PHILADELPHIA — It was fitting that a thunderstorm passed through South Philadelphia on the night right-handed starter Noah Syndergaard was scheduled to make his Phillies debut.
In the fourth inning, the wind picked up. In the fifth inning, a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder bellowed over the left field stands. And by 8:47 p.m., the forecast was on the Jumbotron, the tarp was on the field, and the game was officially in a rain delay. Just before 11 p.m., the game was called because of rain. It was an official game, which the Phillies won, 5-4.
Syndergaard, one of the Phillies’ three acquisitions at the trade deadline, goes by “Thor,” otherwise known as the Norse god of “lightning, thunder, storms, strength and protection.” It couldn’t have been scripted better.
Syndergaard’s outing, on the other hand, could have. Facing a Nationals lineup that is one of the worst, if not the worst, in baseball, Syndergaard allowed 11 hits and four earned runs over five innings. In the top of the fifth inning, while pitching with a 5-2 lead, he allowed an RBI single and a wild pitch that scored Luke Voit, who was the runner on third. By the time the rain started to come down, the Phillies’ 5-2 lead had been trimmed to 5-4.
He finished his night at 79 pitches and 56 strikes. It wasn’t the best debut, but it’s hard to know what to make of it, given that Syndergaard hadn’t pitched since July 25, which amounts to nine days of rest. Syndergaard was scheduled to pitch Tuesday for the Angels, but he was traded just before the deadline and suddenly was on his way to Philadelphia instead.
Interim manager Rob Thomson said Syndergaard had been throwing bullpens, but it’s unclear how much work Syndergaard did between then and now.
Bohm’s power surge continues
After hitting four home runs through the first three months of the season, third baseman Alec Bohm hit his second home run in his past four games, a 366-foot shot to left-center field that gave the Phillies a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the third. It was Bohm’s eighth home run of the season, setting a new career high for home runs in a season for him.
Bohm is hitting .345/.345/.586 over his past seven games and .417/.435/.583 over his last 15.
Brandon Marsh with a hit in his Phillies debut
In his first game and first at-bat as a Phillie, center fielder Brandon Marsh hit a single to left field in the bottom of the third. It was off of a curveball, a pitch Marsh has struggled to hit well this season. Per Baseball Savant, he’s batting .105 on curveballs in 2022. Marsh said before the game that he already had a hitting session with Phillies hitting coach Kevin Long and “found out some stuff about me that I had no idea about.” The Phillies are optimistic there is upside in his bat.
Good night for Hoskins
Before the rain delay, Rhys Hoskins was 2-for-2 with two RBIs. He hit a solo home run off of Nationals starter Paolo Espino in the bottom of the first that left his bat at 102.3 mph and traveled 387 feet. In the bottom of the third, he hit a line-drive RBI single to left field.
