“If you don’t think we’re gonna slug, you ain’t watching the games,” Rob Thomson said to wise guy radio host Howard Eskin as the Phillies offense was in the midst of a cold stretch in mid-April.
Two weeks later, in a west coast game that dragged on beyond Eskin’s bedtime, the Phillies slugged.
The offense recorded seven extra-base hits in the first three innings as part of a 9-3 victory over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Kyle Schwarber began the game with his fourth leadoff home run of the season. Bryce Harper homered a half inning after a relatively scary play on the bases and Brandon Marsh and Nick Castellanos went back-to-back. J.T. Realmuto later hit a two-run home run into the Western Metal Supply Co. building in left field to make it 9-1 in the seventh.
As the Phillies bats piled on against struggling starter Joe Musgrove, Aaron Nola cruised through eight innings for the second straight outing. He struck out 10 Padres batters and earned his fourth win of the season. Nola’s ERA on the season is at 3.20.
Highlights
Schwarber began the game with his 100th career home run as a Phillie.
Harper crushed a hanger from Musgrove for a solo home run.
Marsh’s hot start to the season continued. His two-run home run to right field gave the Phillies a 5-0 lead.
Here’s Castellanos’s first home run since Game 1 of the 2023 NLCS.
Marsh jumped up the short wall in left field and robbed Jake Cronenworth of a home run in the bottom of the sixth.
Realmuto crushed the Phillies’ fifth home run of the night in the seventh.
Plenty of Phillies fans were in attendance in San Diego judging by the E-A-G-L-E-S chants.
Notes
Harper was involved in a scary play on the first base line with the Padres’ Jurickson Profar in the second inning. Nola fielded a ground ball in front of the plate. The throw was to Harper’s left and Profar collided with Harper’s left wrist. Both Harper and Profar were shaken up after the play.
Nola’s outing marks the third time this season a Phillies starter has pitched at least eight innings. Only seven teams, the Giants, Padres, Red Sox, Dodgers, Braves, Yankees and Astros have had a starter go at least eight innings once.
Bohm’s first-inning double extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Thomson earned the win in his 300th game as Phillies manager. Per the Phillies PR staff, Thomson has the most wins among Phillies managers in their first 300 games with the club since Pat Moran in 1915-16. Thomson’s record as Phillies manager is 172-128.
A lifelong native of Philadelphia, Destiny has been a contributor for Phillies Nation since January 2019 and was named Deputy Editorial Director in May 2020.