The Philadelphia Phillies got a huge boost from their bats on Thursday night with seven home runs smashed out of the park in Cincinnati. Three players each had two of those longballs apiece. In addition, their rookie pitcher Ranger Suarez made his debut in the 9-4 victory as the Phillies were able to gain more ground on the Braves.
The team’s seven home runs tied a franchise record set back on September 8, 1998, against the Mets, NBC Sports reported. Ironically, the Phillies and division rivals the Mets, are on the two longest win streaks in the National League right now. Each team has won three consecutive games.
As ESPN noted in their report, Rhys Hoskins, Maikel Franco, and Nick Williams hit two home runs each for the visitors. Carlos Santana produced the team’s seventh home run. The team racked up 18 hits in 43 at bats over nine innings with Williams going 4-5 in the game.
Hoskins connected on a first inning pitch to get his 20th home run of the season. Santana followed up for his 16th later in the inning. Williams would produce his first of two home runs in the third inning with a shot off of Michael Lorenzen. Franco made Lorenzen pay with his first shot two innings later.
Philadelphia manager Gabe Kapler said it was a “historic” night and added, “We were getting into deep counts and then doing damage at the end of those counts.”
In terms of the longest of the long balls in the game, Williams had the top two shots. His third inning blast traveled 422 feet to center. He would outdo that in the ninth inning with a shot that went 431 feet.
The Reds also participated a bit in the game’s unannounced home run derby. Eugenio Suarez and Tucker Barnhart had two-run homers off the rookie Ranger Suarez. However, the Phillies’ bats were too much. Suarez recorded three strikeouts and a walk over the five innings he pitched, ultimately picking up a win in his debut.
With the latest win, the Phillies improved to 58-44 to continue their stay atop the NL East. The Atlanta Braves currently trail them by 2.5 games after losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers, while the Washington Nationals are seven games back.
Next up for Philadelphia will be a Friday night game in Cincinnati beginning at 7:10 p.m. Eastern Time. Right-hander Nick Pivetta (6-8, 4.69 ERA) will be on the mound for the Phillies with right-handed pitcher Anthony DeSciafani (4-3, 5.40) scheduled to start for Cincinnati.
