Category: Sports News

Phillies ride 5-run 1st inning, Sanchez's 12 strikeouts to win over Giants  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies jumped on the Giants in the first inning Thursday and let Cristopher Sanchez do much of the rest.

With a 6-4 win at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies salvaged a four-game series split against San Francisco and improved to 11-8 overall. They still haven’t lost a series at home since being swept by the Yankees in late July of last season. 

The Phillies tallied five runs in the first. Sanchez set a new career high with 12 strikeouts over seven innings and only walked one. He allowed four hits and three runs (two earned). 

Sanchez conceded a first-inning run, but he was soon working with a healthy lead. The first five Phillies reached base. Bryson Stott, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos all singled. Bryce Harper walked.

The Phils smoked Jordan Hicks’ high-90s heaters and extended their lead to 5-1 when Alec Bohm lined a two-out triple that Luis Matos couldn’t snag on the center field warning track.

Both offenses then quieted down. Hicks righted the ship and Sanchez got rolling. He struck out eight Giants over the first four innings. 

Sanchez’s changeup was extraordinarily deceptive and well-located, fading out of the zone and flummoxing San Francisco’s lineup.

“It was as good as you’re going to get, I think … as good as I’ve seen,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “A lot of swing and miss. It was just diving into the ground.”

Out of 29 swings against Sanchez’s changeup, 22 were whiffs. He leaned on his elite pitch without growing too predictable, throwing changeups on a little over half of his pitches (50 of 97).

“It was kind of tough to see out there,” J.T. Realmuto said. “Once the shadows roll in, it makes it that much harder to be able to recognize spin and off speed. That’s why we started using it a little more often.”

The Giants trimmed their deficit in the sixth inning. Turner made his second error of the day with a wayward throw to first and Matt Chapman ripped a hanging Sanchez slider into the left field seats. 

Sanchez plunked Mike Yastrzemski to lead off the seventh, but he navigated around it by racking up two more strikeouts and inducing a groundout to Stott. 

“My key for today was go as long as I could,” Sanchez said through a Phillies interpreter. “Our bullpen’s a little tired, so I wanted to contribute on that.”

The Phillies added an insurance run in the eighth inning — Edmundo Sosa’s sac fly scored Harper from third — and asked Orion Kerkering and Jose Alvarado to notch the final six outs.

Kerkering tossed a 1-2-3 eighth. Alvarado gave up a solo homer to Tyler Fitzgerald but ultimately polished off the victory.

Castellanos pulled, Marsh sidelined 

Castellanos exited Thursday’s game after six innings because of left hip flexor tightness and Sosa entered. According to Thomson, Castellanos “should be good to go tomorrow.” 

Brandon Marsh sat after hurting his right knee during the Phillies’ loss Wednesday.

“The play that he fell down on where the ball skipped on him, he kind of turned his knee a little bit … just twisted it,” Thomson told reporters pregame. “He’s a little sore, so we’re going to keep him out today.” 

Thomson said postgame that Marsh has “just kind of a strain behind the knee,” is considered “day-to-day,” and is not expected to require an IL stint. 

Blueprint for Suarez 

After Ranger Suarez’s rehab start Wednesday at Single A Clearwater, Thomson laid out the lefty’s next steps.

“He’ll be here tomorrow,” Thomson told reporters. “He’ll throw a bullpen with us. We’ll get our trainers to get their hands on him. And then it’s probably going to be Tuesday again in (Triple A Lehigh Valley).” 

Suarez threw 54 pitches Wednesday and is still ramping up.

“In theory, next time out you go to 70, 75,” Thomson said. “Then 90, 95. Then we’ll see.”

On deck

Zack Wheeler (1.1, 4.07 ERA) will face Sandy Alcantara (2-0, 4.70 ERA) on Friday night to kick off the Phillies’ three-game series vs. the Marlins.  

Phillies ride 5-run 1st inning, Sanchez's 12 strikeouts to win over Giants  originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies jumped on the Giants in the first inning Thursday and let Cristopher Sanchez do much of the rest.

With a 6-4 win at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies salvaged a four-game series split against San Francisco and improved to 11-8 overall. They still haven’t lost a series at home since being swept by the Yankees in late July of last season. 

The Phillies tallied five runs in the first. Sanchez set a new career high with 12 strikeouts over seven innings and only walked one. He allowed four hits and three runs (two earned). 

Sanchez conceded a first-inning run, but he was soon working with a healthy lead. The first five Phillies reached base. Bryson Stott, Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Nick Castellanos all singled. Bryce Harper walked.

The Phils smoked Jordan Hicks’ high-90s heaters and extended their lead to 5-1 when Alec Bohm lined a two-out triple that Luis Matos couldn’t snag on the center field warning track.

Both offenses then quieted down. Hicks righted the ship and Sanchez got rolling. He struck out eight Giants over the first four innings. 

Sanchez’s changeup was extraordinarily deceptive and well-located, fading out of the zone and flummoxing San Francisco’s lineup. Out of 29 swings against Sanchez’s changeup, 22 were whiffs. He leaned on his elite pitch without growing too predictable, throwing changeups on a little over half of his pitches (50 of 97).

The Giants trimmed their deficit in the sixth inning. Turner made his second error of the day with a wayward throw to first and Matt Chapman ripped a hanging Sanchez slider into the left field seats. 

Sanchez plunked Mike Yastrzemski to lead off the seventh, but he navigated around it by racking up two more strikeouts and inducing a groundout to Stott. 

The Phillies added an insurance run in the eighth inning — Edmundo Sosa’s sac fly scored Harper from third — and asked Orion Kerkering and Jose Alvarado to notch the final six outs.

Kerkering tossed a 1-2-3 eighth. Alvarado gave up a solo homer to Tyler Fitzgerald but ultimately polished off the victory.

Castellanos pulled, Marsh sidelined 

Castellanos exited Thursday’s game after six innings because of left hip flexor tightness and Sosa entered. 

Brandon Marsh sat after hurting his right knee during the Phillies’ loss Wednesday.

“The play that he fell down on where the ball skipped on him, he kind of turned his knee a little bit … just twisted it,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters pregame. “He’s a little sore, so we’re going to keep him out today.” 

Thomson was unsure how long Marsh would be out.

“He’s going to see the doc and then we’ll re-evaluate,” he said. 

Blueprint for Suarez 

After Ranger Suarez’s rehab start Wednesday at Single A Clearwater, Thomson laid out the lefty’s next steps.

“He’ll be here tomorrow,” Thomson told reporters. “He’ll throw a bullpen with us. We’ll get our trainers to get their hands on him. And then it’s probably going to be Tuesday again in (Triple A Lehigh Valley).” 

Suarez threw 54 pitches Wednesday and is still ramping up.

“In theory, next time out you go to 70, 75,” Thomson said. “Then 90, 95. Then we’ll see.”

On deck

Zack Wheeler (1.1, 4.07 ERA) will face Sandy Alcantara (2-0, 4.70 ERA) on Friday night to kick off the Phillies’ three-game series vs. the Marlins.  

Shohei Ohtani is not publicly known, nor personally sees himself, as a quick starter at the plate.

"Overall, in my career,” he said through interpreter Will Ireton, “I don't really have a hot start in the beginning of the season.”

This year, that’s technically true again — but only if you hold the reigning National League MVP to his own stratospheric standards.

Through the opening three weeks, all of Ohtani’s triple-slash stats are down from last year (.288/.380/.550), but only because his 2024 marks (.310/.390/.646) all topped the NL. Same story with a .930 OPS that is more than 100 points lower than his gaudy 2024 total, but still good enough to rank top 20 in the majors.

Read more:Bobby Miller struggles, but Dodgers complete sweep of Rockies

With six home runs and five stolen bases, Ohtani isn’t quite on mathematical pace for another 50-homer, 50-steal season; but is on an early track to become the first player in MLB history with multiple 40/40 campaigns.

And though he has taken a few more awkward swings than normal in the opening three weeks, he has started honing in on his power stroke, too, leading off Wednesday’s win over the Colorado Rockies with a towering 448-foot blast that almost cleared the right-field pavilion.

“I think overall,” he said, “it's been a really good first 20 games."

The only true area of regression so far has been in one statistical category; where a glaring drop in production has signaled a key early-season problem for the team.

After racking up 130 RBIs in 159 games last year, Ohtani has just eight in this season’s opening 20 contests. Seven of them have come via his six home runs (all but one of which were solo shots). Not until Wednesday, when he returned to the plate in a seven-run first inning and knocked in Austin Barnes with an RBI single, did he record his first hit with a runner in scoring position.

“Shohei’s in a good spot,” manager Dave Roberts said recently. “We just need to get some guys on base for him.”

That reality said more about the rest of the team’s offense than its superstar leadoff man.

From the Nos. 7-9 spots in the batting order, the Dodgers have posted a .173 batting average so far, tied for worst in the majors. Prior to Wednesday, they’d given Ohtani just nine plate appearances with runners in scoring position (tied with No. 2 hitter Mookie Betts for fewest among the team’s regulars). In four of those spots, he was walked.

It created an early-season conundrum for Roberts, as he tried to shake the team out of a recent offensive lull. Should he consider dropping Ohtani in the lineup, where he could get more RBI opportunities? Or should he give his offense more time to find its footing, and hope his bottom-half hitters began heating up at the plate?

“I just feel that there’s guys who are gonna perform better than they have,” Roberts said this week, opting for the latter. “Shohei will ultimately get those opportunities.”

And on Wednesday, he finally saw signs that could be happening.

In an 8-7 win over the Rockies, the Dodgers got five hits and a walk from their bottom three hitters.

One was provided by Barnes, the backup catcher who didn’t have a hit all season before doubling in the first in front of Ohtani.

The others came from more important pieces of the Dodgers’ lineup construction: Max Muncy and Andy Pages.

Bottom-of-the-order staples who are both batting under .200 to begin the season, Muncy and Pages had arguably their best games of the year Wednesday. Pages, the second-year center fielder, went two for four with three RBIs, continuing improvements that began during his two-homer series in Washington last week.

“He is swinging the bat a lot better,” Roberts said.

Muncy, meanwhile, reached base three times with the help of a recent adjustment to his own slumping swing.

In an effort to stay more on top of the ball at the plate this year, Muncy spent his offseason purposely trying to hit grounders and low line drives. In doing so, however, he realized he had begun lurching forward in his swing. As a result, he gave himself less time to read pitches and make proper swing decisions. And even when he did, he wasn’t driving the ball like usual.

“The ball sped up on me the first few series of the season and I really wasn't myself,” Muncy said. “I was chasing a lot of stuff and I was unable to recognize it.”

Read more:Dodgers' Clayton Kershaw throws three scoreless innings in rehab start

But now, he has returned to staying back in his stance and is looking for pitches to elevate. Amid a series in which Muncy walked six times, Roberts felt he also took his best at-bat of the season against left-hander Luis Peralta on Wednesday night, launching one deep fly just foul before ripping a single into right field.

“When he's getting on base, and it was a ton this series, then that's a good thing,” Roberts said. “So I do think that he’s turned a corner, yeah.”

The Dodgers hope that the rest of their bottom-half hitters will do so as well.

Because the more Ohtani heats up as the season progresses, the more important it will be to have guys getting on base in front of him.

Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Lee, Hicks detail bizarre umpire exchange in Giants' loss to Phillies originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

PHILADELPHIA — Giants starting pitcher Jordan Hicks gave up five runs in the first inning Thursday and then threw six straight shutout frames. Afterward, he said he pitched “with some anger and some passion” and that wasn’t hard to see. 

Hicks exchanged words with the Philadelphia Phillies dugout and hitters several times in San Francisco’s 6-4 loss At Citizens Bank Park, but he also had a moment with home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi, who ran over to yell at Hicks as he walked off the field in the seventh. The pitcher wasn’t the only one who found himself in Cuzzi’s crosshairs, though.

Jordan Hicks was visibly upset after he walked off the field in the seventh 😬 pic.twitter.com/0MVTkx5FnR

— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) April 17, 2025

After the final pitch, Cuzzi went over to the railing between the visiting dugout and the tunnel that goes back to the umpire’s room. He had a short conversation with outfielder Jung Hoo Lee and interpreter Justin Han as several Giants gathered. Lee said it was an odd misunderstanding.

Lee pinch-hit with two outs in the ninth and reached on an infield single. On a 1-1 count, he took a pitch at the bottom of the zone for strike two and tapped his helmet. Cuzzi apparently thought Lee was going through the act of challenging a call, and he briefly said something to Lee. After Christian Koss grounded out to end the game, the two discussed the moment again.

“Everybody that watches Giants games probably knows that every pitch that I go, I adjust my helmet. It’s every pitch,” Lee said through Han. “I told him that I don’t speak English and the umpire said something, and I kept saying I don’t speak English. I think that’s what happened. The umpire had a sensitive game. Probably, that’s what happened in the game today.”

Crew chief Dan Bellino said Cuzzi went over to get clarification over what Lee was trying to convey with the head tap. Players were allowed to use that move to challenge balls and strikes in spring training but cannot during the regular season, and Cuzzi told Lee he shouldn’t tap his helmet after a pitch he disagrees with. Bellino said the Giants bench asked Cuzzi after the game why he had said something to Lee. 

“Because of what we experimented with in spring training … throughout Major League Baseball, we’re not letting them tap their heads,” Bellino told a pool reporter. “That would be arguing balls and strikes. So, it’s the same as arguing balls and strikes. I’m not saying that’s what he was doing or not. Phil was telling him, ‘Hey, you can’t tap your head right after a pitch that you disagree with because it looks as though you’re arguing balls and strikes.’ But obviously with the language barrier there, I don’t know if Lee really understood what he was saying. I think that was part of the miscommunication.”

There was no such miscommunication with Hicks, who drilled Trea Turner with a 101 mph fastball and then heard from the Phillies dugout. Hicks also got angry when Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm stepped out of the box late. The right-hander and the Phillies’ bench exchanged words and glares a couple of times, and Bellino said Cuzzi followed Hicks off the field in the seventh to defuse the situation. 

“I wasn’t talking to him at all, so I didn’t want him in my face, so I just kind of walked away and defused the situation,” Hicks said. “It was pretty much all game, back and forth, everywhere. It was just one of those days.”

Third baseman Matt Chapman went to the mound a couple of times during the game to calm Hicks, who gave the Giants seven innings on a day when the bullpen was down two or three arms. Chapman smiled after the game and said both Hicks and Cuzzi are competitive.

“It was two guys clashing a little bit. Both of them are a little hotheaded,” he said. “I’m glad nothing bad came out of it and Hicks was able to stay in the game and you saw how huge that was for us. I love the competitive spirit. I’m glad things didn’t get out of hand.”

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