Irvin’s strong debut leads Phillies past Royals

The Philadelphia Phillies (23-16) closed out their series with the Kansas City Royals (14-27) on Sunday  in the form of a 6-1 victory. After watching Zach Eflin pitch a gem on Saturday night, the Phils got another strong performance from their starting pitcher. Southpaw Cole Irvin made his Major League debut to the tune of seven innings of one-run ball.

Believe it or not, Cole Irvin isn’t the only left-hander to debut for the team on May 12. Heck, he isn’t even the only Cole to debut for the Phillies. Crazy, right? Phillies Nation’s own Tim Kelly pointed out prior to the game that 16 years ago today, another left-handed Cole made his big league debut. Cole Hamels. Remember him?

On this day in 2006, Cole Hamels pitched five shutout innings in his major league debut against the Reds. Four plus years later, he would pitch a complete game at Great American Ballpark, allowing the Phillies to sweep the Reds in the 2010 NLDS.

(Joe Robbins/Getty) pic.twitter.com/5PFqunS7o1

— Tim Kelly (@TimKellySports) May 12, 2019

Phillies starting pitching as a whole has looked really good lately. Irvin just pitched a great debut, Zach Eflin has hurled two straight complete games, Jerad Eickhoff has a 1.80 ERA on the season and Aaron Nola looks to be figuring things out after a shaky start to 2019.

Anyway, to the game…

Kansas City got on the board first in the bottom of the third inning. Cam Gallagher drew a walk and Billy Hamilton followed with a single. Two outs later, Alex Gordon knocked an RBI-single to left field to make it 1-0.

The Royals’ lead would not last too long as the Phillies would pull ahead in the fifth. Nick Williams reached on an error with one down and Andrew McCutchen walked. Jean Segura plated Williams with a single up the middle, tying things at 1-1. Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins drew back-to-back walks, scoring a run in the process.

That was all for Royals starter Jakob Junis, but the pitching change didn’t help. J.T. Realmuto lined a double to to right, driving in two runs to make it a 4-1 lead. The very next hitter, Odubel Herrera, hit a two-run single to extend the lead to five.

… Aaaand, @odubelherrera1 singles two more home!

We're up 6-1! pic.twitter.com/RG72m4n03f

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 12, 2019

Seranthony Dominguez struck out two in a scoreless eighth inning before Juan Nicasio finished things up without allowing a run in the ninth.

Shibe Vintage Sports Starting Pitching Performance

On this day in 2006, lefty Cole Hamels debuted. May 12, 2019 looked equally as successful, if not more, for 25-year-old Cole Irvin. Summoned from Triple-A following Vince Velasquez being placed on the 10-day injured list, Irvin had about as good a debut as he could have. In seven innings, the left-hander surrendered just one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked one hitter. This performance should definitely earn him a few more looks in the rotation, even when Velasquez is ready to return. Irvin threw 93 pitches, 64 for strikes.

Cole Irvin's @MLB debut couldn't have gone much better …

The @Phillies' No. 16 prospect allowed just one run over seven frames while leading the #Phillies to a 6-1 victory over Kansas City.

More: https://t.co/3HXS2qhRzf pic.twitter.com/3EIxpNSaZi

— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) May 12, 2019

Meanwhile, Royals starter Jakob Junis held the Phillies scoreless through four, but surrendered five runs in the fifth. He’s now allowed five runs in four of his last six starts.

Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game: Cole Irvin

It’s really difficult to pick anyone else other than Irvin as our Phillies Nuggets Player of the Game. His seven-inning, one run performance was fun to watch as he mixed speeds and showed of some nice command of the strike zone.

In addition to Irvin, Odubel Herrera had his second-straight multi-hit game. Both Herrera and J.T. Realmuto drove in two runs for the Phillies.

Next Game

• Monday, May 13 vs. Milwaukee Brewers at Citizens Bank Park
• 7:05 p.m.
• NBC Sports Philadelphia 
• SportsRadio 94 WIP