Seizing his opportunity, Phillips helps Phillies snap skid and avoid sweep

PITTSBURGH — When you think about a stopper, you don't think of an unheralded rookie making his second career start but Tyler Phillips stepped into the role admirably on Sunday afternoon to prevent the Phillies from being swept.

Phillips held the Pirates scoreless over six innings to win his second straight start.

The Phillies won, 6-0, to snap a three-game losing streak. This weekend was the first time they lost the first two games of a series since Games 1 and 2 of the season, and they still haven't been swept. The 100th game of the season is Monday in Minnesota and the Phils will enter with a 63-36 record.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson admitted Sunday morning that he's been pleasantly surprised by what Phillips has accomplished thus far. Phillips' slider has been an effective pitch and his sinker has averaged more than 1 mph more than it did in the minors, perhaps because of the extra adrenaline at this level.

"I have a job to do," Phillips said. "You get out there and every game matters here. I think I just go out there and am in full compete mode. It ends up with me getting a win but I don't play the game for personal stats, I play to try with the ultimate goal of being able to win a World Series."

The No. 5 spot in the Phillies' rotation will belong to Phillips for the time being. Thomson said Sunday morning that he'd pitched well enough so far that a stumble Sunday wouldn't cost him his spot, and he sure didn't stumble.

"He goes after hitters and he throws strikes," Thomson said. "With the stuff he's got, he's going to get people out."

Taijuan Walker will throw a bullpen session in Minnesota and is slated to pitch live batting practice next weekend at home, but he is unlikely to return to the rotation until mid-to-late August, meaning Phillips should take at least four or five more turns.

"Guys haven't seen me," Phillips said. "I just have to go out there and throw strikes and trust the preparation I've done all week."

In 16 major-league innings, Phillips has allowed five runs with 15 strikeouts and just one walk. Thomson talks often about trying to get pitchers out of the game on a positive note and he could have pulled Phillips after five efficient innings because the most dangerous part of the Pirates' order was due up in the sixth for the third time, with three lefties among the first four hitters.

But Phillips turned in his best inning of the day when it mattered most, retiring Bryan Reynolds, Oneil Cruz and Nick Gonzales 1-2-3 with a two-run lead.

"I thought he had the game in hand," Thomson said. "Very low pitch count, he was throwing strikes, the stuff was good. He had a good sinker all day. The slider or slurve was really good. Not a lot of hard contact. I thought he was in command."

The Phillies made loud contact in the first inning against veteran lefty Marco Gonzales but had nothing to show for it. Kyle Schwarber crushed a lineout to deep left-center and was robbed at the wall by Joshua Palacios. Bryce Harper narrowly missed a homer two batters later when he smoked a ball to a step in front of the wall in right-center.

The second inning was more fruitful. Alec Bohm led off with a single, advanced to third on an Edmundo Sosa double and both scored when Weston Wilson and Garrett Stubbs followed with a sacrifice fly and RBI single.

The Phillies added three unearned insurance runs in the top of the seventh with a Trea Turner RBI single, Harper RBI groundout and Alec Bohm RBI single. Cruz opened the door by dropping a ball at second base in his haste to turn a double play, allowing both Stubbs and Schwarber to reach safely. They both scored, as did Turner. It could have very easily been a scoreless inning if Cruz didn't try to do too much.

Yunior Marte, Jose Alvarado and Jose Ruiz closed out the six-run win. Alvarado bounced back with a scoreless eighth inning against the same hitters that hurt him on Friday. He popped up Andrew McCutchen and struck out Bryan Reynolds and Cruz.

"It was kind of a lower-leverage situation and that was as good as I've seen him in a while," Thomson said.

The Phils now move on to Minnesota, where they'll start Ranger Suarez, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. The Twins will be without their hottest hitter, Carlos Correa, who was placed on the injured list out of the All-Star break with plantar fasciitis.

"We did a lot of little things well today," Thomson said. "It was big. We needed to get back on the winning side. I think that makes everybody feel good and we'll have a happy flight and go into Minnesota and start all over again."