PHILADELPHIA _ Rhys Hoskins clapped his hands Monday night, looked to the dugout, and raised two fingers after his double dropped into left field to bring home needed insurance runs in an 8-6 win over Washington at Citizens Bank Park.
The Phillies, clinging to a two-run lead and their bullpen starting to slip, needed a big hit with two outs in the seventh inning and runners on second and third. Two weeks ago, a walk or strikeout from Hoskins would have been the most likely outcome.
For Hoskins, much has changed in two weeks. But much has also remained the same. He ripped a two-run double Monday night to go along with a first-inning homer to continue a torrid stretch. Hoskins is hitting .319 with 13 RBIs over his last 13 games and has homered in three straight games.
Hoskins had just one RBI and three extra-base hits through the first 14 games. Yet the Phillies were satisfied. Hoskins, manager Joe Girardi and general manager Matt Klentak said, was reaching base via walks and working good at-bats. Hoskins said then that his approach was sound _ he wasn't chasing pitches _ and the results would come. Girardi, Klentak, nor Hoskins ever seemed to offer a hint of concern.
So it must've been satisfying Monday night to see Hoskins _ the team's RBI leader over the past three seasons _ standing on second base with his fingers up. He still equips the same approach _ a patient attack with a strong understanding of the strike zone _ but the results are finally turning.
The Phillies' path to October will rely heavily on their lineup. Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto carried them for the first half of a 60-game season. And now Hoskins seems ready to share the load.
"Trust is the key word here. You can go a little insane if you keep doing the same thing and you're not getting the results that you hoped for or that you feel like you should be getting," Hoskins said. "But that's what this game is. I think the guys who last in this game are ones that no matter the pitch, no matter the count, no matter the at-bat, no matter the year, whatever, if you're confident in the work that you're doing over a long season or a short season, you have the best chance to have sustained success. It's good to get over that hump and realize that trusting the work is going to be fine in the long run and here we are."
The Phillies have won six of their last seven games and are .500 after their first 30 games of the season. They are tied with Miami for second place in the National League East, which is good enough to make the postseason under the new expanded format.
The Phillies were plagued in the first half by an unreliable bullpen, but Klentak addressed the unit again on Monday by trading Milwaukee for righthander David Phelps shortly before the trade deadline. They have acquired four relievers in the last 10 days and returned Ranger Suarez Monday from the injured list. The bullpen is much improved. And the Phillies seem to be in prime position to reach the postseason for the first time since 2011.
Spencer Howard allowed two runs on five hits in five innings. He struck out four and walked two. The rookie struck out the side in the first inning and scattered three hits through four innings before Juan Soto tagged him for a two-run homer in the fifth. Howard finished the inning, but the homer spoiled what had been Howard's best performance since being promoted.
The Phillies still have 30 games remaining, but they can begin to dream about the postseason and how they would align their starting rotation for a first-round three-game series. Zach Eflin currently seems to be the favorite for the third spot, but a lot could change between now and September 29.
Jean Segura hit a three-run double in the fourth and Jay Bruce homered in his first at-bat since being activated from the injured list. The Phillies had just seven hits, but they scored eight runs. They were efficient. Each of the team's first six baserunners scored and the Phillies didn't leave a runner on base until the seventh inning.
Heath Hembree allowed back-to-back homers to the first two batters he faced in the top of the seventh, but the rest of the bullpen was dependable. JoJo Romero retired each of the four batters he faced after relieving Howard. Tommy Hunter bailed out Hembree in the seventh and then handled the eighth. Brandon Workman allowed two runs in the ninth, but it felt inconsequential thanks to Hoskins.. The bullpen has not been perfect for the last week, but it's been much better than it was two weeks ago.
And so has Hoskins. His two run double came after Hembree allowed back-to-back homers to the first batters he faced in the top of the seventh. The Phillies were still six outs from a win and a two-run lead no longer felt safe. Jay Bruce singled and Alec Bohm doubled before the rally seemed to fizzle when Roman Quinn and Andrew McCutchen were retired. Enter Hoskins. He jumped on Wander Suero's third-pitch, stood on second base with his fingers raised and the Phillies felt safe again.
