Pitching continues to carry Phillies’ just-enough offense in win over the Padres
Bryce Harper's two-run homer tied the game at 2 in the fourth inning, and a run scored on a double play in the sixth gave the Phillies' offense just enough runs to support the bullpen.
With runners on the corners and nobody out in the sixth inning Tuesday night, Alec Bohm grounded into a double play.
And that was how the Phillies took the lead.
It had to be the Phillie-est of all 2026 Phillies victories, this 3-2 tiptoe past the Padres to begin a three-game series in Citizens Bank Park. But how else did you think two of the National League’s three worst offenses (by OPS) would decide matters?
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The Phillies got exactly one big swing, an opposite-field two-run homer from Bryce Harper. Yet it was somehow enough for them to win for the sixth time in nine games.
“Sometimes,” Harper said, “you’re going to blow a team out. Sometimes, you’re going to have to fight and win a one-run ballgame.”
The Phillies’ 13-5 record in games decided by one run is a testament to the pitching, which, once again, was spectacular. Aaron Nola tossed five solid innings before José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, Brad Keller, and Jhoan Duran ran a bullpen relay for the final 12 outs.
It also helps that four of these last nine games (and wins) were against the equally flaccid Padres, who took some of the ugliest swings you’ll ever see, including major league debutant Jase Bowen’s game-ending flails at three consecutive sweepers — all off the plate — from Duran.
Never mind, then, that the Phillies haven’t scored more than four runs in a game since … checks notes … May 18. Or that Harper’s homer was their first at home in a span of 33 innings. Or that they went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Winning quietly is still winning … for now, at least.
“Yeah, I mean, I don’t think over the course of a season it’s super sustainable,” Harper said. “Obviously we’ve done a good job as of late. Our starting pitching’s been lights out, and our bullpen’s been very good.
“As an offense, we want to score more runs — and we need to score more runs. Just got to keep going, keep plugging, do the best we can. Obviously we’ve got to score more runs and win games bigger than one to two to three runs."
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Maybe the bats will warm with the weather. Maybe Dave Dombrowski will need to pull a righty-hitting rabbit out of his trade-deadline top hat.
But the Phillies (31-29) were built on pitching, and it’s the arms that have them squarely in the middle of a wild-card traffic jam, only one game out of a playoff spot.
Consider: Since the managerial change on April 28, Phillies starters have a 2.86 ERA, second to only the Brewers. The relievers have a 3.43 mark, 13th in the majors. It helps, too, that the starters have worked 185⅔ innings, second-most in the majors, to keep the relievers from burning out.
“The back end of the bullpen’s been really, really good, you know?” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “Those guys go four innings scoreless. Those are the kind of games, in one-run games, your bullpen’s got to be good.”
Nola did his part, too. Facing the Padres for the second time in eight nights — with the birth of his second child sandwiched between the starts — he was effective by applying the same formula.
Lots of curveballs.
Nearly half of Nola’s 80 pitches last week in San Diego were curveballs. He returned to his signature breaking ball 39 times in 95 pitches and held the Padres to two runs on four hits in five innings.
The Padres knew the curveball was coming, and other than Gavin Sheets’ two-run homer in the third inning, they still weren’t able to hit it hard. Nola got 15 swings and misses; 11 came with his curve.
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“Aaron kind of set the tone,” Mattingly said. “I think location is huge for him.”
Indeed, Nola can afford to lean on his curveball only if he gets ahead in the count. He threw a first-pitch strike to 13 of 19 batters and didn’t issue a walk for the third consecutive start.
“It’s easier to pitch and mix a little bit more when I’m ahead,” Nola said. “When I’m behind, it’s a little bit harder. Can’t really throw the swing-and-miss curveball, or expand [the zone] as much when you’re getting behind consistently.”
Harper tied it with one swing in the fourth inning, with an assist to Trea Turner.
After a leadoff single, Turner drew two pickoff throws from Padres starter Randy Vásquez. Harper, meanwhile, laid off a first-pitch curveball in the dirt and a sweeper and cutter off the plate to get into a 3-1 count.
The next pitch was an elevated sweeper, and Harper hit it out the other way to left field. Maybe the pitch would have been more precisely located if Vásquez’s attention wasn’t divided.
“I think any time you’ve got a [speedy] guy over there,” Harper said, “I think pitchers are going to think a little bit different.”
And until the Phillies start generating more runs, even the slightest edge can be the difference.
Ricky Bottalico spouts opinions each day on sports-talk radio and the Phillies' television pre- and postgame show. But before all that, he had a solid career as a relief pitcher, even representing the Phillies in the 1996 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. With the baseball world set to descend on Philly again in a few weeks, Ricky Bo joined "Phillies Extra" to re-live his All-Star experience. Watch here.
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