Wilson Ramos made a big impact in his first game with the Phillies.
Make that a huge impact.
Ramos, acquired in a trade deadline deal two weeks ago and activated from the disabled list on Wednesday afternoon, had a career-high three extra-base hits to help the Phillies come from three runs down to beat the Boston Red Sox, 7-4, at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night.
Ramos had two doubles and a triple on his way to three RBIs.
Ramos started a game-tying, three-run rally in the fourth inning with an RBI double.
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Two innings later, he led off with a triple – just the second of his career and first since 2011 – and scored the go-ahead run on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Scott Kingery.
In the seventh, Ramos drove in two more runs with his second double of the game. The Phils sent eight men to the plate in that inning and scored three runs.
The Phillies' bullpen was outstanding with 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball.
Over the course of two weeks, the Phillies played the Red Sox four times. The Phils won two and lost two, a more than respectable showing against baseball's best team.
In those four games, Phillies pitching allowed just eight runs.
The Phillies, who entered the day two games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East, are 66-53. They have matched their wins total from last season with 43 games remaining.
Vince Velasquez struggled for the second straight outing. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings and gave up three runs, all of which came in the third inning.
Velasquez's wounds in the third inning were largely self-inflicted. He issued a one-out walk to the pitcher then hit Andrew Benintendi with an 0-2 pitch before the Red Sox loaded the bases on an infield hit by Brock Holt. That brought Mitch Moreland to the plate and he unloaded on a 1-1 fastball, sending a line drive to the wall in left-center to clear the bases. The ball got by centerfielder Odubel Herrera, who may have saved a run if he could have cut off the ball.
After Moreland's hit, Velasquez walked the next two batters to re-load the bases. Hector Neris came on and got two outs to stop the damage.
Neris' work in his first action since returning from Triple A was important because it kept the game close and the Phillies were able to tie it with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Rhys Hoskins reached base on an error to start the rally. Nick Williams singled and Ramos launched an RBI double off the right-field wall for a run. Herrera drove home the second run with a ground ball to first and Carlos Santana tied it with a pinch-hit single to right.
Santana did not start as manager Gabe Kapler went with Justin Bour at first base (see story). Santana essentially filled Bour's pinch-hitting role and came through with his 67th RBI.
Bour made a big contribution on defense to stop a Boston threat in the top of the sixth. The Sox had runners on first and second with two outs in a tie game. Reliever Tommy Hunter got pinch-hitter Steve Pearce to hit a ground ball to the right side. The ball had a chance to get through the hole because Cesar Hernandez was shifted toward second base. Hernandez was able to halt the ball and make an off-balance throw to Bour at first. Initially, it looked like Bour was not able to hold the bag as he stretched for the throw. But replays showed he did hold the bag for the third out and that prevented the go-ahead run from scoring.
In the bottom of the inning, the Phillies rallied to break the tie on a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Kingery. Ramos scored on the play after opening the frame with a triple.
Wilson Ramos used to torture us when he was w the Nationals! It's nice to see him doing it for us! New additions are looking good in red pinstripes @Phillies— Jimmy Rollins (@JimmyRollins11) August 16, 2018