The surging Phillies denied Brewers closer Josh Hader a chance at baseball history on Tuesday night, and by doing so, made some history of their own.
The electric lefty closer for Milwaukee needed just one more scoreless appearance to set an MLB record with 41 straight scoreless outings when he took the mound with a 2-1 lead on Tuesday, but home runs by Alec Bohm and rookie Matt Vierling stunned Hader and the Brewers and gave the Phillies a 3-2 win, their fifth in a row and fourth in as many games since naming Rob Thomson interim manager.
With Vierling’s blast proving to be the game winner, it marked the second straight game that a Phils rookie won it with a home run in the ninth inning, as Bryson Stott hit a walk-off blast on Sunday after Bryce Harper tied it with a grand slam in the eighth to shock the reeling Angels.
According to Elias, it’s the first time since at least 1900 that the franchise has won two straight games on ninth-inning home runs hit by rookies.
Philadelphia has clearly turned the page since moving on from Joe Girardi, having made a historic statement against one of the best closers in the game.