Even with Major League Baseball’s new rule changes for 2023, the home run is often still king. The Phillies showed just that on Friday night, with the long ball lifting Philadelphia to a series-opening victory in Oakland.
The Phillies lineup made a mark from the first pitch as Kyle Schwarber, J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm all homered in a 6-1 win over the Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum. Meanwhile, starter Taijuan Walker prevented nearly all damage from the A’s.
The right-hander was effective for Philadelphia (36-34), tossing eight innings of one-run baseball to earn the win, the team’s fourth straight, in the first of a three-game interleague set against Oakland (19-53).
Schwarber continued his annual red-hot June in the top of the first, jumping on the first pitch of the game from A’s starter JP Sears and putting it just out of play over the right-center fence. His leadoff shot was his 19th homer of the year, which put the Phillies up 1-0 right away.
Realmuto, who has been hot in his own right, then kept it rolling in the second as he launched a solo home run to left-center to extend the Phillies lead to two.
Two innings later, Bohm made his impact at the plate. He turned on an inside fastball with two outs and hit a two-run moonshot over the left-field wall to give the Phillies some cushion.
On the mound for the Phillies, Walker was efficient as he scattered seven hits over eight frames on exactly 100 pitches. The righty allowed one run on an RBI single from Esteury Ruiz in the third while striking out eight A’s hitters. Walker escaped further trouble late in the game with the help of his defense as Cristian Pache made a spectacular diving catch in center field in the seventh and Edmundo Sosa made an impressive sliding play at third base in the eighth.
The Phillies tacked on in the top of the ninth as Nick Castellanos scored on an errant pickoff throw and Bohm added an RBI single to make it a 6-1 game. With a comfortable five-run lead, Andrew Vasquez entered to pitch the ninth for Philadelphia and threw a perfect inning to complete the win.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Realmuto now has four home runs and a 1.046 OPS in June.
- Walker’s eight-inning outing was his longest as a Phillie.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Saturday, June 17 vs. Oakland Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum
- 4:07 p.m. Eastern
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94WIP
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