Rhys Hoskins does not miss fastballs. He entered Tuesday night a .301 hitter with a prodigious .771 slugging percentage against fastballs. He stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the seventh inning of a tie game and opposed a pitcher, Pedro Baez, who could not throw anything but his fastball.
So, for nine pitches in an eventual 6-2 Phillies win over the Dodgers, they wrestled. Baez fired 98-mph heaters. Hoskins, blessed with quick hands, fouled four of them. Their confrontation was ridiculous. Baez, on the 10th pitch, threw Hoskins a 97-mph fastball in the zone. Hoskins clobbered it to the wall in left-center field.