Inside The Phillies

Phillies Outslug Blue Jays 10-5 in Nick Castellanos' Debut

The Philadelphia Phillies picked up their fifth win of the spring with a 10-5 drubbing of the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ben Silver|
© Jonathan Dyer-USA TODAY Sports

The big bats showed up Sunday for the Philadelphia Phillies. They bashed five home runs against Yusei Kikuchi and the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bryce Harper got the Phillies off to a blistering start in the top of the first when he crushed the first pitch he saw for a towering home run to right-center field.

Castellanos strode to the plate next, making his debut in Phillies red this spring. That at-bat would be his least productive of the day, striking out on five pitches. In the third, Castellanos worked a walk, and in the fifth he went the other way, poking a single into right field for a base hit.

On the other side of the ball, Bailey Falter took the mound for the Phillies, making his second start of spring training. He impressed in three innings, striking out one and allowing just one hit, a solo home run to AL Hank Aaron Award winner, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Phillie bats were silenced in the second, but Bryson Stott had his first plate appearance in what was a profound showcase of maturity at the plate. Lefty-on-lefty, he worked a six-pitch walk against Kikuchi. His next time up in the third, he worked a six-pitch walk against Joe Biagini.

Stott polished off a near flawless day at the plate in the fifth with a two-run home run off Tayler Saucedo. Thus far in spring training he's shown himself to be a consummate professional.

In between Stott's first walk and fifth inning homer were four more Phillies runs. Harper crushed another homer off a low breaking ball in the third, scoring Jean Segura.

In the fourth, Didi Gregorius led off with a home run of his own against Kikuchi, wiping away any doubt that he might still have lingering injury issues.

By that point, Falter had been lifted for a carousel of Phillies relievers: Nick Nelson, Cam Bedrosian, Braeden Ogle and Mike Adams.

Ogle pitched the best he has all spring, walking none and striking out one.

But Bedrosian, Nelson and Adams all allowed the Blue Jays to creep further back to contention. Nelson pitched two innings, striking out four but allowing a home run to Danny Jansen.

Bedrosian walked two and surrendered a run of his own on a double to Teoscar Hernandez. Adams pitched the eighth and let Josh Palacios crush a two-run bomb to shorten the lead to just five runs.

The Phillies had built up even more of a cushion by Palacios' eighth inning home run. In the sixth, Mickey Moniak hit his third home run in three days, a two-run shot off of Julian Merryweather that scored Bryce Harper.

Even the Phillies subs got in on the action, padding the lead in eighth when Hunter Markwardt lined a run-scoring single back up the middle.

In the ninth inning, Phillies reliever Jonathan Hennigan shut the door on the Blue Jays and the game for a 10-5 final.

More From SI's Inside The Phillies:

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  2. Assessing the Phillies' Center Field Decision
  3. Dombrowski and Girardi Speak From Phillies Spring Training
  4. Will Zack Wheeler be Ready for Opening Day?
  5. How did Philadelphia end up with Citizens Bank Park?
  6. How the Phillie Phanatic Came to be America's Favorite Sports Mascot
  7. How Mike Trout Will Join the Phillies
  8. Predicting the Phillies 2022 Opening Day Roster
  9. Picking the Phillies' All-Time Single Season Lineup
  10. The Sad Story of the Phillies' First Black Ballplayer

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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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