*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
What a way to clinch a spot. Brandon Marsh homered, Johan Rojas had the game winning hit, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 3-2 victory in extra innings on Tuesday night in Philadelphia.
The Phillies won their 6th straight game and 8th out of 10, securing their spot in the playoffs in dramatic fashion at home. It's the second straight year clinching a playoff spot. Last year, they were the NL representative in the World Series.
Phillies outfielder Kyle Schwarber said "I think the biggest thing is that we have a lot of experience under our belt. It's a team that's not going to quit. We've proven that this year. We saw it last year. It's just a team that's going to go out there and try to out-grit the other team. You know what? It could result in a loss, but we'll take our best out there every day and hopefully it ends up with a win."
After a scoreless first 5 innings of play, Marsh took things into his own hands in the 6th. He hit a solo home run, giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead on his 11th longball of the year. Later in the inning, Bryce Harper flew out to center field, but it was deep enough to score Schwarber and double the Phillies lead to 2-0.
Bryan Reynolds got the Pirates on the board in the 7th, cranking a solo home run to center field, cutting the deficit to 2-1. In the 8th, Henry Davis added a solo shot of his own, tying the score 2-2. It stayed that way until the 10th, when Rojas delivered a single, scoring Cristian Pache to win the game for the Phillies.
Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos said of Rojas' hit that "Just to have that memory, that’s going to be an experience and a feeling that he’s never going to lose. For him, in his career, to have a moment like that to fall back on, that’s a cornerstone for his career."
Aaron Nola started for the Phillies, allowing one run on 4 hits and 8 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings pitched. Matt Strahm finished the 7th before Craig Kimbrel allowed a run in the 8th. Jose Alvarado pitched a scoreless 9th and Jeff Hoffman did the same in the 10th.
Mitch Keller allowed two runs on 3 hits and two walks in his start for the Pirates, pitching 6 innings. Dauri Moreta worked 1 1/3 scoreless innings, Ryan Borucki worked an inning, Carmen Mlodzinski pitched 2/3 of an inning, and David Bednar got the loss in the 10th inning.
Bednar said after the game that "We want to be on the other end of it. The past couple weeks, we’ve been playing really good baseball. I think that’s very important to finish this season strong, go through the ups and downs, learn how to compete, learn how to win as a team and get those team wins, be on the right side of those one-run ballgames."
The series continues with the second game on Wednesday. Ranger Suarez starts for the Phillies as they go for the series win, while the Pirates give the start to Johan Oviedo.
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