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Stott has been mired in a prolonged slump with a .540 over his last 20 games entering play Friday. The homer was just his second since May 19th as he hopes to finally break out.
What else is there to say about Clase? Even through some hard contact in this one he kept two of the three batted balls he allowed on the ground and got through an innocuous, two-out single from Bryson Stott. He's allowed just one run across his last 16 appearances and is firmly the best closer in fantasy baseball.
The last three times the Phillies have faced a lefty, it's been Edmundo Sosa and not Bryson Stott at second base. Has it become a platoon? Manager Rob Thomson discussed.
Cruz was everywhere in this one. He started the party with a jaw-dropping 120.5 MPH double in the first inning. It wasn't even a bad pitch, Cruz just used his long arms to go down and turn around a changeup right over the center fielders head. Cruz has the only other batted ball this season hit harder than 120 MPH.Fast forward to the ninth inning where he smoked a chopper 103.0 MPH that forced a bad throw from Bryson Stott and allowed the tying run to score. Regular players don't hit choppers that hard and Cruz's otherworldly power forced an awkward play that put the Pirates in position to win this game. There isn't another player in baseball like him.
Even coming out of the All-Star break with four consecutive days off, Stott finds himself situated on the bench on Friday night with left-hander Martin Perez toeing the slab for the Pirates. Edmundo Sosa will start in his place at second base and will bat sixth for the Phillies on Friday evening.