Phillies blank the Giants 7-0, in their first game since Rob Thomson’s firing
Jesús Luzardo became the first Phillies starting pitcher to finish seven innings this season and the offense was sparked by a four-run sixth inning.
When public address announcer Dan Baker’s microphone cut out during the pregame ceremonies before the Phillies’ opener against the Giants, plunging the ballpark into silence for a few minutes, it seemed like an inauspicious beginning to the Don Mattingly era in Philadelphia.
The players had other ideas.
Because of the technical difficulties, Baker was unable to announce Mattingly’s first lineup as interim Phillies manager on Tuesday. But that lineup, backed by a strong performance from starter Jesús Luzardo, pulled through for a 7-0 win over San Francisco.
» READ MORE: Phillies players process the ‘tough’ firing of Rob Thomson: ‘We all feel responsible for what happened to him’
It marks the Phillies’ first shutout victory of the season.
“Hopefully, this is a start of us playing better baseball,” Mattingly said. “I liked the game tonight. We were clean. We didn’t kick the ball around. I felt like we were aggressive. Good at-bats.”
Several players took accountability for Rob Thomson’s firing earlier in the day, which elevated Mattingly to interim manager from bench coach.
“We’re the ones that kind of make those decisions happen,” Bryce Harper said. “We don’t play well or make things happen, somebody takes the fall, and he took the fall today.”
But they made some things happen on Tuesday. A four-run sixth inning encapsulated everything the Phillies hadn’t been doing during their skid: stacking good at-bats, situational hitting, and showing a little power, too.
Trea Turner started the inning by beating out a throw to first base for an infield single, and Kyle Schwarber drew a five-pitch walk. Back-to-back doubles from Harper and Adolis García put three runs on the board before the Giants recorded an out.
Most encouraging of all was the double from Alec Bohm that scored another run, a line drive hit over the head of Giants left fielder Heliot Ramos. At 103.8 mph off the bat, it was the Phillies’ hardest hit of the day.
Bohm finished with two hits as he slowly digs out of the hole he’s been in to start the season.
“I think that’s the team we are right there,” Turner said. “I think everyone believes that’s how good we can be. We can compete with anybody, in all three phases of the game.”
He described it as a “weird” day overall, from finding out the news about Thomson in the morning and then arriving at the ballpark for work as normal. While many current Phillies were around in 2022 during the Phillies’ last midseason managerial change, others like Turner and Luzardo said they have never experienced something like this before.
Mattingly held a meeting with the team in the afternoon, several hours before the game. The overarching message was for the players to be themselves, and focus on executing the little things.
» READ MORE: Despite being fired, Rob Thomson would ‘seriously entertain’ staying with the Phillies in a new role
“It’s about what you saw tonight: Getting in counts, being aggressive on the bases, good at-bats up and down the lineup,” Mattingly said. “All of those things contribute to wins.”
Another major contributor was Luzardo turning in his best performance so far this season. The Phillies have struggled to get length out of their rotation, despite that being a strength of their pitching staff in recent seasons. On Tuesday, Luzardo became the first Phillies pitcher to complete seven innings this year.
He didn’t realize the feat until he walked into the clubhouse after the game and Zack Wheeler told him.
“Then we kind of chuckled about it, and said, ‘We got to pick it up,’” Luzardo said.
He carved through the Giants lineup with his sweeper, recording five of his eight strikeouts on the pitch. Luzardo only allowed two hits. Both were doubles, but each time he rebounded to strand the runner at second.
He retired the last 11 hitters he faced.
“Filling up the strike zone, getting ahead, being able to climb back into counts with off speed pitches as well,” Luzardo said. “Tonight was better than the last start, in terms of getting ahead and making sure we stayed ahead.”
The Phillies added two runs in the eighth with another string of good at-bats. This time, the rally started with Brandon Marsh. He singled, stole second base, then scored when Justin Crawford won a six-pitch at-bat with a single to right.
» READ MORE: What to know about Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, from ‘Donnie Baseball’ to a classic ‘Simpsons’ cameo
A walk and another single from Turner, who finished with four hits, tacked on another run.
Orion Kerkering and Tim Mayza pitched a clean eighth and ninth inning, respectively, in relief to close the door. And a new era for the Phillies has officially begun.
“Donnie gave us a good message today,” Turner said. “Just go out there, and keep fighting and grinding, and play Philly baseball. And today was a good start.”
Hunter Pence's 368-day stint with the Phillies was a study in extremes. Acquired at the trade deadline in 2011 as the missing right-handed bat for a World Series contender, he got dealt a year later by an underachieving team. And with the Phillies in full-on crisis mode this week, Pence sits down with "Phillies Extra," the Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss how quickly a team's fortunes can change. Watch here.
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