By Sam Bush
Two months into the 2023 season, the Phillies are 25-28, seven games behind the first-place Braves in NL East.
Last season at this point, they were 22-29, which led to Rob Thomson replacing Joie Girardi as manager.
It doesn’t seem like the Phils are much better off.
But they are.
Especially when you consider the raft of injuries that hit the team.
Last night Ronald Acuña Jr., hit a run-scoring triple in the fifth before Matt Olson’s second homer to center. Acuña had two singles in the first when the Braves sent 11 batters to the plate, collected seven hits and opened a 7-0 lead. Led by Acuña and Olson, who had three hits, the Braves set a season high with 20 hits.
Strider (5-2) struck out nine while pitching six innings of two-run ball. The right-hander fired a called third strike past Nick Castellanos for the first out of the fourth, giving him 100 strikeouts in 61 innings and topping Jacob deGrom’s 61 2/3 innings in 2021 as the fastest to 100 in the modern era.
Phillies shortstop Trea Turner and left fielder Kyle Schwarber each committed an error on a grounder by Orlando Arcia, setting up two unearned runs in the inning.
Strider walked Kody Clemens to open the third. Brandon Marsh followed with a two-run homer for the Phillies’ first hit. Schwarber hit a two-run homer off Collin McHugh in the seventh.
