Immaculate vibes return for Phillies in Saturday shellacking of Guardians

Final Score: Phillies 8, Guardians 0

The immaculate vibes that defined the first three months of the season for the Philadelphia Phillies — and have felt like they were missing during much of July — were back at Citizens Bank Park Saturday.

Left fielder Austin Hays was treated to a standing ovation prior to his first at-bat in red pinstripes.

Early in the game, word broke that the Phillies had acquired former All-Star reliever Carlos Estévez from the Los Angeles Angels.

And just after that, the Phillies hung seven runs on the Cleveland Guardians in the bottom of the fourth inning, thanks to a trio of home runs from Bryce Harper, Brandon Marsh and Kyle Schwarber. The first two homers came off of Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco, who is back in his second stint with the franchise that the Phillies traded him as a prospect to as part of the Cliff Lee trade nearly 15 years ago.

To cap things all off, Lumberton, New Jersey’s Tyler Phillips tossed a complete game shutout in his fourth career MLB game, and third start. Phillips allowed just four hits, while striking out four and walking one. He needed 105 pitches to become the fourth Phillie this season to toss a complete game, joining Ranger Suárez, Aaron Nola and Cristopher Sánchez.

Highlights

• After Trea Turner led off the bottom of the bottom of the fourth inning with an infield single, Harper got the Phillies on the board with an opposite-field homer. It was his 100th career shot at Citizens Bank Park, 86 of which have come since joining the Phillies in 2019. According to the Phillies, he’s the 13th player in MLB history to hit 100+ home runs at multiple stadiums, as he’s also gone yard 100 times at Nationals Park.

• Three batters later, Marsh hit a two-run home run of his own, this one off the facing of the second deck in right field. It was a much-needed moment for Marsh, who entered the evening with just a .552 OPS in July:

• Guardians skipper Stephen Vogt may very well win AL Manager of the Year this season, but his decision to bring in Nick Sandlan with runners on the corners to face Kyle Schwaber backfired:

• Nick Castellanos got in on the fun in the bottom of the sixth inning, hitting his 15th home run of the season, this one of the solo variety:

Notes

• Alec Bohm departed the game after the sixth in a precautionary move with a left ankle bruise.

• Saturday was yet another sellout at Citizens Bank Park, with 44,356 fans in attendance.

• Prior to the game, Phillies manager Rob Thomson issued a variety of injury updates, including on All-Star lefty Ranger Suárez.

Ticket IQ Next Game

• Sunday, July 28 vs. Guardians
• 1:35 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia, MLB Network (out of market only)
• Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
• Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680

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