Trea Turner jump-starts Phillies’ offense in 7-0 win over the Rays
Turner opened the scoring in the third inning and was a key cog in the Phillies' five-run fourth inning that broke the game open.
TAMPA, Fla. — A few hours before the first pitch on Wednesday, Rob Thomson rapped his knuckles on the desk in the visiting manager’s office at Steinbrenner Field.
“Trea seems like — knock on wood — he gets at least a base hit every night," he said.
Perhaps the superstition paid off, because Trea Turner did that and more in the Phillies’ 7-0 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Turner started the scoring in the third inning with a solo home run to left field, and played a key part in the Phillies’ five-run rally an inning later.
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“Just taking my hits, really,” Turner said. “Feel like my two-strike hitting has been good, hitting the ball the other way pretty good and just needed to start pulling in the air. Today was kind of nice to see that happening. Working on that quite a bit in the cage.”
The homer was Turner’s second of the year, and first since April 9. He had been producing in other ways in the interim, hitting .307 with a .375 on-base percentage.
And that’s exactly what Thomson had asked him to do before the season began. The Phillies manager pulled Turner aside and told him not to worry about homers, but to focus on getting on base and scoring runs.
“The thing that was really impressive was that after the home run, he still got the base hit to right field later in the game,” Thomson said. “So that tells me he’s staying with that approach.”
The Phillies had four hits in the fourth, including the RBI single from Turner. Johan Rojas executed a safety squeeze bunt that also scored a run, and a two-run double by Bryce Harper chased Rays starter Shane Baz from the game after just 3⅓ innings.
Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez, meanwhile, tossed six shutout innings. He allowed only one hit, a single in the first.
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Sánchez’s command was a bit spotty as he walked three, but he induced a lot of contact on the ground and recorded five strikeouts.
He said the mound in the bullpen felt like a different height than the one on the field, which he believed affected him early as he adjusted to the difference. As the game progressed, his secondary pitches were more effective.
“That’s the difference between Sanchy now and Sanchy a couple years ago, when that could have just flailed,” Thomson said. “But he’s matured, and he’s got some experience now, and he trusts himself, and he believes in himself, and he just kept battling.”
The Phillies tacked on another run in the sixth when Rojas singled, stole second base, and came home on a hit from Bryson Stott.
Taijuan Walker earned his first career save by pitching the final three innings of the game. He allowed one single and fanned seven. Collectively, the Phillies outhit the Rays 11-2.
“That was fun,” said Walker, who kept the game ball as a memento. “Going out there, throwing strikes, getting outs, felt good. Body felt good and felt refreshed.”
Walker still has a starter’s arsenal of five pitches — sinker, cutter, slider, four-seam, and splitter — and he thought that the mix helped keep the Rays off-balance. All his pitches also trended faster than his season average.
“I knew at the most I had three innings, so I just kind of went out there, attacked, and was little more aggressive than usual,” Walker said. “I felt like I could empty the tank out a little bit more.”
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J.T. Realmuto fouled a ball off the top of his left foot in the seventh inning. He was checked out by trainers but finished his at-bat, which ended in a strikeout after 10 pitches. Realmuto was then removed for Rafael Marchán in the bottom of the inning with a bruised foot. Thomson said postgame that his level of concern was “zero.”
“We don’t even need X-rays,” Thomson said. “He’s walking around fine now; they treated it out. We’ll see how he comes in [Thursday].”
Kyle Schwarber, who singled twice, extended his on-base streak to 42 games.
“It just feels like everybody’s doing something, which is always nice,” Turner said. “Moving runners. Rojas had the great bunt, but we’re also driving the ball. So just total package.”