Rhys Hoskins swung at a fastball Monday night, skying it out of play behind home plate and extending another at-bat. It was the 48th pitch thrown by Yankees righthander Luis Cessa. And it was just the second inning.
The Phillies began their 3-0 win by exhausting Cessa with the grind-it-out approach that the lineup seemed to shy away from after mastering it earlier in the season. The Phillies’ logic is simple: they believe that the longer an at-bat wages, the better the chances are that the batter will see a mistake.
Cessa’s 49th pitch came after Hoskins stepped back to the plate.