The Post-Girardi Phillies are off to a red-hot start, as they absolutely destroyed the Angels 10-0 on Friday night. Everything went right in Rob Thomson’s first game holding the reins, as Kyle Schwarber’s lead-off home run set the tone and the Phillies never looked back.
The Phillies were firing on all cylinders tonight, as the offense hit five dingers while Zach Eflin twirled eight brilliant innings. Schwarber and Bryce Harper smashed two longballs each, while struggling rookie Bryson Stott tallied his first career big league home run. Overall they scored 10 runs on 10 hits, while also collecting three walks. The only starting players not to notch hits were Nick Castellanos and Alec Bohm.
Eflin was absolutely masterful tonight, limiting a lineup led by Shohei Ohtani and Mike Trout to five hits and one walk over eight innings. He held both superstars hitless and breezed through the matchup with only 104 pitches. James Norwood finished things off by striking out two in one inning of work in a much-needed clean outing.
One bit of bad news came out of tonight’s action, as recently recalled infielder Nick Maton suffered a right shoulder sprain after making a diving catch. Maton has been terrific since being recalled, as he hit a crucial two-run shot in Wednesday night’s win against the Giants, and smashed an RBI triple earlier tonight. Hopefully, Maton can make it back sooner rather than later, as starting second baseman Jean Segura is already on the shelf with a broken finger. Johan Camargo will likely see a bump in playing time if Maton suffers from an extended absence.
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Phillies fans are on top of the world tonight, as the post-girardi era began this morning and tonight they’ve seen a rejuvenated squad. There are still well over 100 games to play, but at least for tonight, Rob Thomson can do no wrong.