The Phillies will end their first road trip of the season as “Even Steven” as it comes: a .500 road trip ending with a 3-3 record and a matching .500 record on the season, despite heading west to face a couple of struggling teams they were expected to handle fairly easily.
First on the docket, the Colorado Rockies who would come into the series with a 2-4 record, followed by a trip to San Francisco to take on a Giants team having their worst start since 2019 with a 3-8 record. While arguably a lofty expectation, the idea of the Phillies coming back home with two sweeps under their belt was not out of the question, especially after a hot start in Colorado. But the Phillies once again failed to maintain consistency and would fall well short.
Game 1: Phillies 10, Rockies 1
Brandon Marsh Continues to Lead the Charge
After a slow start to the season, the Phillies offense rebounded in a big way in game one at Coors Field, as they would go on to rout the Rockies 10-1 in front of their home opener crowd.
Brandon Marsh’s 3-run home run was part of a seven-run first inning feast for the Phillies, and Aaron Nola pitched a solid 95-pitch outing finishing with 6.1 IP, 5H, 1R, 1BB and 9SO. Marsh continues to be one of the Phillies most reliable and wildly underappreciated hitters since May of last season when he returned from injury after slumping for the entire month of April.
Home runs from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper added to the Phillies’ power surge as they rocked Michael Lorenzen with 12 hits and nine runs over three innings in a battle between the top two pitchers for fan favorites team Italy in this years’ World Baseball Classic.
Game 2: Phillies 2, Rockies 1
Bats quiet as pitching prevails in game two of the series.
Game two was a tighter affair as the Phillies’ historically inconsistent offense came back down to earth, relying on solid pitching from starter Jesus Luzardo and the bullpen to hang on for a 2-1 victory, securing the series win.
Trea Turner stole the show with a 2-4 showing at the plate and the go-ahead RBI double in the fifth to give the Phils the 2-1 edge. Turner also flashed his improved defense at short with a phenomenally athletic play to throw out Tyler Freeman at first in the bottom of the sixth.
Jesus Luzardo bounced back after a rough first game of the season, allowing the Phillies to hang on to their 2-1 lead through six and two-thirds innings, striking out 11 and giving up only five hits, zero walks and only the one run before turning it over to the bullpen.
Despite the Rockies essentially running with bullpen game on the mound, the Phillies continued to flounder offensively and the bullpen would need to be perfect to hold their one run lead.
Jose Alvarado would come in to get the last out of the seventh, followed by a scoreless eighth by Brad Keller, paving the way for closer Jhoan Duran to toss a perfect ninth inning on the way to his third save of the season.
Game 3: Phillies 1, Rockies 4
Taijuan Walker continues to struggle as Phillies fail to lock down series sweep.
After two solid efforts against a below average Rockies squad, fans hoped the Phillies could complete the sweep on Easter Sunday, but as we have seen with this group in the not so distant past, the Phillies have struggled at times to put teams away and secure series sweeps. On a day when the team was set to pack up and head to San Francisco following play, Taijuan Walker took the mound after being shelled in his first game of the season against the Washington Nationals, a game that saw him give up seven runs in just 4.2 innings in what would ultimately be a 13-2 drubbing.
He would get off to a slow start again, giving up three runs early including two solo shots in the first inning, one to former Phillies prospect Mickey Moniak who would go on to lace another one off Walker in the fifth. T.J. Rumfield would take Walker deep again in the first inning, this time with a runner on the bags giving the Rockies a 3-0 lead.
After being upside down on the scoreboard early, the Phillies seemed content to take the 2-1 series win and head to the bay, their only offense coming from a solo home run by right fielder Adolis Garcia. Save for that one blast by the big man, the Phillies just could not get anything else going as Rockies pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano, nicknamed Tommy Sugar, became the first Colorado pitcher of the season to complete six innings. He would strike the Phillies out five times, give up only the one run, four hits and one walk.
The Rockies bullpen was able to keep the Phillies at bay despite traffic on the bases in the 9th, with Victor Vodnik striking out back up catcher Rafael Marchán with runners at first and second to complete the 4-1 victory and prevent the Phillies from completing the sweep.
Next Up, San Francisco
Game 1: Phillies 6, Giants 4
Vintage Performance By Bryce Harper Fuels Comeback
The Phillies would head next to San Francisco to take on a Giants team struggling out of the gate and occupying last place in the NL West. While the season is still young, the Phillies must take care of business against the weaker teams or risk regret down the stretch, when just a single win can be the difference between winning the division or ending up in a battle for a wild card spot—or worse—be left on the outside of the postseason looking in.
Andrew Painter, the Phillies rookie who was sensational in his first start for the big club on March 31st would make his second start in game one at Oracle Park, struggling through four innings and giving up four earned runs on nine hits in just four innings. With the Giants sitting pretty with a 4-0 lead going into the fifth and the Phillies historically performing badly in San Francisco, fans may have thought this one had already gotten away from them.
But the Fightins found their footing in the fifth.
J.T. Realmuto would get things going in the top of the fifth with a single, followed by a double from rookie center fielder Justin Crawford, bringing up Trea Turner with two on and no outs. Turner would shoot a ground ball up the center to score Realmuto from third collecting an RBI as he was thrown out at first.
Cue the return of Bryce Harper to form and a rally behind him to propel the Phils to their first series opener win at Oracle Park since 2014. Harper smoked his second double of the night sending another run to the dish, pulling the Phillies within two.
After a shut down sixth inning by reliever Jonathan Bowlan, the Phillies would get a lead off single by Justin Crawford and Trea would add to the traffic on the bases with a high fly into no man’s land that fell just in front of a diving Harrison Bader in center giving the Fightins runners at first and second with no outs and a new pitcher to attack, as starter Adrian Houser would be lifted from the game as manager Tony Vitello called on left-hander Ryan Borucki looking to exploit the left on left matchups with Schwarber and Harper coming to the plate. This time analytics would fail.
Schwarber would work a four pitch walk after challenging a strike call on the fourth pitch. Kyle was so certain ABS would overturn the call he already had his guards off by the time the graphic proved him correct. Harper would continue his hot night, shooting a ground ball into the gap in right field scoring Turner from second and tying the score.
Alec Bohm would continue to rally with a double down the right field line sending Schwarber home and putting the Phillies ahead for the first time all night. Adolis Garcia would take one for the team, getting hit by reliever Caleb Killian fresh into the game, and Brandon Marsh would keep the scoring going hitting a sac fly with bases loaded that gave Bryce just enough time to tag up and scoot home to extend the lead to 6-4.
The Phillies bullpen would do the rest. Jose Alvarado would pitch a shutout seventh, Brad Keller would lock down the eighth, and closer Jhoan Duran would secure his fourth save on the season.
With ace Cristopher Sanchez taking the mound for game two, the Phillies looked to keep the momentum going against a Giants team that has been outscored by 25 runs over their last 10 games.
Game 2: Phillies 0, Giants 6
Sanchez Stumbles, Bats Silent as Phillies Get Shutout
The Phillies struggles at Oracle Park continued, as they failed to secure the series win after taking game one. Ace Cristopher Sanchez took a step back allowing double-digit hits against a team that had struggled offensively to start the season—only the second time in a Phillies uniform that Sanchez has been tagged for double-digit hits in a game.
Meanwhile, Robbie Ray and two relievers would combine to hold the Phillies offense to just four hits.
The Giants would take advantage shutting out the Phillies 6-0. Luis Arraez drove in two runs, and Matt Chapman and rookie catcher Daniel Susac each had three hits helping San Francisco bring their record to 4-8.
Another game that felt all too familiar watching this team, who has often put up a nice crooked number to get a decisive win, only to follow that performance with deafening silence at the plate and inconsistent defense. Fans that waited up on the east coast for this one will no doubt be muttering their distaste to neighbors and strangers as they pick up their Wawa coffee in the morning.
Game 3: Phillies 0, Giants 5
Rubber Match Rout as Phillies Lose Game 3 and the Series
Game three of this series felt like a continuation of game two as the Phillies made mistakes on defense and once again could not get anything going at the plate.
Rafael Devers’ towering home run off of Aaron Nola in the sixth scored three runs and the Giants never looked back, going on to shut out the Phillies 5-0 and take the series two games to one.
The Phillies were without catcher J.T. Realmuto after he exited game two with a bruised foot after being hit by a pitch, but X-rays were revealed to be negative, so we’ll be keeping an eye on his expected return.
What’s Next?
There’s No Place Like Home and EST Game Times
This Phillies will trade PST for EST and head back to Philadelphia for a nine-game homestand that kicks off with a three-game weekend clash against an Arizona Diamondbacks, another team that has been struggling offensively to start the season. The three game set begins Friday night at 6:40PM and the Phillies will look to get back to their winning ways in front of the home town fans after scoring just nine runs in their last five games.
