ReportWire

Tag: Phillies Game Story

  • Scorching Phillies slash NL East magic number to 1 with comeback win 

    [ad_1]

    The scorching Phillies are on the verge of cementing the 2025 NL East crown.

    The Phils won their sixth straight game in comeback fashion Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park, earning an 8-6 victory over the Royals. 

    Their NL East magic number sits at one ahead of Sunday afternoon’s series finale. The Mets remained in a dramatic free fall Saturday, blowing a 2-0 eighth-inning lead to the Rangers and losing an eighth consecutive game. 

    Taijuan Walker tallied the win for the Phillies. He threw five innings, allowed seven hits and four runs, struck out three and walked one. 

    Walker looked on his way to a much cleaner start than his four-run first inning last time out against the Marlins, but the first inning’s final out was a struggle. 

    Vinnie Pasquantino doubled with two outs. A Maikel Garcia liner zoomed past Bryson Stott’s dive and into left-center field. Salvador Perez lifted a high full-count cutter 398 feet. All told, Walker wound up conceding three runs and five hits in the first. 

    The Phillies took no time to trim their deficit against Royals righty Ryan Bergert. Brandon Marsh delivered a two-out, two-RBI double to left in the bottom of the first. Over his past seven games, Marsh has eight extra-base hits and eight RBIs. 

    Perez did it again in the third inning. He ripped an 0-2 Walker splitter for his 300th career homer. 

    The Phils pulled to within 4-3 in their half of the third. Harrison Bader led off with a single to post a sixth consecutive game with multiple hits. He’s 15 for 29 over that stretch. After Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto walked, Bader sprinted home on J.T. Realmuto’s sacrifice fly. 

    The Royals brought in lefty reliever Angel Zerpa to begin the fifth inning and Schwarber clubbed his third pitch over the right-field fence. He’s at 51 home runs with 13 games to go. 

    Bryce Harper then walked, Realmuto reached on an infield single, and Marsh chopped a grounder to second that advanced both runners into scoring position. Nick Castellanos pinch-hit for Max Kepler and came through, hitting a fly ball to center that was easily deep enough to score Harper and put the Phils on top. Otto Kemp — yet another Phillie on a hot streak — followed by nailing an RBI double off of the left-field wall. 

    Walker gave the Phillies scoreless fourth and fifth innings. Tanner Banks was flawless in the sixth and Schwarber provided an insurance run in the bottom of the frame with an RBI single.

    Kansas City got a run back against Matt Strahm in the seventh … and Marsh replied by clobbering a leadoff homer. As a team, the Phils have 42 runs and 64 hits across the last five games.

    The Royals stayed in the contest and scored on David Robertson in the eighth, but Jhoan Duran locked down his 14th save in 15 opportunities as a Phillie.

    While there’s bigger games on the horizon, the 89-60 Phillies’ performances of late haven’t lacked focus whatsoever.

    “We’ve got goals beyond just getting in or winning the division,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said pregame. “So we’ve just got to keep going, keep winning series. Including this one, we’ve got five series left. And that’s the goal, to win every series.”

    [ad_2]

    Noah Levick

    Source link

  • More early offense and another great start in Phillies’ 6th straight win

    More early offense and another great start in Phillies’ 6th straight win

    [ad_1]

    The White Sox took their one and only lead of the weekend three batters into Sunday’s series finale when Eloy Jimenez hit a high 92 mph fastball from Aaron Nola over the wall in left-center for a two-run homer.

    Within 20 minutes, the Phillies were back in front, where they remained in an 8-2 win that finished off an 8-2 homestand.

    The Phils’ first-inning response began with Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner working walks against rookie Nick Nastrini. Bryce Harper singled in a run, then was caught in a rundown between first and second as J.T. Realmuto struck out. The White Sox stink in every phase of the game, including defense, so it worked out for the Phillies. Turner broke for the plate and second baseman Lenyn Sosa made an errant throw, allowing a run to score and for Harper to reach second, eventually scoring on Brandon Marsh’s RBI knock.

    The Phillies have scored multiple runs in the first inning of four of their last five games, 12 in total. It was against the White Sox and Rockies, the two worst teams in baseball, but that doesn’t mean these go down as half-wins. They all count the same.

    The Phils are 14-8 after six consecutive wins.

    “You go into a series and you’re playing a team that hasn’t been playing well, I get a little fearful how you’re going to respond, and our guys responded really well,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Just got to keep it going.”

    Schwarber walked three times, hit a solo home run and a sacrifice fly.

    Turner kept alive a 10-game hitting streak during which he’s gone 18-for-43 (.419).

    Harper drove in two runs.

    Alec Bohm, who had two more hits with runners in scoring position, is batting .355 with RISP since the start of last season.

    Realmuto, Brandon Marsh and Johan Rojas each singled and stole a base. The only Phillie without a hit was Nick Castellanos, who was instrumental on Saturday night with three.

    The offense will look to keep it going over the next four games at Great American Ballpark, the most hitter-friendly stadium in baseball outside of Coors Field.

    Nola cruised after Jimenez’ first-inning bomb. He scattered just two hits and a walk the rest of the way, going eight hyper-efficient innings on just 91 pitches.

    The Phillies’ rotation excellence this week has allowed them to rest a bullpen that was worked hard the first two weeks. Nola allowed three runs on eight hits over 15⅓ innings this week, and those were the Phillies’ worst two starts.

    “It’s been cool, it’s been really fun to watch,” he said. “I love watching our guys, they’re studs and they’re nasty, too. I love watching them go deep into games. We just know how important it is to save the bullpen for later on. It’s a long season, not every series is going to be like the last two, but we’re feeling good right now and it’s fun to watch those guys.”

    Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez have pitched once in six days, Gregory Soto once in seven days, Orion Kerkering once in eight days and Matt Strahm once in nine days. Jose Alvarado appeared three times in the last nine days but two of those outings lasted one and two pitches.

    “You don’t want to have them taxed, but you see (Yunior) Marte today, he was a little bit rusty,” Thomson said. “And the last couple of days when our guys have had three, four days off, five days off for (Ricardo) Pinto, they can get a little rusty. Although you love the starting pitching, there’s a little bit of an effect on the bullpen.”

    Ranger Suarez is on the mound Monday night for the series opener in Cincinnati with an extra day of rest after his second career shutout last Tuesday.

    [ad_2]

    Corey Seidman

    Source link