It was a forgettable evening for starting pitcher Andrew Painter as the Philadelphia Phillies were clobbered by the Athletics, 12-1, on Thursday night at Citizens Bank Park in South Philadelphia.
Despite the defeat, Philadelphia still claimed the series win after a pair of wins earlier this week.
Painter allowed four runs to score on his first four batters of the night to the hometown team behind the eight-ball before they had their first offensive swings at the plate.
The rookie allowed eight runs (all earned) on seven hits, with two strikeouts and three walks. The first-year starter was hit hard by the Athletics as they avoided the three-game series sweep in Philly.
These are the nights a young pitcher will learn a lot from in the Majors.
Shea Langeliers, Brent Rooker, and Carlos Cortes all produced at least two hits as the Athletics pounded Phillies pitching to open up a 7-0 advantage through three innings.
The A’s finished out the win with 13 hits on the night, compared to just six hits for Philadelphia, including a pair of base knocks with two outs in the ninth inning.
The Athletics never let up offensively and tacked on runs in the fourth, fifth, and seventh innings to stretch their lead to an insurmountable advantage.
Schwarber launched a missile above the right field wall to trim the lead to 8-1 in the fourth inning for his 12th homer of the season.
However, that was about it for the sleepy offense as the Phillies found the losing column for just the second time under interim skipper Don Mattingly.
Garrett Stubbs pitched a clean ninth inning as he shut down the Athletics on five pitches, including a sliding catch from Brandon Marsh to end the inning.
Stubbs led off the top of the ninth to a loud ovation from the Phillies fans despite trailing in the ballgame, 12-1. It was just about the only enjoyable moment (sans the Schwarbomb) on Thursday.
Philadelphia will be right back in action tomorrow night as they begin a three-game weekend series against the Colorado Rockies.
Jesus Luzardo (3-3, 5.09 ERA) is scheduled to battle Chase Dollander (3-2, 3.38 ERA) in the first game of the series, starting at 6:40 PM in South Philadelphia.
