Rare Friday off-day comes at perfect time for taxed Phillies 'pen

PHILADELPHIA -- It is a rarity for a baseball team not to play on Friday, but this Friday’s off-day -- courtesy of Kansas City hosting a World Cup game that night -- comes at a good time for the Phillies.

It allows Don Mattingly to rest his bullpen before the club's series against the Royals begins on Saturday.

The entire team could use a break following Thursday’s 6-1 loss to the Pirates. It was 98 degrees at first pitch, making it the hottest game at Citizens Bank Park since July 23, 2011, when it was 100 degrees in a tilt against the Padres. Phanavision showed 105 degrees in the ninth inning.

“That was definitely one of the hotter days I've felt in this ballpark,” Bryce Harper said.

Kyle Kendrick started that 2011 scorcher for the Phillies. Alan Rangel started this one.

Rangel did not allow a run in four innings. He worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but it pushed him to 90 pitches. He met the Phillies’ expectations. He had pitched five and four innings, respectively, in his first two appearances since replacing Andrew Painter in the rotation.

He’s been fine. But it would be nice to see more starters pitch deeper into games.

“There’s no reason to think that he can't get you through five, get you through six -- that type of thing -- if things are going good that day,” Mattingly said.

But the inability of Aaron Nola and the No. 5 starters (Taijuan Walker, Painter and Rangel) to pitch deep into games has stressed the bullpen. While the 'pen entered Thursday ranked only 19th in MLB with 312 innings pitched, it has thrown 82 innings in 20 games since June 12, the fourth-highest total in baseball.

Tim Mayza (2.95 ERA) allowed a game-tying run in the fifth inning. José Alvarado (6.10 ERA) allowed two runs in the seventh to give Pittsburgh a 3-1 lead. Lou Trivino (14.40 ERA) allowed two more runs in the eighth to make it 5-1. Kyle Backhus (5.93 ERA) allowed a homer in the ninth.

Jhoan Duran, Orion Kerkering, Jonathan Bowlan and Mayza have performed well this season, but they can’t pitch every night. (It’s why Chase Shugart pitched the ninth inning on Monday with the Phillies down only one run.)

Brad Keller (4.15 ERA) was inconsistent before going on the injured list. He is scheduled to make a rehab appearance on Friday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley. He could return next week.

It would be huge for him to return to form.

The rest of the bullpen has been, at best, a mixed bag. Help could come at the Trade Deadline, but the rest of the improvement will need to come internally.

Alvarado’s return to form would be a major boost, considering he entered the season as one of the team’s most trusted high-leverage late-inning relievers.

“It's kind of game to game with Alvie,” Mattingly said. “Big games have been good, gotten his big outs, and in other games, he gives up the hit that obviously hurts. But, in general, I think his stuff is good. This subject came up before, and he's changed his mix a little bit. He’s been pretty effective since then. This may be the first time he's given up a run since we talked about it. So, in general, he's throwing the ball fine.”

The Phillies will need more than fine in the late innings in October, though. They know it.