The Philadelphia Phillies took game one out in San Diego vs the Padres last night as the bullpen held on late to secure a 9-7 victory. 

Last night looked like the Phillies were on cruise control to start the game. As predicted in my series preview, the Phillies’ right-handed bats were able to jump all over Padres’ pitcher Rich Hill, tagging him for seven hits and six earned runs in just 1.1 innings pitched. 

Alec Bohm handed the Phillies a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning after roping a double to left field, scoring Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper. 

Alec Bohm 3-RBI Double in the 1st

The Padres would answer back in the bottom half of the inning thanks to a solo home run from Fernando Tatis Jr. From there, the Phillies managed to score five runs in the second and third inning to jump out to a commanding 8-1 lead.

Edmundo Sosa Solo Home Run 

Trea Turner 2-Run Home Run 

Heat Check: Trea Turner now has a 15-game hitting streak. He’s homered seven times over the past seven games (6 out of the last 7) while batting .406 with 16 RBI in that span.

Kyle Schwarber crushed his 40th home run of the season in the top of the fifth inning to give the Phillies a 9-4 lead. Schwarber, who eclipsed the 40-home run mark last season with the Phillies has done it again, marking the 15th time in franchise history a player hit over 40 home runs.

Kyle Schwarber HR No. 40

Phillies Bullpen 

With a 9-4 lead and Taijuan Walker done for the night after pitching five innings, allowing four earned runs and three walks while striking out three, the Phillies handed the ball over to their bullpen. 

To recap, the bullpen for the Phillies has been anything but reliable over their last few outings. 

• Wednesday: Blew on 1-run lead to Angels 
• Friday: Blew 2-run lead to Brewers 

Last night, Andrew Bellatti was the first out of the pen and lasted just 0.2 innings, coughing up three hits and an earned run before Gregory Soto entered the game to bail him out. Soto immediately coughed up two more earned runs to cut the Padres’ deficit to just two. 

Hoffman and Kimbrel both worked themselves in and out of trouble to combine to throw 1.2 scoreless innings before Jose Alvarado entered the game to close it out in the ninth. 

Alvarado immediately ran into trouble and walked two Padres batters. In his typical “bend not break” type of outing, with 2 outs and runners on the corners, Alvarado struck out Ha-Seong Kim on a 3-2 count to close out the ball game. 

Obviously, last night was much closer than it should have been but for the Phillies to hold on and win a tough game on the road, while boosting the confidence of their bullpen, we’ll certainly take it. 

Phillies Hunt for Red October 

With 25 games left in the regular season, the Phillies hold a 2.5 game lead over the Chicago Cubs for the top spot in the NL Wild Card. They hold a 5.5 game lead over the D-Backs and Reds. 

Phillies After Dark: Michael Lorenzen (8-8, 3.73 ERA) will face Pedro Avila (2.67 ERA) tonight at 9:40PM.

Games remaining: at SD (2), vs. MIA (3), vs. ATL (4), at STL (3), at ATL (3), vs. NYM (4), vs. PIT (3), at NYM (3)

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