Phillies Mash Five Homers, Blank Angels 10-0 in Series Opener
The Phillies offense mashed five home runs on the way to beating the Angels 10-0 in the first game following the firing of manager Joe Girardi.
Phillies (23-29) Beat Angels (27-26)
- Winning Pitcher: Zach Eflin (2-4, 3.88)
- Losing Pitcher: Chase Silseth (1-2, 4.96)
- Save: n/a
Joe Girardi was probably sitting on his sofa tonight, wondering where in the hell this Phillies offense was all season. The Phillies scored double digit runs for the 4th time this season, bolstered by a pair of 3-run home runs from Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott, who hit his first of his career in the 2nd inning.
Kyle Schwarber led off the game with a solo shot in the 1st inning and the Phillies never looked back. Schwarber and Bryce Harper both hit a pair of home runs as the Phils exploded for ten runs on ten hits in interim manager Rob Thomson’s debut.
Nick Maton added an RBI triple in the 5th inning, after a bloop single managed to slip past a diving Taylor Ward. Maton has looked solid in his two games since being called up to replace an injured Jean Segura. However, not everything was great tonight as he injured his right shoulder while making a beautiful diving catch to retire Mike Trout in shallow center field. Maton will be evaluated tomorrow on what is being described by the Phillies as a shoulder sprain.
Zach Eflin was fantastic tonight, picking up just his second win of the season after tossing eight strong innings, while allowing no runs on five hits. Eflin tossed 69 of his 104 pitches for strikes on the way to sending the Angels to their ninth straight loss. Eflin also became the first pitcher to strike out Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout on six consecutive pitches since the two joined forces in 2018.
Before the game Phillies General Manager Dave Dombrowski joined Tom McCarthy on the broadcast to explain the decision to relieve Joe Girardi of his duties and name Rob Thomson interim manager. Dombrowski backed his decision, stating that the Phillies needed a different voice in the clubhouse and that he believes it is still early enough in the season for the club to turn things around and potentially earn a wild card berth.
Dombrowski also believes that this team will hit better and has appeared ‘tight’ at times this season. Dave may very well be right in his evaluation of his team, but has he looked at the names in the bullpen or actually watched them pitch?
Personally, I was 100% behind the firing of Girardi. I believe that he had lost the ear of his team and that the guys in the club house were no longer playing hard for him on a daily basis. Girardi’s in-game decision making also was suspect this season and his post-game defense of those actions left much to be desired by fans and the media. It was clear that Joe was no longer the person that was going to squeeze the best out of a team with a ton of potential, but also one with a litany of flaws.
I remain skeptical that any manager will be able to lift the bullpen and suspect defense enough to propel this team into the postseason for the first time in over a decade. But allowing Girardi to continue would have been essentially punting on the rest of the season. There is no way that Phillies manager and lizard king, John Middleton has been happy with the product on the field and the dwindling number of fans willing to shell out money to watch it.
Only time will tell whether this move is something that will change the course of the season for the 2022 Philadelphia Phillies.
Although 10 runs and a second straight win is not a bad place to start.
Kyle Schwarber knocks a lead off solo home run putting the Phillies on the board early.
1-0 Phils
Bryson Stott rips a three run home run for the first in his major league career. Congratulations Bryson!
4-0 Phils
Bryce Harper hits the second 3-run home run of the night for the Phils, putting the game into blowout territory.
7-0 Phils
Taylor Ward can’t make the catch in right field allowing the ball to roll all the way to the wall and Nick Maton to stroll into third with an RBI triple.
8-0 Phils
Kyle Schwarber knocks in his second home run of the game in the 6th inning.
9-0 Phils
Bryce Harper rips his second home run of the night and the season-high 5th of the night for the Phillies.
10-0 Phils
Odubel Herrera robs Mike Trout with a diving grab in left field.
Up Next
The Phillies host the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night for the second of a three-game set at Citizens Bank Park.
TBD (0-0, 0.00) will toe the rubber facing off against Michael Lorenzen (5-2, 3.19), with the first pitch scheduled for 7:15 pm.
NBC Sports Philadelphia will have the broadcast of the game.
Mandatory Image Credit: Philadelphia Phillies
