The Phillies’ Alec Bohm follows through after hitting a home run off of the Pirates’ Jared Jones during the fourth inning on Thursday.
Matt Rourke | AP photo
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PHILADELPHIA — Ranger Suárez struck out eight over six shutout innings, Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott hit two-run homers and Alec Bohm also went deep to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1 on Thursday night.
The Phillies won the opener of a season-high, 10-game homestand that included four with the Pirates, and three games each against the Colorado Rockies and Chicago White Sox.
Maybe an extended stay at home will get the Phillies bats on a tear.
Yes, it’s April and the merits of batting average as a significant statistic is debatable in baseball these days, but the Phillies entered with just three players in the starting lineup hitting above .240, while two — including All-Star outfielder Nick Castellanos — were below .170.
“We haven’t hit yet, that’s the biggest thing,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said before the game. “We haven’t slugged yet. I think our approach has been decent. But we just haven’t slugged. This team’s gonna slug at some point.”
How about in the fourth inning?
Bohm — who had no homers this season after hitting 20 last season — socked his first off Pirates starter Jared Jones over the outstretched glove of centerfielder Michael A. Taylor for the 1-0 lead.
How about in the seventh?
Marsh hit a two-run homer — after a brief review overturned a double call — in the inning that chased Jones. Stott also hit his first homer of the season, a two-run shot later in the inning off reliever Colin Holderman for a 5-0 lead — proving Thomson prophetic that his homer-happy team would start going deep.
“Just keep running them out there because we’re going to slug,” Thomson said. “If you don’t think we’re going to slug, you ain’t watching the games.”
Jones (1-2) was otherwise solid and struck out eight over 6 1/3 innings.
Suárez (2-0) was even better, and sent the surprising Pirates to their first back-to-back losses of the season. The Pirates are 5-1 this season against starting left-handers.
Bohm raised his right arm in triumph and was soundly cheered by 33,362 Phillies fans on the two-year anniversary of when the third baseman was caught muttering “ I (expletive) hate this place,” after committing his second error in a three-error game.
Bohm not only immediately moved past the misstep and grew into a fan favorite on a team that has made two straight playoff appearances, the Phillies will even offer a Bohm “I Love This Place” T-shirt next month as part of a promotion night.
Bohm made a sliding catch on a popup in foul territory to end the game.
ROYALS 13, ASTROS 3
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Bobby Witt Jr. had four hits, including two home runs, and five RBIs and Kansas City used a nine-run first inning to complete a three-game sweep of Houston and extend a winning streak to seven games.
Vinnie Pasquantino, who came into Wednesday’s game hitting .108 with no RBIs, was 3-for-5 with three RBIs and now is hitting .222 with eight RBIs.
The Royals completed a perfect seven-game homestand against the White Sox and Astros. It’s just the third time in franchise history they’ve played at least seven games on a homestand without a loss. The other two: seven games in 1988 and eight games in 1985, the year they won their first World Series.
Brady Singer (2-0) allowed one run and five hits in five innings.
Hunter Brown (0-2) got only two outs, but allowed nine runs and 11 hits.
The Royals sent 15 men to the plate in the first inning, tying a club record with 11 hits in the inning (also set in 1986 and 2006). It was the second straight game they’ve batted around in an inning, sending 11 men to the plate in a seven-run inning Wednesday night.
METS 16, BRAVES 4
DJ Stewart hit a two-run homer in New York’s four-run third inning and pinch-hitter Tyrone Taylor hit a ninth-inning grand slam to cap the rout as the Mets beat Atlanta.
Jose Quintana (1-1) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Jeff McNeil drove in three runs with two hits in the best game of the season for the Mets’ bats. New York set season highs for runs and with 16 hits.
Stewart’s homer, which gave the Mets a 7-0 lead, was his second of the series. The designated hitter had no hits this season before hitting a two-run homer in the Mets’ 8-7 win in the series opener on Monday night.
Infielder Luis Guillorme gave up the grand slam to Taylor in his first appearance with the Braves. Guillorme was used as a pitcher for the first time since appearances on the mound for the Mets in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.
New York won two of three games in the rain-shortened series and four of six games on the road trip.
ATHLETICS 1, RANGERS 0
ARLINGTON, Texas — JP Sears carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning and combined with three relievers on a one-hitter, Seth Brown homered to supply the game’s only run and Oakland beat Texas.
Sears (1-1) allowed leadoff walks in the first, second and fifth innings before Adolis García ended the no-hit bid by lining a one-out single to left field in the seventh on an 0-2 sweeper. The 28-year-old left-hander was was then pulled after throwing 88 pitches. He struck out five, including 2023 World Series MVP Corey Seager three times.
After García’s single, Austin Adams hit Jonah Heim with a pitch. Pinch-hitter Jared Walsh then hit a blooper between the mound and second base. Second baseman Zack Galof slid while attempting to make the catch, but dropped the ball. Adams picked up the ball and threw to third base to force García for the second out. Third baseman Abraham Toro then threw to second, forcing Heim and completing a bizarre inning-ending double play.
Adams and Luca Erceg didn’t allow hits in their relief stints and Mason Miller pitched a perfect ninth for his second save.
It was the second time this week that Texas was hitless until the sixth inning. Houston’s Ronel Blanco threw 5 2/3 no-hit innings in the Astros’ 3-1 win on Sunday night.