The Phillies beat Jordan Montgomery and the D-backs 6-4

The Arizona Diamondbacks lost to the Phillies on Thursday night, 6-4. It was a game in which Arizona squandered a lot of opportunities before coming up short in a ninth-inning comeback attempt. The Phillies took advantage of the opportunity when they had to.

Jordan Montgomery looked hot through the first three innings and had an especially good changeup, getting a miss-swing and weak contact on the pitch. Things started to get rough and out of control in the fourth inning.

With runners on first and second and one out, he was slow to cover first base on a fly ball from Edmundo Sosa to Josh Bell at first base. Sosa beat Montgomery with a headfirst slide. Montgomery slipped off the hook with one out and a flyout.

In the fifth inning, Bryce Harper struck out for the final out of the frame, but was assessed a pitch-clock violation penalty. Harper doubled, but Montgomery got off the hook when Lourdes Gurriel Jr. caught a fly ball in the gap off Alec Bohm.

The D-backs’ hitters struggled with Kolby Allard’s slow stuff through the first four innings, hitting into two double plays and getting just three singles in the first four innings.

Eugenio Suarez gave Montgomery a brief 1-0 lead with a one-out homer off the left-field foul pole. It was his 17th homer of the year. The D-backs put two more men on base in the innings, but Jose Herrera grounded into a 6-4-3 double play, the D-backs’ third of the game.

Asked why he didn’t bunt Herrera in that situation, Torey Lovullo said he thought about it for a moment. He explained that if he had, the Phillies likely would have intentionally walked Ketel Marte, and that he wanted his best hitter to have a chance to hit with runners on base.

Montgomery’s luck ran out in the sixth inning. He hit Nick Castellanos with a pitch with one out, then gave up an RBI double to Weston Wilson. Walks to Johan Rojas and Kyle Schwarber loaded the bases again, ending Montgomery’s night.

Asked if he considered pulling Montgomery after Wilson’s double or Rojas’ walk, Lovullo said no. “I felt like, as limited and constrained as we were in the bullpen, I was trying to do a couple of things.”

With at least a couple of relievers out, Dylan Floro came in to relieve and quickly allowed hits to Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, allowing all three runners to score, putting the Phillies up 4-1.

Montgomery’s final line was then 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 3BB, 4 K, 1 HB. His record falls to 7-6 with a 6.37 ERA. You could say he was unlucky to have all three inherited runners score, but he did allow 12 runners on base while recording 17 outs.

Montgomery said after the game: “I was mad I walked Schwarber, I have to get the lefties out.”

Asked if he felt fatigued, Montgomery said: “Sometimes it’s like pitching in the jungle. I don’t know how it can get so humid. I swear in St. Louis there’s less humidity in the summer than here.”

As for Floro, he has allowed 11 of 21 inherited baserunners to score this year and has a .360 batting average against in high-leverage situations (18-50). When asked if giving Floro a clean inning to start might be better for him down the road, Lovullo responded with a chuckle.

“That was one of the notes I wrote. I wanted to do some research on that. I’m still getting to know (Floro) so I appreciate that information. You’re a step ahead of me on that. It’s my job to put players in the right position to be successful. I live in that space all the time. Sometimes you have to challenge them and kick them in the butt and get them going, sometimes you have to let them figure it out.”

But Torey Lovullo didn’t have many other options after a doubleheader Wednesday depleted all of his top relievers. He wouldn’t go so far as to say that all four of his top relievers were unavailable, but “some of them were,” he said. Ryan Thompson warmed up in the ninth inning.

Jake McCarthy brought the D-backs within a run with his fourth homer of the year, a deep fly ball to right field. Once again, Arizona put two more men on base after a homer, but again it left them stranded.

Cecconi came in to pitch the seventh and promptly gave up a solo homer to JT Realmuto, extending the Phillies’ lead to 5-3.

The D-backs had another golden opportunity in the eighth inning, putting two runners on base on walks by Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado. But Suarez and Kevin Newman struck out to end that threat as well.

The Phillies continued to capitalize on their opportunities. Cecconi continued to pitch in the ninth inning and allowed doubles to Realmuto and Sosa to score the Phillies’ sixth and final run.

Carlos Estevez, who came over from the Angels at the trade deadline, was called up to pitch the ninth. He’s no rookie at closing, having recorded 51 saves over the past two years, and he earned his first save as a Philadelphia player. He allowed hits to Geraldo Perdomo and an RBI hit to McCarthy, his third hit and third RBI of the game. But Gurriel popped out to center to end the game.

The Phillies outscored the D-backs 14-11 and went 4-15 with runners in scoring position. It could have been worse, as they left 12 men on base. Meanwhile, the D-backs went 1-9 with RISP and left eight men on base. Ketel Marte had a rare off night, going 0-4 and striking out three times. He walked once before McCarthy’s homer.

With the loss, the D-backs’ record moves to 63-53. Philadelphia improves to 69-46. Game 2 of the series will be Friday night at 6:40 p.m. Ryne Nelson will face Zack Wheeler.