Inside The Phillies

Kyle Gibson Flirts With Perfection, Philadelphia Phillies Black Out Josiah Gray

Philadelphia Phillies starter Kyle Gibson's bid for perfection was more than enough to keep the Washington Nationals at bay.
Ben Silver|
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Philadelphia Phillies

He wasn't quite Roy Halladay, but Kyle Gibson certainly looked the part Friday night.

Flirting with perfection for six innings, Gibson silenced Washing National hitters up and down the lineup while the offense put on a fireworks display.

By the first inning, the Philadelphia Phillies had already made it clear that the night's contest wasn't going to be close. Rhys Hoskins baptized Nationals starter Josiah Gray with a solo shot to get the scoring started.

Following him, J.T Realmuto lined a hit that got past Washington center fielder Victor Robles and rolled to the wall for a triple. Then strode to the plate Philadelphia's hottest hitter... Nick Castellanos.

Slashing .368/.400/.500 in his last ten games following Thursday night's bout, Castellanos crushed a four-seam fastball deep into the left field corner for a two-run home run.

Not to be outdone, Darick Hall put his name on the board with a solo shot of his own. Very quickly, the Nationals were in a tremendous hole, down 4-0 in the first inning. And their hopes only grew slimmer as Gibson got deeper into the night.

Looking more and more dominant as the innings flew by, Gibson continued to hold Nationals hitters off the basepaths. J.T. Realmuto hit the fourth Phillie homer of the night in the third. 

Working a nine-pitch at-bat, Realmuto finally got around a fastball that he hit for a pop-fly. But as it rose into the humid South Philadelphia air, it kept carrying until it landed just a few rows deep in the left field seats.

The 47 degree launch angle on that home run was the second highest of any MLB home run in 2022.

Through six innings Gibson cruised, sitting Washington hitters down 1-2-3 each inning.

Coming into the seventh, it was the longest Gibson had ever held a bid for perfection. But that dream was spoiled when he hit the first batter of the inning, Robles on the elbow pad, making him the first Nationals baserunner.

Luis Garcia, the following batter, then broke up Gibson's no-hitter with a liner to left field. The Citizens Bank Park faithful proceeded to give the Phillies' pitcher a standing ovation.

Gibson continued to dominate Washington hitters through eight innings, though he did eventually allow a run to cross the plate on an eighth inning sacrifice fly.

Nevertheless, it was still Gibson's best outing of the season, perhaps one of the best of his career.

Schwarber tacked on another insurance run in the bottom of the seven with the Phillies' fifth long ball of the night before Brad Hand ended the game in the ninth.

The Phillies won in convincing fashion 7-2 to reach 10 games over .500 for the first time in 2022.

They'll face Patrick Corbin on Saturday night at 6:05 p.m. with Ranger Suárez carrying Philadelphia's hopes for a series victory. 

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Ben Silver
BEN SILVER

Ben Silver is deputy editor for Inside the Phillies. A graduate of Boston University, Ben formerly covered the Phillies for PhilliesNation.com. Follow him on Twittter @BenHSilver.

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