BOSTON _ Jerad Eickhoff twisted so he could watch the 6-3 putout. It was a routine play in Monday night's 6-5 Phillies loss, but the last six weeks have forced the 26-year-old right-hander to question everything. When Freddy Galvis' throw nestled into Tommy Joseph's glove, Eickhoff shouted into his black glove, loud enough for most at venerable Fenway Park to hear. He pumped his right arm.
He needed this.
So did the Phillies. But their malaise deepened to 20 games under .500 before the start of summer. The night was spoiled when Hanley Ramirez clubbed a slider from veteran reliever Joaquin Benoit over the green monster. That tied it. Boston won it in the 11th on a run-scoring single by Dustin Pedroia with Casey Fien pitching in his third inning.
Look at it this way: At least the Phillies were in the position to blow a save. The progression of a pitcher like Eickhoff, a mid-rotation arm the team hopes to cultivate, takes precedence over the wins and losses. The front office wants to build around their young arms. Eickhoff is one who entered 2017 with some expectations.
One start will not correct him. But this was a challenge, an assignment on the road against one of the better offenses in baseball. Eickhoff pitched here as a rookie in 2015, and it was the only time that season he pitched fewer than six innings. It served as a lesson.
So was his start last week in Atlanta, when Eickhoff lasted just five innings but was defiant afterward. The Phillies prodded him to be better. He insisted he could still do it, saying, "It's happening to me because I can take it. I'm one of those guys that can handle it."
He was not his sharpest Monday. The Phillies gifted him a rare four-run lead, a lead that Eickhoff squandered by the fourth inning. But he tossed 12 pitches in a 1-2-3 fifth inning, so the Phillies tested him. He navigated the sixth inning, despite a one-out walk, and returned to high fives in the cramped Phillies dugout.
Eickhoff pitched six or more innings in 33 of his first 44 starts in the majors. His previous eight starts yielded a 6.75 ERA; he completed six innings in just two of them. The Phillies came to know him as their most reliable rotation presence a season ago, but he has not duplicated that in 2017. His command has worsened.
But his 66 strikes Monday were the second most he's thrown in a game this season. He struck out at least six batters for the first time in a month. He threw almost as many curveballs (39) as fastballs (43). The Red Sox swung and missed at five curveballs. Fourteen more were called strikes. It looked, again, like a plus pitch for Eickhoff.
The Phillies lineup, for 19 minutes, found a groove. Eight Phillies batted in the first inning against Rick Porcello. Five of them collected hits. Daniel Nava and Andres Blanco pelted the green monster for doubles. Tommy Joseph plated two runs with a single up the middle. Eickhoff had his support.
He surrendered it in a slow trickle. Boston connected for hard contact against him. Andrew Benintendi launched a solo homer to center in the second inning. Two more runs scored in the third inning with the help of a stolen base and wild pitch. A Howie Kendrick error led to the tying run in the fourth inning.
Eickhoff has a 5.09 ERA. His next two starts will come against Arizona, one of the highest-scoring lineups in the National League. He will carry some confidence into those tests.
