6-Run 8th Powers Phillies Over Guardians 7-1
Courtesy of Philadelphia Phillies via X
That’s more like it.
After an embarrassing performance Friday night in Cleveland, where the Philadelphia Phillies were shut out 6-0, Rob Thomson‘s squad bounced back Saturday evening, beating the Guardians by six runs themselves, 7-1.
Tanner Bibee kept the Phillies in check for the first seven innings of the game, allowing just one run on a bloop single from Kyle Schwarber. However, the eighth, the Phillies blew the game open thanks to six runs on seven hits, including a two-run bomb from Bryce Harper.
Another person who bounced back was Ranger Suarez, who allowed seven earned runs and only lasted 3.2 innings in his season debut. Suarez went seven innings, recording five strikeouts and allowing no runs and only three hits. He only threw 82 and continues to work his way back to full strength.
While the Phillies eventually got the offense going, it did not get going in the top of the first. The Fightins went down in order to kick off the game, doing so on just eight pitches from Bibee. In the bottom half of the inning, the Guardians secured an early runner on base thanks to a walk from Jose Ramirez, but he decided to try to steal second base on J.T. Realmuto. Realmuto decided to teach him a lesson.
The Phillies were retired in order in the second and third, and the Guardians had a runner reach in their half of those innings, but both teams were unable to get on the board. In the top of the fourth, the Phillies finally changed that.
Trea Turner singled to right, and that was followed up with a deep double to left field off the bat of Bryce Harper to put runners on second and third with one out. Up came Schwarber, who blooped a ball to left field to bring in Turner for the first run of the game.
One run was all they got as Nick Castellanos struck out and Max Kepler grounded out to end the inning. Suarez continued to lock in, retiring the Guardians down in order in the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings. The Phillies threatened in the fifth with Brandon Marsh smoking a double down the right field line, but a ground out from Edmundo Sosa and a strikeout from Bryson Stott ended any chances of them adding more insurance.
Realmuto singled in the seventh but failed to move any further, but the Guardians threatened once again in their half of the inning. Ramirez singled to left and decided to try to run on Realmuto again. However, after a long replay delay, it was ruled that Ramirez was safe on the steal, putting a runner in scoring position for Kyle Manzardo. Suarez stepped up and struck out Manzardo on three pitches to get out of the inning.
In the top of the eighth, the Phillies blew the game open. After two quick outs from Sosa and Stott, Turner smoked a single for his single hit of the game and trotted home a few pitches later thanks to No. 3.
Harper smoked a long two-run home run to center field to extend the Phillies’ lead to three. The hits kept on coming with Schwarber and Castellanos hitting singles, and they both ended up scoring one pitch later on a double from Kepler, to make it 5-0.
The line kept moving with Realmuto walking, and singles from Marsh and Sosa brought in two more runs to extend the lead to seven. In the bottom half of the eighth, Carlos Hernandez came on in relief for Suárez, but walked the leadoff hitter, Jhonkensy Noel. Hernandez locked back in and picked up a strikeout and two flyouts to send the game to the ninth.
In the top of the ninth, Harper singled for his third hit of the night, but the Phillies failed to bring in any more insurance runs. Joe Ross came on in the bottom of the ninth and, for the second night in a row, allowed a run to score. Ross allowed a runner on thanks to a walk, and a double from Ramirez put runners on second and third. Carlos Santana then lifted a flyball to left to bring in a run on a sacrifice fly. Three pitches later, Manzardo flew out to right to end the game, with the Phillies winning 7-1.
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Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
