By: Rebecca Serad, Sports Talk Philly Staff 
Final: Philadelphia Phillies 3, Baltimore Orioles 2 ❖ Attendance: 28,204
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. — With tonight's win over the Baltimore Orioles (24-60), the Philadelphia Phillies (46-37) will, at worst, split the short two-game series. The Phillies increased their already impressive home record to 29-16 and are a season-high nine games over the .500 mark. Phils starter Zach Eflin was excellent once again. Over seven innings, he allowed two runs on five hits. Eflin struck out six batters and didn't walk any. Tommy Hunter was surprisingly solid in 2/3 innings of relief. While Seranthony Dominguez struggled to get the last out of the eighth inning after Hunter's exit, he made adjustments and was fantastic in the ninth. Dominguez now has eight saves on the season.
On the offensive front, the Phils benefited from a few clutch hits. Rhys Hoskins' two-run double in the third inning brought him up to 25 RBI in his last 22 games. In addition, Andrew Knapp extended his hitting streak to six games with his RBI triple in the fourth inning. Coming into tonight's game, the Phillies were second in all of baseball with 321 walks, behind only the Cincinnati Reds. They added four more to their season total. Working deep counts and drawing walks has been one of the consistent positives of the Phillies' offense this season, and it's good to see them continuing on the right path.
After the game, Phillies manager Gabe Kapler revealed to the media why Eflin was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the seventh, despite only having 82 pitches. Eflin had a blister on one of his fingers, and although it didn't seem serious, they didn't want to risk making it worse. In his own conversation with the media, Eflin clarified that the blister is on his middle finger. He noted that while he frequently got blisters from pitching in the past, this was the first time it happened this season. Eflin wanted to continue pitching in the game, as the blister was only occasionally uncomfortable when he threw his slider. Although it doesn't seem that this is a big concern moving forward, it's something to keep an eye on.
WP: Zach Eflin (7-2, 2.97 ERA) ❖ LP: Alex Cobb (2-10, 6.63 ERA) ❖ SV: Seranthony Dominguez (8)
Hub: Game Summary ❖ Starting Pitchers ❖ At the Plate ❖ Bullpen ❖ What's Next
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| BAL | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 7 | 1 |
| PHI |
0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 3 | 5 | 2 |
The Orioles took an early lead in tonight's ballgame. Mark Trumbo led off the top of the second inning with a home-run to left-center field. Trumbo's eighth homer of the season had an impressive 113 mph exit velocity. Phillies starter Zach Eflin was able to bounce back and retire the next three batters in order on a flyout and two strikeouts, respectively.
One clutch swing of the bat gave the Phillies the lead in the third. With one out, Maikel Franco singled to center. Eflin moved Franco up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Cesar Hernandez followed with a walk to put runners on first and second with two outs for Rhys Hoskins. He doubled off the left-center field wall. Franco scored from second and Hernandez was also able to score as a result of the Orioles' outfield misplaying the ball. This was Hoskins' 20th double of the season. Odubel Herrera struck out for the final out of the inning.
The Orioles tied the game in the top of the fourth. Manny Machado led off the inning with a double down the right field line. This marked the third consecutive inning in which the Orioles led off an inning with an extra-base hit. Trumbo followed with a single to right field. A fielding error by Phils right fielder Nick Williams allowed Machado to score. First baseman Chris Davis was retired on a flyout for the first out of the inning. Trey Mancini grounded into a force out in which Trumbo was retired at second for the second out. Jonathan Schoop grounded out to first for the third out and Eflin was able to avoid allowing any more runs to score.
The Phillies took back the lead in the bottom of the fourth. With one out, Williams walked. Scott Kingery flied out to center for the second out to bring the hero of Sunday's extra-inning win, Andrew Knapp, to the plate. He tripled to right field, scoring Williams from first base. Franco was intentionally walked to bring Eflin to the plate. He grounded out for the final out, but the Phillies had a 3-2 lead in the ballgame.
Although there were opportunities for both teams to score more runs in the game, that 3-2 score was final after nine innings.
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | HR | ERA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alex Cobb | 6.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 6.63 |
| Zach Eflin | 7.0 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 2.97 |
Orioles
- Mark Trumbo: 2-3, R, HR, RBI, .267 AVG
- Manny Machado: 1-3, R, 2B, .311 AVG
- Chance Sisco: 1-4, 2B, .209 AVG
Phillies
- Rhys Hoskins: 1-4, 2B, 2 RBI, .253 AVG
- Andrew Knapp: 1-4, 3B, RBI, .222 AVG
- Maikel Franco: 2-3, R, .262 AVG
Orioles
- Paul Fry (7th): 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 0 SO, 0 HR, 0.00 ERA
- Ryan Meisinger (8th): 1.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 3.38 ERA
Phillies
- Tommy Hunter (8th): 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO, 0 HR, 4.85 ERA
- Seranthony Dominguez (8th, 9th): 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 SO, 0 HR, 1.88 ERA
- Wednesday, July 4, 2018: vs. Baltimore Orioles, 4:05 p.m.
- Philadelphia – Citizens Bank Park
- RHP Yefry Ramirez (0-1, 2.89 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (10-2, 2.48 ERA)
- TV: ESPN, NBCSP; Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP, WTTM 1680
