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| There was thunder. There was lightning. There was a 2-hour, 19-minute rain delay. There were warmups wasted, plans blown up, and tarp-watching in every direction. |
And then there were the Phillies.
There were five home runs. Thirteen runs total. One shutout win. And maybe, just maybe, the loudest exhale from a visiting dugout this season.
After three games in Houston where the Phillies looked like they were swinging blindfolded underwater — one run total, three straight losses — they turned Truist Park into a launch pad Friday night in a 13-0 obliteration of the Braves. Trea Turner homered twice, Kyle Schwarber launched his 25th, Nick Castellanos found the deepest part of center field, and Otto Kemp collected his first career big league blast.
So yes, you can stop asking if this offense forgot how to hit.
“We weren't very good the last three days,” Turner told MLB.com. “But to score early, get a good win and put that behind us is nice to not let that kind of snowball on us.”
If the Phillies came into the night with storm clouds hovering, they made sure the lightning struck somewhere else.
when the skies open, so does the offense
This game wasn’t supposed to look like this. Mick Abel was slated to start — another chance to stretch out the top pitching prospect. But then came the delay. Abel threw his warm-ups. Then he waited. Then waited more. And then, the Phillies made the smart call: keep the 23-year-old off the mound, and patch the night together with bullpen arms.
So: Tanner Banks opened. Taijuan Walker followed. Alan Rangel finished. That’s three pitchers who, combined, threw nine scoreless innings and gave up just seven hits. Meanwhile, the Braves stuck with Bryce Elder. And the Phillies — they just teed off.
Eight hits, four walks, 10 runs (nine earned) off Elder in barely two innings.
“To add on in the second and third innings was really important,” Turner told MLB.com. “Just to keep that momentum going. Kind of put them away early and get a good win.”
Turner finished 4-for-6 with four runs scored and two bombs — the kind of line that reminds everyone why he's batting atop a World Series contender. Schwarber scored three times and walked twice. J.T. Realmuto collected three hits and a walk.
The 13 runs? Most the Braves have allowed all year. The five homers? Tied a season high for the Phillies. The relief corps? Nine zeroes.
And then there was Otto Kemp. Maybe you hadn’t heard of him until this month, but the 25-year-old hit 14 homers at Triple-A Lehigh Valley before getting the call-up. He’s not some flash-in-the-pan.
In the third inning, he took Elder deep for the first of his major league career — and rounded the bases like he’d done it 1,000 times before. Schwarber followed with a homer of his own.
Kemp became the ninth Phillie to homer this month, another sign that while the power can disappear for a day or two, it’s never really gone.
a tale of two series
What makes baseball so maddening — and beautiful — is how quickly the switch can flip.
In Houston? The Phillies looked gassed. Lost. Lifeless. They didn’t score in 26 straight innings until the eighth on Thursday.
Then Friday in Atlanta, against a division rival, after a storm… they played their most complete game of the season.
They scored in five straight innings. They hit five home runs. They didn’t commit an error. Their bullpen didn’t allow a single run. And their leadoff hitter crossed home plate four times.
There’s no such thing as carryover in this sport, not from series to series, and certainly not from city to city. But this was a reminder of what the Phillies are when the offense shows up.
They’re not just good.
They’re explosive.
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