The Philadelphia Phillies are one of just three teams in MLB history to be undefeated in Sacramento. Take a moment for that to sink in.
The Phillies (33-18) opened the series against their cross-town rival Athletics (22-30) with a 4-3 win to extend their winning streak to eight games.
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Trea Turner opened the scoring by sending a 2-1 fastball from A’s starter, Jacob Lopez, over the center field fence for the Phillies’ first leadoff home run of the year.
Zack Wheeler, unsurprisingly, handled the young A’s lineup all night, going 6.2 IP, allowing three hits and two walks and collecting eight Ks. His scoreless innings streak has reached 23.
Both offenses were stagnant through the middle innings, with the Phils’ only managing three hits and two hit-by-pitches—both with Bryce Harper on the receiving end—-from the second through eighth innings.
Things came back to life in the ninth, starting with a leadoff infield single by JT Realmuto that ended with him standing on third base after a throwing error by shortstop, Jacob Wilson.
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An RBI double by Alec Bohm and back to back singles by Johan Rojas and Turner seemed to put the game on ice (speaking of Rojas, he also ended the eighth inning with a highlight reel catch to save an extra base hit).
But Jordan Romano had other plans. Brent Rooker tagged him for a hard single to open the frame and then he walked Shea Langeliers on four pitches. Two batters later, Nick Kurtz sent a 3-1 fastball 425 feet to center to cut the lead to one.
Romano would get the second out, also his second strikeout, before allowing a single to CJ Alexander and prompting Rob Thomson to call in Tanner Banks for some lefty on lefty jousting with Lawrence Butler coming to the plate. Banks sat him down swinging to slam the door.
Romano hadn’t conceded a run in exactly a month, his last nine appearances, so hopefully this doesn’t portend regression to his early season struggles.
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Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm combined for a scoreless 1.1 IP bridging the gap from Wheeler to Romano.
Bohm finished with two hits and Turner with three, raising his batting average to a team-leading .310, good for fifth in the National League.
Game two of the series will feature a battle of lefties as Cristopher Sanchez and Jeffrey Springs clash tomorrow night.
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