The Philadelphia Phillies clearly weren’t affected by a sub-.500 road trip.
After dropping two of three apiece to the Boston Red Sox and the Baltimore Orioles, the Phillies returned home and blasted the San Diego Padres 9-2 with an 18-hit attack on Monday.
The Phillies will look for another home victory when they face the Padres on Tuesday.
Philadelphia’s Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs, his 28th career multi-homer game, and drove in four runs in the opener of a three-game series. Alec Bohm singled twice and hit a three-run homer, giving him 60 RBIs on the season.
Phillies catcher Rafael Marchan added four hits and two RBIs for his first career four-hit game. With J.T. Realmuto injured and Garrett Stubbs being given the night off, Marchan took advantage of his opportunity.
“I’m just grateful and I feel blessed to be back in the game,” Marchan said in a postgame interview on NBC Sports Philadelphia. “The most important thing is to be healthy and help the team win.”
Bryce Harper, Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Brandon Marsh added two hits each for Philadelphia. Turner was playing in his first game since May 3 because of a hamstring strain.
“It’s good to be home,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.
The Phillies will hand the ball to Aaron Nola (8-3, 3.48 ERA) on Tuesday.
In his most recent start, on Thursday against the Red Sox, Nola allowed 11 hits and a career-high-tying eight runs in 3 2/3 innings.
“He hung some breaking balls and the fastball was up,” Thomson said. “It’s one of those days.”
“Struggled with command,” Nola said. “I felt fine in the bullpen. Just left some balls up in the zone and they didn’t miss them. I’m going to flush this one pretty quick.”
Nola is 3-4 with a 3.14 ERA in nine career starts against the Padres. On April 26 in San Diego, he fanned 10 while throwing eight innings of three-run ball in a 9-3 win.
San Diego got two hits and a run from Manny Machado on Monday but still took its fourth loss in a row.
The Padres went 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position after being swept in a three-game road series against the New York Mets.
Despite the skid, San Diego manager Mike Shildt still has supreme confidence in his players.
“Long term, zero,” Shildt said when asked if he is concerned. “I have no problem about this club at all. I have complete confidence this, too, shall pass.”
Michael King (5-4, 3.58) is expected to start for the Padres on Tuesday.
In his Wednesday start against the Oakland Athletics, King tossed five innings and gave up two runs on four hits and two walks while registering a season-high 12 strikeouts.
“A good start has to be deep into the game,” King said. “Me going five (innings) doesn’t help the team, even if it is 12 strikeouts.”
When asked to elaborate, King simply said that he needs to stay consistent.
“Efficiency is an issue there,” King said. “I know that when you have a lot of strikeouts, you still can be efficient. And there were two walks. But then (nine-pitch and) 10-pitch at-bats that really add up.”
King is 0-1 with an 8.10 ERA in two career games against the Phillies. His lone career start vs. Philadelphia came on April 28, when he gave up six runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings in an 8-6 loss.
–Field Level Media
