Sanchez dazzles, lineup awakens, tempers flare as Phillies win to end road trip originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
SAN FRANCISCO – The Phillies’ road trip ended with some drama, but it didn’t end in the final score.
The benches, bullpens and clubhouses were cleared in the top of the fourth inning on Wednesday after Giants starting pitcher Kyle Harrison threw high and in to Bryce Harper twice in a row, nearly hitting him in the head or hand. in consecutive throws.
Harper barked at Harrison after the first and the dugouts were emptied after the second. No punches were thrown, just some pushing and shoving as Harper stayed out of the fight.
He fell to the ground when the game resumed and the Oracle Park crowd erupted. Giants fans didn’t have much to cheer about Wednesday afternoon as the Phillies led in a 6-1 victory.
It was a 2-4 trip, but the Phillies at least avoided getting swept for the first time this season. They return home with a 39-18 record heading into a six-game homestand that begins Friday.
Kyle Schwarber set the tone with an opposite-field home run to start the game. It was his 23rd home run as a Phillie and they went 19-4 in those games.
They added to their lead in the second inning on singles by Nick Castellanos, Bryson Stott and Cristian Pache, who drove in Castellanos with a two-out base hit.
Castellanos hit a two-run shot in the fifth inning as part of a three-hit day. The Phillies scored two more in the eighth on RBI singles by Schwarber and Harper.
The lineup was cold offensively during the six-game road trip, but broke out with 12 hits (including two home runs and three doubles) in five innings against Harrison.
Cristopher Sanchez had some of his best command of the season in his 11th start, working ahead and putting away hitters with all three of his changeups, fastball and slider. The changeup dipped the way he wanted, he was able to throw strikes and advance with the slider, and his fastball even reached 97 mph midway through the inning. He’s already an excellent major league starter, but it’s hard not to think about his upside on days like this.
The 27-year-old lefty generated three soft ground balls in the first inning, struck out three in the second and hit Wilmer Flores on three pitches following a visit from pitching coach Caleb Cotham with two outs and the bases loaded in the third. Sanchez was excited after the strikeout, slapping his glove as he walked off the mound.
He sailed from that point on to string together six scoreless innings, improving to 3-3 with a 2.83 ERA.
Since being called up from Triple A last June, Sanchez has a 3.13 ERA with 152 strikeouts and 36 walks in 155⅓ innings, the kind of production you’d expect from a No. 2 starter.
Gregory Soto and Seranthony Dominguez followed with scoreless innings and Spencer Turnbull allowed a meaningless run in the ninth. The Phillies held the Giants to four hits on Tuesday and six on Wednesday.
Next up are the Cardinals on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park. The Phillies have Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez and Taijuan Walker in the series against right-handers Miles Mikolas, Sonny Gray and Lance Lynn.
