Alcantara struggled with 'putting away' Phillies in 0-2 counts

PHILADELPHIA -- Sandy Alcantara took the mound Friday night in Philadelphia with one goal: pound the strike zone.

He certainly did that ... perhaps too much.

Though Alcantara routinely got ahead of hitters on a night when he once again flashed his pre-Tommy John surgery velocity, he struggled to execute his putaway pitches in a 7-2 loss to the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park. The end result was six runs off four hits and two walks while needing 61 pitches to complete just two innings -- the second-shortest start of his career.

“A game like this makes me feel more frustration than ever,” Alcantara said.

And it's the way those runs scored that was the most frustrating part. Every run Alcantara allowed stemmed from a plate appearance in which he was ahead 0-2.

“Getting to two strikes was good,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “It’s just putting them away became a struggle.”

Here's a closer look at how each run scored -- and how close Alcantara was to possibly having a very different evening.

Alcantara vs. Bryce Harper (bottom 1st)
Situation: runner on first, one out

After a four-pitch walk to Trea Turner, Alcantara wasted no time going after Harper, who fouled off the first pitch before taking a 97 mph fastball for strike two. Harper then fouled off three straight offerings before teeing off on an 0-2 slider that caught too much of the plate.

Three of the four 0-2 pitches were in the zone, the last of which was hit a Statcast-projected 418 feet into the second deck for a two-run homer.

“Missed my spot. I tried to throw a cutter up and in, but I just left it out there,” Alcantara said. “Easy peasy for him.”

Alcantara vs. Alec Bohm (bottom 2nd)
Situation: runners on first and second, no outs

One of the more aggressive hitters in the Majors, Bohm entered the night batting .173 with a .411 OPS and just one walk in 18 games. Alcantara got a called strike on a borderline changeup at the bottom of the zone. He then threw another changeup in the lower-third, which Bohm fouled off.

Alcantara threw a third straight changeup at the knees, but Bohm wasn’t fooled. He ripped a 97.4 mph liner into left-center field for a run-scoring single to make it a 3-0 game.

“Maybe just a little bit of not getting those pitches down to an area you'd want for some chase, and just leaving them enough on the plate or in a spot where they could at least spoil it enough to foul it off,” McCullough said. “We'll go back and look at that and how we can execute at a better rate next time.”

Alcantara vs. Johan Rojas (bottom 2nd)
Situation: runners on the corners, no outs

Looking to avoid further damage after Bohm’s knock, Alcantara went right after the Phillies’ light-hitting No. 9 hitter with a pair of fastballs over the middle of the plate. Rojas, who entered the night with a .604 OPS and a 69 OPS+ since the start of last season, fouled off both before laying off a slider way off the plate in the dirt.

When Alcantara came back with another fastball over the heart of the plate -- this one at 97.5 mph -- Rojas ripped it through the right side at 104.4 mph for another RBI single.

Alcantara vs. Bryson Stott (bottom 2nd)
Situation: runners on second and third, no outs

For a third straight batter, Alcantara got ahead 0-2. But his 0-2 slider missed so badly that it not only nearly hit Stott in the foot, but skipped to the backstop for a wild pitch that allowed Bohm to go to third and Rojas to second.

Alcantara then went back to the same pitch with a similar result, nearly hitting Stott’s foot to even the count. When Alcantara tried to fire a 96.5 mph fastball on the inside corner, Stott lifted it to center field for a sacrifice fly.

Alcantara vs. Harper (bottom 2nd)
Situation: runner on third, one out

For the second time in as many at-bats, Alcantara started Harper with a pair of strikes. Perhaps trying to avoid the outcome from the first inning when Alcantara challenged Harper one too many times, the southpaw tried to bury a changeup below the zone -- but it bounced in front of the plate for another wild pitch, allowing Rojas to score.

“Trying to be too perfect out there,” Alcantara said. “At the end of the day, I don't feel happy about the job I've been doing the past couple starts.

“It's time for me to get back on Sandy mode and get out there every fifth day and just do what I know how to do.”