Vierling almost pulls off game-saving throw in hometown

ST. LOUIS -- Matt Vierling almost had him.

Tommy Edman hit a fly ball to center field with the bases loaded and one out in the eighth inning Sunday afternoon in the Phillies’ 4-3 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Vierling caught the ball and fired a 93.4 mph fastball to home plate, but Dylan Carlson just beat the tag from catcher J.T. Realmuto to score the game-winning run.

Home-plate umpire Todd Tichenor ruled Carlson out, but a replay review overturned the call.

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It sent the Phillies to their first loss in the series.

“I really wanted that one,” Vierling said.

Vierling grew up in St. Louis, and he had maybe 30 family and friends in the ballpark. There seemed to be other Vierling supporters scattered elsewhere. It would have been something to make a game-saving throw to the plate in front of his hometown fans, especially after he hit a two-out single to center to score a tiebreaking run in the fourth.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Vierling said. “Man, yeah, it’s a hard one.”

Vierling will have more opportunities to make plays like that in the future. Phillies interim manager Rob Thomson said before the game that Vierling has earned more playing time. Most of it could come in center, although Vierling has shown his versatility around the field. He has started seven times (three in center, two at third, one at second and one in left) in the past 10 games.

“Vierling is swinging the bat so well,” Thomson said. “He’s earned playing time. I think that’s where we’re at with that situation, for sure. He made a couple good catches [Saturday]. His on-base and his slug the last two weeks, month, have just been really good. So, he’s earned it.”

Back in March, before the Phillies signed Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski addressed the organization’s situation in the outfield. He said the Phils needed somebody to play left field, but that he felt they already had somebody they could trust in center.

“We do like Matt Vierling as being part of our group of players for us,” Dombrowski said.

Vierling struggled out of the gate and was optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on May 11. Thomson recently had been rotating Vierling, Odúbel Herrera and Mickey Moniak in center. But Vierling is batting .288 with three home runs, eight RBIs and an .833 OPS in 77 plate appearances since the Phillies recalled him from Triple-A on June 7. Meanwhile, Herrera is batting .146 with a .342 OPS in 51 plate appearances since June 16, and Moniak is batting .140 with a .358 OPS in 47 plate appearances this season.

“I’ve been happy with it,” Vierling said about his turnaround. “I’ve made some adjustments, and they’ve been working. Yeah, he told me I’d be getting a little more playing time. I want to take advantage of it and just keep doing what I’m doing.”

Defensively, Vierling stacks up against Herrera and Moniak. Defensive metrics are often debated, but FanGraphs has Vierling, Herrera and Moniak each at -2 Defensive Runs Saved in center, while Statcast has Herrera at +3 Outs Above Average, compared to Moniak at +2 and Vierling at 0 in center.

Vierling has the best arm of the three, which was why the play in the eighth was so close.

Statcast has Vierling’s “max-effort” arm strength this season (top 10 percent of a player’s throws) at 89.9 mph, while Moniak is at 85.5 mph and Herrera at 84.3 mph.

Vierling needed to make a perfect throw because Seranthony Domínguez suffered a rare stumble. Pitching for the third time in four days, he wasn’t his typical self. He allowed a leadoff single to Albert Pujols, who homered in the sixth. He allowed another single to Edmundo Sosa before he walked Paul Goldschmidt on four pitches. It was Dominguez's first walk since May 21.

“We’ve been grinding on him a little bit,” Thomson said about Domínguez. “His location was off a little bit.”

Edman followed with the fly ball to Vierling.