After dropping two in a row to the Marlins, the Philadelphia Phillies bats exploded Saturday night in Miami.
The Phillies set the tone in the top of the first inning Saturday. After a J.T. Realmuto strikeout, Rhys Hoskins and Bryce Harper walked, before a Nick Castellanos single loaded the bases. Alec Bohm then knocked Hoskins in via a sacrifice fly, the first of two on the night.
The Phillies added a second run in unconventional fashion, with Castellanos staying alive on the basepaths long enough to not only score Harper, but return to first base safely:
After a 40-pitch first inning, the Phillies chased Trevor Rogers in the second inning, batting around and scoring six runs.
Didi Gregorius started the inning with a double, which was followed by a Matt Vierling RBI double:
Rhys Hoskins then walked, before Harper drove in both him and Vierling on an RBI double:
The onslaught continued with a Castellanos walk, a Bohm RBI single and a Johan Camargo two-run double:
Ranger Suárez cruised for much of the night, with the only blemish during his five innings of work coming in the form of a 428-foot blast by last year’s World Series MVP, Jorge Soler:
The Phillies added on in the top of the sixth inning as a Castellanos RBI single drove in Realmuto and another Bohm sac fly made it 10-2.
While Avisaíl García did take Bailey Falter deep for a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Phillies were able to hold on for a 10-3 victory thanks to some excellent work from Seranthony Domínguez and James Norwood in relief of Suárez.
With the win, the Phillies snapped a four-game losing streak. They will look to earn a series split Sunday, while also returning to .500. Zack Wheeler will take the mound for his second start of the year; he went 4 2/3 innings with one earned run and three strikeouts in his first start on April 12 against the Mets.
Starting Pitching Performance
Ranger Suárez: 5.0 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 78 pitches
The lefty had some command issues, but Suárez was able to overcome the three walks he issued (the run support behind him certainly didn’t hurt). Suárez is presumably still ramping up as he had an even shorter spring than everyone else. Will Suárez repeat his heroic effort last year? Probably not. But can he be a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation starter for the Phillies? That feels entirely possible.
Trevor Rogers: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 3 K, 63 pitches
Rogers was chased from the game in the second inning — the shortest start of his career to date. He got his 200th career strikeout early on, but it was certainly an underwhelming performance for the 24-year-old. Rogers was the National League Rookie of the Year runner-up last year and he has a bright future, but the Phillies bats thoroughly demolished him tonight.
Phillies Nugget of the Game
The Phillies had scored five runs in the last 20 innings before Saturday — they scored six in the second inning alone tonight.
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