Phillies down Brewers 3-1, Hoskins returns with a homer

Phillies’ ace Zack Wheeler took the mound for the Phillies in his 13th start of the year, facing off against the NL Central-leading Brewers.

Quick 1-2-3 innings in the 1st for both teams moved the game quickly to what every Phillies fan came to see: the return of Rhys Hoskins. Wheeler had struck out the 1st 2 batters in the inning and now came Rhys. Wheeler had faced Hoskins 22 times before as a Met and held him to a .200 batting average.

Welcome Home, Rhys

Hoskins’ return to the Citizens Bank Park batter’s box was delayed almost a whole minute as the 43,553 fans gave him a lengthy standing ovation. He patted JT Realmuto on the back and lifted his helmet to the fans. He worked a 3-1 count against Wheeler and then popped up to Edmundo Sosa at shortstop.

The Phillies’ offense came to life in the bottom of the 2nd. After Nick Castellanos reached on a fielder’s choice, the Phillies reeled off 3 straight singles to take a 2-0 lead. Included in the bunch was David Dahl’s first hit as a Phillie. Edmundo Sosa and Johan Rojas recorded an RBI each on their singles.

In the top of the 3rd, Zack Wheeler got into some trouble, loading the bases with nobody out. That trouble ended quickly as Wheeler initiated a rare 1-2-3 double play. He struck out William Contreras to end the threat.

Wheeler followed that gutsy performance up with 2 strikeouts in the 4th. He got former MVP Christian Yelich looking and got Willy Adames swinging. In the 5th, Wheeler walked Hoskins who ended up stealing 2nd base. Blake Perkins singled with 2 outs and Hoskins rounded 3rd to try to score. Johan Rojas’ arm had something to say about that as he gunned down Rhys at home plate.

In the 6th, a leadoff single by Brice Turang quickly turned into a double play. He again flashed his glove to record the final out of the inning. Rhys Hoskins came up to bat again in the 7th. This time, he made it count with his first-ever home run off of Zack Wheeler, making the score 3-1. Zack Wheeler ended up finishing the 7th with 114 pitches.

Phillies win another opener

Jeff Hoffman came on for the Phillies in the 8th. He sat down the Brewers 1-2-3. That led to Jose Alvarado coming in to close things out in the 9th. He started by striking out Yelich on 3 pitches.

It was Alvarado’s 400th K of his career. Gary Sanchez pinch hit for Sal Frelick with 2 outs. He lined out to Alec Bohm at 3rd for the Phillies’ 42nd win of the season. With the save, Alvarado now has 10 on the season.

On the 2-year anniversary of Rob Thomson taking over as manager, the Phillies earned him his 197th win.

Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)