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Inside The Phillies

Phillies Bats Come Alive in Win Over Blue Jays

The Philadelphia Phillies picked up their third win of the spring in an 8-7 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ben Silver|
© Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

Kyle Schwarber made his first game appearance in a Phillies uniform today. His presence set the tone for the Phillies offense for the next nine innings.

The Phillies got out to an early lead, started by a bases-loaded single off the bat of Matt Vierling in the bottom of the second, scoring Rhys Hoskins and Didi Gregorius.

Segura added on three batters later with a two-run single of his own, this time bringing home Vierling and Alec Bohm.

J.T. Realmuto continued to pad the lead in the third inning with a towering homer followed by back-to-back doubles by Hoskins and Gregorius.

All of these runs were charged to the line of Blue Jays starter José Berríos, whom they acquired from the Minnesota Twins at the 2021 MLB trade deadline. 

Berríos isn't a minor league roster filler, but a bona fide major league starter. Since 2017, he's made 133 starts for a 3.74 ERA, making the Phillies offensive contributions today all the more impressive.

While hitters like Realmuto and Gregorius had their time in the spotlight during Wednesday's broadcast, free agent signee Schwarber had a more understated performance.

He struck out twice, but made the loudest contact of the game in his first at-bat, a 114.1 mph liner hit right at Cavan Biggio. It was contact that had an xBA of .850, but just happened to catch the Blue Jays second baseman right in the chest.

Though the story of the game was the Phillies' offense, their pitching made strides as well. Depth-starter Cristopher Sánchez took the mound to begin the game.

He faced just eight batters, retiring six of them and throwing 27 pitches with three strikeouts. Sánchez's fastball had more late life with solid command of his breaking pitches, an encouraging sign given the shortened spring training.

The Phillies also used relievers Connor Brogdon, Sam Coonrod, Austin Ross, Nick Nelson, Michael Kelly, and Francisco Morales.

Nelson was particularly impressive, striking out three over two scoreless innings. Morales did a fine job of closing out the game, made close by Coonrod and Kelly, both of whom allowed crooked numbers.

The game was brought to just one-run in the seventh when Kelly allowed back-to-back home runs for Orelvis Martinez and Trevor Schwecke.

Nevertheless, once the Phillies minor league subs appeared late in the game, they still managed to play clean baseball and solid defense, including an outfield assist from Mickey Moniak and a superb tag by Darick Hall at first base.

The Phillies showed offsensive consistency Wednesday throughout their lineup. It's something they'll need if they want to offset poor defense and an underwhelming bullpen come mid-season.

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  8. Predicting the Phillies 2022 Opening Day Roster
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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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