The Phillies returned home to Citizens Bank Park after a poor road trip and rolled to a 9-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on the strength of a big inning Friday night.
The Cardinals struggled defensively in the second inning and the Phillies seized the opportunity to score six times. Those six runs were two more than the Phillies scored in their previous series, three losses to the Mets in New York.
Zach Eflin pitched a gem in earning his first win of the season and left the mound to a standing ovation. Connor Brogdon and Brandon Kintzler closed it out.
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The Phils are 7-6 overall and 6-1 at home. They went 1-5 on a road trip that concluded Wednesday in New York.
Eflin's night
The tall right-hander carried a shutout into the eighth before giving up a walk and a two-run homer as the Cardinals pulled to within six runs.
Eflin gave up six hits, walked none and struck out six.
MLB
In two starts at home this season, he has allowed just three runs and one walk in 14-plus innings.
Capitalizing on mistakes
The Phillies' six-run rally against starter Carlos Martinez in the second inning came after the Cardinals failed to make three plays in the field that would have resulted in a 1-2-3 inning. Two of the plays were ground balls in the infield that ended up as hits and the third was a fly ball to center field that was misplayed (in a strong wind) and dropped in for an RBI double.
During the uprising, the Phils got a two-run single from Andrew McCutchen and a two-run double from Bryce Harper. Eflin was credited with an RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
Capitalizing on the opposition's miscues is a must and the Phillies did that in this game, much the way Atlanta did to them last weekend.
Harper heating up?
Harper crushed the baseball three times and didn't have a ton to show for it.
Sandwiched around his double in the second inning were outs to deep right-center and deep center in the first and fourth innings, respectively.
The ball in the first inning came off the bat at 109 mph, was knocked down by the wind and caught at the wall. The ball in the fourth came off the bat at 108 mph and died at the wall in the teeth of a strong wind that blew in from center field. On a still night, both balls probably land well into the seats. According to Statcast, the expected batting average on both balls was over .980.
Realmuto rocks one
Harper drew a walk with one out in the seventh and J.T. Realmuto followed with a two-run homer deep into the left field seats to make it 8-0.
Up next
The series continues Saturday with a 4:05 p.m. first pitch. Lefty Matt Moore (0-0, 7.56) opposes lefty Kwang Hyun Kim, who will be making his season debut.
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