PHILADELPHIA — The day after bringing a full house to its feet Tuesday night amid what would be a 4-1 Game 1 win over the Miami Marlins, Phillies reliever Jose Alvarado took a minute to express his desire for a full house of a different sort.
Called upon to finish up a seventh inning in which the Marlins finally had gotten starter Zack Wheeler in trouble, Alvarado came in with two runners on and two outs to protect a 3-1 Phillies lead. Before long, Alvarado would wild pitch both into scoring position. But he reared back and got Marlins first baseman Yuli Gurriel swinging for a third out in the seventh inning.
Alvarado would also get two more outs in the eighth before giving way to the next bullpen man, Jeff Hoffman. In total, it was another impressive outing for the hard-throwing lefthander who always happily rises to the challenge. He’s also become a fan favorite with the way he celebrates a big out on the mound, leading to “Jose, Jose-Jose-Jose” chants from the crowd.
“Every time I watch my reaction after a strikeout, I say to myself, like, ‘I need to stop this movement,’” Alvarado said, “because sometimes I do like a crazy movement, and the next day I feel like my body is a little sore.”
But Alvarado’s emotional energy can switch quickly, too, as it did in this pre-Game 2 interview.
“Last night after the game, I go home, like my mom is calling me, talking a lot and crying because she missed last year, the World Series, and this year I try to bring my mom to the United States, and the United States say I can’t give the visa to your mom,” Alvarado said. “It’s like, so hard for me. I control this moment because nobody here knows my situation right now with my family. … I’ve got my mom in Venezuela, my younger sister, and my two kids.”
Alvarado indicated he’s at a loss for what to do next in trying to bring his remaining family members north. His father and brother are here.
“I tried so hard,” he said.
People are fleeing Venezuela, of course, adding to the migrant flow going north to Mexico and the United States. The U.S. and Venezuela aren’t exactly on good diplomatic terms, with the U.S. embassy there essentially shuttered for the past four years, adding to the Alvarado family woes.
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Bryce Harper was back at first and Alec Bohm at third base Wednesday, which defensively suits the Phillies just fine, thank you.
Since Harper started playing more first base, and young outfielders Johan Rojas and Cristian Pache are earning more time in the outfield, the Phillies’ defense has been on a collective upswing. Bohm showed that with a few sharp plays early Wednesday night, and also making a sweet tag on Miami’s Jon Berti, who left a dash early in an attempted steal of third, allowing Aaron Nola to turn and throw to the charging Bohm just in time to beat Berti to the bag.
“We work,” Bohm said simply. “You see guys out early every day. There’s not many days where we miss going and getting our work in.
“Usually we work as a group, and I feel like that’s just kind of brought us together as a group of infielders, group of outfielders, whatever it may be. I think there’s a lot of pride in defense here.”
Source: Berkshire mont