PHILADELPHIA — Righthander Kyle Gibson pounded his mitt to put the exclamation point on his 10th and final strikeout Saturday in what became a 4-2 Phillies triumph over the Oakland A’s at Citizens Bank Park.
It was the fourth time in nine seasons the now 34-year-old Gibson reached double-digit strikeouts, and a moral victory that he completed seven innings. He did so in style: allowing only two hits and not one A’s batter to reach second base through the game’s first seven innings.
Gibson’s effort dazzled his teammates and a crowd of 41,622 as well as the A’s. Phillies fans who watched Aaron Nola blow up the previous day in the seventh inning also were wondering.
“I was just trying to go out there and have fun, execute pitches and take a chance out there,” Gibson said.
Check, check and check.
Gibson finished one strikeout shy of the career-best of 11 that he’d recorded with the Minnesota Twins in a 9-1 win over Toronto in 2019. He said he relied on his sinker and changeup “inside and outside to the righties” and the “cutter and changeup to the lefties.”
That after spending extra time warming up for the game because he didn’t think he had his good stuff.
“Sometimes you feel really good warming up and you get hit around and you’re out of there in the second inning,” said Gibson, who didn’t issue a walk. “And sometimes like today you don’t feel great, and you figure it out there in the first inning.”
Gibson dug in after giving up a hit early in the game to strike out five of six A’s he faced. He had eight strikeouts through the first four innings.
Nick Castellanos gave Gibson a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a 426-foot shot with Bryce Harper aboard.
In the sixth inning Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura chased A’s starter and loser Cole Irvin with back-to-back homers to left-center field.
Three of the Phillies’ seven hits were homers. Including Kyle Schwarber’s shot in the opener, four different Phillies have homered over the first two games, both victories.
“Anytime you can get a lead like that early,” Gibson said, “you’re not worried about the solo home run, and you can just go out there and attack with nobody on base.”
Gibson applauded the Phillies’ defense for turning two double plays as well as the pitch-calling of All-Star catcher J.T. Realmuto.
Manager Joe Girardi wasn’t surprised about the numbers even though Gibson typically isn’t one to record a lot of strikeouts.
“He’s a pitcher that really does his homework and understands what he wants to do,” Girardi said. “Him and J.T. get on the same page and that’s what you get.”
The Phils’ bullpen of Jose Alvarado (one earned run), who allowed two hits and Corey Knebel (one unearned run) did enough to keep the door closed. They each registered a strikeout, giving the team 17 in the first two games.
“It’s been a focus of ours, throwing strikes and getting ahead in counts,” Girardi said. “I think it’s really important now, especially with your starters not being built up to normal innings that the way you get deeper in games is by getting ahead in the count.”
Harper reached base safely in 38 straight games at Citizens Bank Park, the longest such home streak in baseball.
Girardi earned the 1,100th win over his managerial career.
Alec Bohm had highlights in his first start at third. Bohm went 2-for-2 with a walk, although he was picked off first. Oh, and no errors, although in the tight game Girardi replaced him at the hot corner with Johan Camargo.
“There’s good energy in here,” Bohm said. “Everybody’s excited with the talent we have. But you can have all the talent you want on paper. We’ve got to go do it. And I think that’s kind of where we’re at. Everybody knows what we have. The feeling I get is we want to go prove it, too.”
