Tyler Phillips delivers six scoreless innings as the Phillies avoid a Pirates sweep
Six different Phillies' batters recorded RBIs, capped off by a Nick Castellanos solo home run in the ninth.
PITTSBURGH — A few hours before game time on Sunday morning, Tyler Phillips sat by himself in the visitors’ dugout at PNC Park. The past few weeks have been a whirlwind. He has been trying to take it all in.
“I’ve had a lot going on lately,” he said.
That’s an understatement. At this time last month, Phillips was a 26-year-old Phillies minor league pitcher preparing for a start against triple-A Norfolk. On Sunday morning, he was preparing for his second career big league start against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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In his previous two appearances, Phillips had stepped up to the moment, but on Sunday, in a 6-0 Phillies win over the Pirates, he gave them his best performance to date. He didn’t allow a run through six innings. He was efficient, he threw strikes, and he gave the Phillies an opportunity to win on a day when they needed it.
“It was big,” manager Rob Thomson said of Phillips’ outing. “We needed to get back on the winning side, and I think that makes everybody feel good. We’ll have a happy flight, and go into Minnesota and start all over again.”
He allowed only four hits and one walk — his first in the big leagues — keeping Pittsburgh off balance with different speeds and shapes. The contact he did allow was soft. Phillips now has an 2.81 ERA through three appearances, throwing 15 strikeouts to his lone walk, with an 0.88 WHIP.
“I thought he had the game in hand,” Thomson said. “Very low pitch count, still throwing strikes, stuff was good. Good sinker all day. Slider was really good. Not a lot of hard contact. I thought he was in command.”
His velocity has ticked up over his past few outings. He averaged 93.5 on his sinker in that June 21 start for Lehigh Valley. On Sunday, he clocked in at 94.1 mph on his sinker. Thomson said it could be adrenaline, but Phillips has another theory.
“I think it’s a little different, letting the catchers work, steal their strikes when they need to,” he said. “Down in the minor leagues you’re pitching to the auto zone, the challenge system, so you’re having to throw it over the plate a little bit more. Guys haven’t seen me, just got to go out there and throw strikes and trust the preparation that I’ve put in all week.”
The Phillies’ lineup got off to a strong start, stringing together a few hits to score two runs in the second inning, but didn’t score again until the seventh, when they tacked on three insurance runs.
Garrett Stubbs led off the seventh with a walk, and advanced to second when Kyle Schwarber reached on an error. Trea Turner drove Stubbs home with a single, Bryce Harper plated Schwarber with a groundout, and Alec Bohm drove in Turner with asingle to left field.
Yunior Marte, who was recalled Saturday, Pirates to one hit with a strikeout in the bottom of the seventh. José Alvarado pitched the eighth, in a lower-leverage situation than usual, as Thomson said the left-hander would. He bounced back from his blown save on Friday, allowing one hit with two strikeouts.
“Absolutely [encouraged by Alvarado],” Thomson said. “I mean, it was kind of lower-leverage situation and that was as good as I’ve seen him in a while, so it was good.”
Nick Castellanos hit a solo home run in the ninth inning to make it 6-0, and José Ruiz pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to seal Phillips’ second career big league win.
It has not sunk in yet.
“I’m still super happy to be here,” Phillips said. “Just loving every moment, and trying to take it all in, as much as I can.”