would miss enough bats to be a full-fledged starter in the big leagues. But Eflin had cranked it up to 94.4 mph entering Friday night, and the fastball touched 97.2 mph in the first inning against Russell Martin, according to Statcast.
In this start, though, Eflin was quite overpowering enough. He got eight swinging strikes against 24 batters in 42/3 innings but also allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits and one walk.
Josh Donaldson turned around a 95.6 mph fastball for a double in the first inning. Eflin still had a chance to escape without allowing a run, but Teoscar Hernandez reached on an RBI infield hit before Yangervis Solarte and Kevin Pillar knocked back-to-back RBI doubles.
The Jays added on in the fifth inning. Curtis Granderson notched a leadoff single before Smoak homered for a 5-1 advantage.
Eflin's homer was the Phillies' lone hit through five innings against Gaviglio. At last, in the sixth, Herrera lined a two-out double and Carlos Santana homered.
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