Together for the first time in Phillies’ lineup, Nick Castellanos and Kyle Schwarber homer in 7-1 win over Orioles
The Phillies' $179 million duo each went deep as part of a four-homer output in a spring training win over the Orioles.
CLEARWATER, Fla. — With 11 days until the opener, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos were together in the lineup at the same time Monday.
And, wouldn’t you know it, they both hit home runs.
Just as the Phillies dreamed when they dropped $179 million on the slugging free-agent duo.
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Castellanos got the Phillies started en route to a 7-1 victory over the visiting Orioles by sending a first-pitch cutter from starter Dean Cremer arcing into the left-field bleachers near Frenchy’s tiki bar in the first inning.
Schwarber followed in the third inning by driving a Kremer cutter over the outstretched glove of leaping right fielder Kyle Stowers. It marked Schwarber’s first hit in his 10th at-bat of the spring.
On the mound: April will be a month of attrition for pitchers, so the best staffs figure to be the deepest. That’s where Cristopher Sánchez comes in. The big lefty could enter games behind Zack Wheeler or Ranger Suárez, neither of whom will be stretched out beyond a few innings. Consider it encouraging, then, that Sánchez kept his hard sinker down and gave up one hit and one walk in three scoreless innings.
Who stood out: With all eyes on what has shaped up as a third-base competition, Alec Bohm made two nice plays in the second inning. He charged a chopper by Tyler Nevin and made a strong throw to first, then snared Ryan McKenna’s line drive. Bryson Stott, back at his natural shortstop for the day, picked up two hits (he’s 8-for-15) and leaped to catch Anthony Benboom’s liner in the sixth.
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Etc.: Don’t tell Bryce Harper it’s spring training. He argued a called third strike by plate umpire Ramon DeJesus in the fifth inning. ... Mickey Moniak, in the mix to be the lefty-hitting side of a center-field platoon, hit a one-hop double off the right-field wall and has a hit in six consecutive games. … Closer Corey Knebel threw a scoreless inning, hiking his total to three innings without allowing a run this spring. ... Brad Hand and Jeurys Familia also pitched scoreless innings.
Quotable: “The most important thing for this team is securing the baseball. Plays we need to make, we need to make. However you make ‘em, too. You can fall down and catch pop-ups. I don’t care. Just catch ‘em. They count.” — manager Joe Girardi on the Phillies’ defense
Up next: Opening day starter Aaron Nola will get another tune-up at 1:05 p.m. Tuesday against the Yankees in Tampa. The game will be streamed live on MLB.com.