A hard hit flyout from Alec Bohm allowed Harper to tag and move to third. Marsh hit a line drive single into right field to score Harper and allow the good guys to take the lead where they would remain for the rest of the afternoon.
After Johan Rojas singled and Kyle Schwarber walked in the fourth inning, Trea Turner continued to display his prowess at the plate with a hit into left field. The throw to home was too slow to catch Rojas, and Schwarber reached third while Turner eased into second. That marked the end of Nastrini’s 83-pitch 3-inning day. Sox’ reliever Tanner Banks came in to face Harper who hit a sacrifice RBI to score Schwarber. Alec Bohm hit a high fly ball to right center where it landed between Robbie Grossman and Kevin Pillar. As Grossman fielded the ball he stumbled along the warning track and fell to the ground allowing Turner to score and Bohm to reach second.
Kyle Schwarber sent the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the sixth into the seats of the second level in right field, his sixth home run of the season.
Bryson Stott singled in the seventh followed by another hit from Rojas to put runners on the corners. Kyle Schwarber hit a sacrifice fly to score Stott. Rojas has 14 hits over the 18 games he has appeared in.
Yunior Marte only gave up a single walk and allowed no hits in the ninth inning to put the win into the books.
The question now is whether the offense and pitching will continue to thrive as they move onto play teams who don’t live in the basement of their division. April began with the Phillies dropping two out of three to the Reds at home, and now they’ll face each other again in a four-game series at Great American Ball Park. The road trip will continue to San Diego and end with a three-game series against the Angels. While none of these teams are lighting the league on fire, the Padres held their own against everyone they’ve played including the Dodgers.
Phanatic’s birthday celebration
In celebration of the Phanatic’s birthday, the good guys donned their batting practice hats which feature the image of the illustrious mascot. Gritty, Swoops, and a variety of MLB mascots were in attendance for the festivities, along with fans sporting Phanatic dangle hats and wearing homemade Phanatic costumes.
Up next
The Phillies travel to Cincinnati on Monday to face off against the Reds for the second time this month. Ranger “Mr. Rager” Suárez (1.73 ERA) is scheduled to take the ball for the Phillies while Hunter Greene (4.35 ERA) should take the mound for the Reds. First pitch is at 6:40 PM.
The Phillies beat the White Sox 8-2 to complete their second consecutive series sweep to improve their record to 14-8 and are now 6 games over .500.
Coming in to today’s game the Phillies starting rotation had not allowed an earned run in 32 innings. On Friday, Spencer Turnbull didn’t allow a hit until the seventh inning, and on Saturday Zack Wheeler took a no-no into the eighth. In the top of the first inning today Aaron Nola allowed a hit to right fielder Robbie Grossman followed by a two-run shot into the stands by DH Eloy Jiménez. But after giving up the home run he settled down and dominated through 8.0 innings, allowing four hits, two earned runs, and striking out eight.
Lochlahn March’s piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer yesterday quoted manager Rob Thompson speaking about how the starting pitchers, “get on a roll and they want to sort of outdo each other[.]” Nola’s performance on the heels of the recent stellar starts by Ranger Suárez, Christopher Sanchez, Turnbull, and Wheeler certainly lends credence to Thompson’s comments. March also compared this starting rotation to the legendary 2011 rotation. While 22 games into the season is a little early to draw conclusions about the rest of the season, especially when the most of lineups recently faced haven’t exactly been murderer’s row, it’s still fun to wonder if we’re watching the emergence of a Phive-headed pitching monster.
The Phillies offensive awakening continued in the bottom of the first inning when White Sox starter Nick Nastrini allowed back to back walks to Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner. Nastrini left a four-seamer over the plate for Harper to knock back down the middle and drive in Schwarber for a run and to put runners on the corners.
It was here wackiness ensued.
As J.T. Realmuto chased a fastball for strike three, Harper took off to swipe second but White Sox catcher Martin Maldonado fired the ball to catch Harper between bags. Harper danced his way back toward first base while Trea Turner’s lead on third grew - until finally he took off and drew the Sox to attempt to get the out at home, but Turner’s speed beat the throw. Meanwhile Harper helped himself to second.
Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola vs White Sox - April 21st 2024 - Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
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