The Phillies finally got off the schneid on Tuesday, beating the Yankees 4-1 for their first win of the year. It was a solid showing from everyone involved, as Matt Strahm was locked in during his first real start in years, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh homered, and the bullpen finally looked to be the lockdown force we had hoped for.
Strahm dealt 4.0 strong innings, striking out three and surrendering only one hit and one walk while keeping the Yankees off the board. Andrew Bellatti continued to look brilliant, punching out two in a clean fifth inning. José Alvarado added a perfect frame of his own, striking out the side. Connor Brogdon shook off the demons that haunted him in his first two outings this season, yielding only one hit in 2.0 innings. The one pitching blemish was Craig Kimbrel, who has continued to look shaky at best, giving up a home run to D.J. Lemahieu and working around another single and a walk to bring home the team’s first win.
As for the Phils’ offense, the struggling Kyle Schwarber kicked things off early with a first inning solo blast, the 200th home run of his career. Brandon Marsh, who made two brutal mental mistakes in last night’s laugher, doubled the lead with a solo jack of his own in the third. Trea Turner made it 3-0 Phillies with an RBI single in the top of the fifth, and Schwarber put the cherry on top with a run-scoring single of his own immediately after.
After the Phillies looked completely inept in their first four contests, it’s great to see them earn a solid all around victory for their first win of the year. This is the Phillies team we all expected to see in 2023, with good starting pitching, plenty of offense and a shutdown relief corps. A few more wins like this and we’ll all soon forget about the disastrous start to their season.