Despite a lack of power by his team, Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson kept saying that the runs would start coming in bunches.
Thomson was right.
After scoring five or more runs in back-to-back games for the first time this season, the Phillies will look to record their fourth straight win on Friday when they open a three-game series against the visiting Chicago White Sox.
Kyle Schwarber homered twice and Trea Turner also went deep as the Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Colorado Rockies with a 7-6 victory on Wednesday.
“We know who we are in this room,” Schwarber said. “I think you’re going to get better versions of players as we keep going throughout this year. There’s a lot of guys who have been staples in this game for a long time, and I think it’s going to be really cool to see a lot of these guys who are younger and going to be making their name in the game and seeing where they end up. That’s the cool thing for us.”
Turner has recorded an extra-base hit in five straight games. He’s 17-for-40 with four doubles, two home runs and four RBIs in his last 10 games.
“I’m just trying to take my at-bat and whatever that turns into,” Turner said. “But, yeah, the momentum was in the first. The at-bats by everybody. I just thought we hit the ball well in general.”
The Phillies will hand the ball to right-hander Spencer Turnbull (1-0, 1.80 ERA) to start Friday’s game.
Turnbull is 0-3 with a 6.52 ERA in five career starts against the White Sox.
Chicago snapped a six-game losing streak with a 2-1 win over the Kansas City Royals in the second game of a doubleheader on Wednesday.
Former bullpen standout Garrett Crochet is scheduled to start for the White Sox.
Crochet (1-2, 3.57 ERA) has yet to face the Phillies in his career.
The 24-year-old left-hander started on Opening Day and leads the American League with 31 strikeouts entering play on Thursday.
In Crochet’s last start, he struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings against the Cincinnati Reds. But he also allowed five runs on four hits with three walks.
“I felt like I was kind of searching for something the first two innings just because my command wasn’t there, but I chalked that up to more of not being as competitive in the zone as I have been,” Crochet said after the outing. “I was focusing too much on hitting spots and not enough on throwing strikes.
“With the three walks, you could tell that came back to bite me. Competing in the zone, that’s my game. Today it took me far too long and I had already thrown too many pitches before I started.”
Gavin Sheets hit a solo home run to help key the White Sox in the second game of their doubleheader on Wednesday.
Paul DeJong produced five hits in the doubleheader.
“To win a tight game against a team that’s kind of beaten us all year, that’s special for us,” DeJong said.
Outfielder Tommy Pham was expected to report to Triple-A Charlotte after signing a minor league deal with the White Sox on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media