After a clean top of the seventh with the Phillies holding a 4-3 lead, it looked like we had a nice, solid storyline for what eventually turned out to be their 68th win of the season.

The Michael Plassmeyer game

Instead, a fun storyline about a 25-year-old who was making his major league debut was nearly derailed in a tense eighth inning before the Phillies’ sloppy defense killed it for good with a ninth-inning sequence that also featured a brutal, two-out, two-run triple.

But a second crushing loss in three days also wasn’t the storyline. It wasn’t because in the bottom of the ninth, Jean Segura grinded through a leadoff walk, Bryson Stott again came up big in a clutch spot, and Nick Maton delivered his first career walk-off hit to secure the Phillies’ 30th comeback win of the season.

Oh, and by the way, about 69 miles away out in Allentown, the reigning National League MVP played in his first live game in nearly two months. He was on base four times and hit two home runs.

So, years from now, maybe nobody will ask you about The Michael Plassmeyer Game, but the left-hander was key in helping the Phillies win a wild game and inch in front of the Padres for the National League’s second wild card spot.

Let It All Out

Let’s start at the end in what was a crazy ninth.

Both Bryson Stott and Nick Maton were summoned by Rob Thomson as pinch-hitters against Reds closer Alexis Díaz. Both players came up big, while the Reds came up small.

Where to begin with this?

Stott’s clutch double off the fence out in right-center should have put runners at second and third, but a crazy-poor throw by Reds center fielder Nick Senzel missed… everything, allowing Segura to score and Stott advance to third:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1562262228719517696?s=20&t=a_h-fu-I1rSY9BLkiGFJnw

First, a thought on Stott:

You look up at the numbers and see a .228 average and a .644 OPS and wonder if this is another case of a softening Philly sports media getting overly excited about mediocrity. Some are easily fooled these days, and I get it — but I don’t think that’s what we’re looking at here.

Maybe you don’t believe in a clutch gene, but if there is one, Stott seems to have “it” –

Why yes, Mark. I would say that he has that dog in him.

Several impressive late-inning at bats help make the case, but you just get that vibe talking to him, like he expects to perform in these spots. You know how this goes. Certain players have loser energy, some have winner energy, and then there are a bunch of guys somewhere in between. Stott strikes me as a winner.

From a more quantifiable perspective, Stott is also getting better. A lot better.

His plate discipline has significantly improved, as has his decision making on when to attack. Unsurprisingly, his numbers have also improved. Over his last 33 games, Stott is hitting .304 with an .848 OPS. He has struck out in just 13.3% of his plate appearances in this stretch, this coming after hitting just .177 with a .513 OPS through his first 59 games. In those first 59 games, he struck out in 19.6% of his plate appearances.

He’s making better decisions, getting better results, and often comes through when it matters most.

Anyway, after a quick warmup piss, Maton followed a Matt Vierling strikeout, came to the plate, and walked things off:

The Phillies can thank Reds manager David Bell for his bizarre decision to pitch to Maton. I get that he’s not exactly a household name, but Maton has been productive in limited playing time this season. Why Bell didn’t opt to walk Maton and 1) set up a double play and 2) face to Bradley Zimmer, who is hitting .112 this season, is beyond me.

Nice Debut, Kid

With the Phillies trailing the Reds 3-0 in the sixth and the game quickly slipping away, reliever Michael Plassmeyer was summoned by Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson to make his major league debut. He promptly extinguished a bases-loaded, two-out threat and kept things within striking distance. Not only did he do it with a three-pitch strikeout of Austin Romine, but he then came back out for the seventh and nailed down three more outs with just six pitches:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1562239970995208193?s=20&t=fY5xIazG0okVzvN-m7l6Kg

“He did a great, job, he really did,” Thomson said. “Three pitches and got out of that thing, that’s incredible. Great poise.”

Of course, Plassmeyer was thrust into a difficult spot because Phillies starter Ranger Suárez ran out of gas.

If you were wondering why Suárez remained in the game long enough to force in a pair of runs with walks to two struggling hitters, that’s fair. He was totally cooked.

After the game, Thomson conceded he went too long with Suárez, but noted the thin bullpen situation with closer David Robertson down once again.

For what it’s worth, Suárez ran his scoreless innings streak to 17 before the Reds got to him. It wasn’t totally unreasonable to expect he would recover and avoid issuing a pair of run-scoring walks to two batters hitting below .200.

The Attendance

The attendance at Citizens Bank Park was 20,220 last night. A slight day-over-day increase!

I’ve had some people ask for my take on the Phillies’ mediocre attendance, and so let’s quickly hit on this topic.

For context, the Phillies are 15th in average home attendance, bringing in 29,006 fans per game.

I get that gas prices are high, parking is expensive, and the experience can be a costly one — especially for families and/or those who want to go out there and put down five beers. That’s fair. I also acknowledge that you don’t have to sit down at the stadium for three hours to be a “real fan,” but where some people lose me is on the “I don’t believe in this team” argument.

I know the Phillies haven’t made the playoffs in 11 years. Scars and skepticism build. But they’re also playing at a 90-win pace and currently hold the second wild card spot. They’ve won 47 of their last 73 games, have a ton of crazy wins and surged into their current position despite the prolonged absence of their best player.

I don’t follow why a team has to make the postseason before saying, “Yeah, I’ll go out and see them play.” If you are the fan who isn’t worried about the financial considerations and just holding out because they need to prove something to you, or they make one too many infield errors for your tastes, I don’t follow that. That’s kind of weird.

The Phillies aren’t an elite team. They showed that this past weekend against the Mets, but they have been both a good and resilient team for nearly three months now while doing more than staying afloat when they could’ve packed it in.

Maybe the Phillies collapse in September and the skeptics get the great release, the satisfaction of saying “I told you so!” like you are Randy Quaid in the Major League movies. It’s possible this all happens, but the Phillies have won 90 games just 13 times since 1883. They’ve made the postseason just 15 times.

They might do it this season. Try to enjoy something.

Finally Solved the Puzzle

Through five innings, it appeared Reds rookie starter Nick Lodolo was going to deliver an encore performance to his seven scoreless innings against the Phillies last Wednesday. He carried both a no-hitter and shutout into the sixth inning, but the Phillies finally made him look more like the pitcher who a posted a 4.72 ERA through his first 10 starts.

Edmundo Sosa was the first to solve the Lodolo riddle with a leadoff double.

Three batters later, Alec Bohm plated the first run of the night with a run-scoring single, while also setting the stage for a game-tying, two-run triple from J.T. Realmuto:

https://twitter.com/BrodesMedia/status/1562243888844267520?s=20&t=fY5xIazG0okVzvN-m7l6Kg

Nick Castellanos then promptly extended his hitting streak to 13 games by delivering a go-ahead RBI single to left field.

Obviously, credit Phillies hitters for finally breaking through against Lodolo after he threw 12 consecutive shutout innings against them in a six-day period. But also credit me for sparking the rally by totally wasting my time digging up Lodolo stats: