*Photo from Yahoo Sports*
These Phillies decided to live by the home run. Alec Bohm went deep, Bryson Stott homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 5-1 victory Thursday night in Philadelphia.
The Phillies picked up their second straight win and improved to 7-6 to open the season. For a Phillies lineup that was going through early season struggles at the dish, the hope is that the 3 homer day they had to open the series will help get them back on track.
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of the lineup "That's part of our game. We really haven’t had it much this year. Hopefully that continues. It’s going to come and go, just like everything else. But it was good to see some guys hit the ball out of the ballpark."
After a scoreless first 3 innings, the Phillies finally broke through in the 4th inning. Bohm got the scoring started with a solo home run, making it 1-0 with his shot to center field. It stayed that way until the 7th inning, when Brandon Marsh hit a two run home run to left center field, tripling the Phillies lead to 3-0.
Later in the 7th, Stott broke the game open for the Phillies. He cranked a two run homer of his own to right center field, making it 5-0 game. The shutout bid for the Phillies lasted until the 9th inning. Jared Triolo ended the shutout with an RBI single to right field, scoring Edward Olivares and cutting the deficit to 5-1.
Bohm said of the lineup's performance that "Confidence comes as a whole. I think good at-bats lead to more good at-bats and guys feed off each other, especially in this locker room. I think the more we see success, the more success we’re going to have. Over the course of the last week or so, I’ve been happy about the patience. Early on, I was kind of auto-swinging and chasing a lot, not making them come to me. Over the last road trip, I got more comfortable and got into a better spot at swinging at stuff I can handle, instead of just going up there and trying to hit whatever they throw."
Getting the start on the mound for the Phillies was Ranger Suarez, who tossed 6 shutout innings while striking out 8 hitters. Yunior Marte struck out the side in the 7th inning before Nick Nelson pitched the final two innings to secure the win.
Jared Jones took the mound for the Pirates and got tagged for 3 runs on 6 hits with 8 strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings pitched. Colin Holderman allowed a pair of runs in 2/3 of an inning before Hunter Stratton worked a clean 8th inning.
The series continues Friday night. Cristopher Sanchez gets the start for the Phillies as they look to take a two game lead on the series while former Phillies pitcher Bailey Falter starts for the Pirates as they try to even the series.
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