After a sloppy night of baseball on Friday, the Phillies rebounded nicely on Saturday.
Things were relatively quiet in the first couple of innings. One thing was noticeably different, the Phillies looked crisp on defense. A 4-6-3 double play in the 1st inning helped Tyler Phillips rebound from a Steve Kwan leadoff single.
After another leadoff hit in the 2nd, Phillies 1st baseman Bryce Harper recorded an unassisted double play after laying out catch a liner down the rightfield line.
In the 3rd, Steven Kwan sent a ball to deep centerfield that would’ve been a homer in 11 ballparks. Brandon Marsh tracked it down for the out.
In the 3rd inning, rumors emerged that Carlos Estévez was now a Phillie. Those rumors were quickly confirmed and the Phillies had another arm in the bullpen.
Phillies Wake Up
The defense switched to offense in the 4th inning in a huge way. Trea Turner led off the inning with a single. Bryce Harper hit his 24th homer of the year to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. It was his 100th homer at Citizen Bank Park and he became just the 13th player in history to have 100+ homers in 2 different stadiums.
Alec Bohm walked. After a JT Realmuto fielder’s choice, Brandon Marsh hit a 2-run shot of his own to make it 4-0 Phillies. Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott singled and after an Austin Hays FC (and stolen base) Kyle Schwarber made it 7-0 with a 3-run homer.
The only other run of the game came in the bottom of the 6th inning. Castellanos led off with a homer to make it 8-0.
While the offense was finally clicking, rookie Tyler Phillips kept posting 0s throughout the game. He allowed just 4 hits and a walk before returning for the 9th inning.
He started the 9th with a strikeout of catcher Austin Hedges. He quickly put Tyler Freeman in a 0-2 hole, leading to another strikeout. Just Angel Martinez was left in the way of the rookie’s first shutout. On a 2-2 count, he induced a weak fly ball to Austin Hays. It was a shutout against the best team in the American League. The stadium went thunderbolt levels of electric. Phillips pounded his glove in celebration.
“You’re a rookie and you’re going in the 9th inning with a chance to have a complete game shut out. That’s nervewracking for some but he was just calm as can be,” said manager Rob Thomson postgame.
