Philadelphia Phillies slugger Bryce Harper (right) waves to the crowd after belting a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Philadelphia as Oakland A’s catcher Shea Langeliers (left) looks on on Sat Jul 13, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

It was a given that the Philadelphia Phillies (62-33) would come into game two determined to even the series and that is exactly what they did. They beat the Oakland A’s (36-61) 11-5 but Oakland did put up a fight.

The A’s hung in this game until the Phillies broke it open in the eighth inning. The A’s had ten hits in this game with a couple of homers from Zach Gelof and Brent Rooker. It was the four home runs that the Phillies sent out of the park that made all the difference in the game.

Game recap: Oakland took the early lead in the second inning of the game 1-0. Seth Brown doubled Brent Rooker home and Oakland felt good about their start in this game. The A’s lead was short-lived in the same inning. The Phillies Nick Castellanos hit a long ball, a two run home run off a Mitch Spence pitch giving Philadelphia a 2-1 lead.

Zach Gelof tied up the game for Oakland with a 384 ft home run in the third inning 2-2. Again, the Phillies had the answer taking back the lead 3-2. Kyle Schwarber doubled to center and Garrett Stubbs scored.

The Phillies scored again in the fourth inning. They had scored runs in the second, third and fourth frames taking a 6-2 lead distancing themselves from Oakland. Johan Rojas hit a solo home run and another long ball from Trea Turner followed, a two run home run, and Philadelphia was coasting.

Mitch Spence pitched through 3.2 innings before being pulled and relieved by Tyler Ferguson. He allowed five hits, six earned runs, five walks with six strikeouts. Ferguson went 1.1 innings with some great work allowing no hits, no runs with three strikeouts. Scott Alexander relieved him in the sixth inning with much the same success with no hits and no runs.

The A’s would inch a bit closer when Brent Rooker hit a 416 foot bullet to center in the seventh inning and Oakland trailed by the score of 6-3. Oakland continued to rally putting two runners on base, Shea Langeliers on third, Daz Cameron on first with one out and Brett Harris at the plate. Harris delivered, Langeliers scored and the A’s added another run 6-4 going into the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Phillies added to their lead with a solo shot from Bryce Harper in the bottom of the seventh inning. Going into the eighth inning, the A’s had a lot of work to do.

Oakland put two runners on base in the eighth inning with two outs and Seth Brown at the plate. Earlier in the game Brown missed hitting a home run by the narrowest of margins and unfortunately he struck out and it was on to the bottom of the eighth inning.

The Phillies loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning. Unfortunately A’s pitcher Michel Otanez took a horrible hit to the forearm when a Trea Turner shot smoked him. He was forced to leave the game and T.J. McFarland took over on the mound.

The dangerous Bryce Harper came to the plate hitting a double and both Garrett Stubbs and Kyle Schwarber scored. The Phillies had broken this game wide open. Two more runs came in and when the dust had settled, the Phillies had a 11-4 lead going into the top of the ninth inning.

The A’s had a bit of a late rally in the ninth inning. Brett Harris had a single in the inning and Miguel Andujar also singled. Zach Gelof walked followed by a JJ Bleday walk loading the bases. Brent Rooker came to the plate and a home run would have been sweet indeed but did not come to be as he struck out. The A’s finished the game with ten hits losing the game 11-5.

Game notes: The A’s against the league leading Phillies dropped game one of this three game at Citizens Bank Ballpark on Friday night. The Phillies took the early lead in game one, the A’s came around in the third inning with three runs and never looked back. The A’s had to play well offensively and defensively in game one and they did not disappoint.

They won Friday’s game 6-2 with some great at-bats which included a Lawrence Butler two run home run in the eighth. There was some great work on the mound by starter Hogan Harris and the relief core which also contributed to this win.

It was a given that Philadelphia would come out very grumpy in game two Saturday after losing Friday’s game to open the series.

Oakland’s Mitch Spence was the starter Saturday going 3.2 innings allowing five hits and six runs. The Phillies starter Tyler Phillips went six innings, allowing six hits and four earned runs. The A’s were looking to take game two and the lead in the series from the best team in baseball. That would have been an ideal scenario for Oakland going into the All-Star break now the series is tied 1-1 going into Sunday.

Game three will be played Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 10:35 AM to finish off the series before the All-Star break. Joey Estes will take the mound for Oakland with a 3-4 win-loss record and a 5.53 ERA.

Estes had a rough outing last Tuesday against the Red Sox only going 1.2 innings allowing seven hits and eight earned runs. Estes will be looking for an improved effort on the mound. Right now the Phillies are undecided as to who will start in the rubber game of this series.