Phillies offense gets big hits late in home opener after Super Bowl champion Eagles are honored

By Canadian Press on March 31, 2025.

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Saquon Barkley and Brandon Graham raised the Lombardi Trophy after a pair of first pitches that had Philadelphia Phillies fans roaring in delight for the Super Bowl champions.

The 2024 NL East champion Phillies needed a little emotional support in their home opener from the Eagles across the street when the hardest hits through six innings could be found in a Graham highlight reel.

Trailing 1-0 against the Colorado Rockies with two runners on base in the seventh inning and two out, the Phillies put Graham on the big screen and he raised his arms exhorting the crowd to get loud.

Edmundo Sosa delivered for the just-retired Graham. Sosa ripped a go-ahead, two-run double and Kyle Schwarber followed with a mammoth homer to center field to rally the Phillies to a 6-1 win on Monday.

Like sliced ribeye steak and Cheez Whiz, there are few combinations in Philly that pair quite as well as a Super Bowl celebration and a Phillies home-opening win.

The Eagles stars from this past season were a surprise for everyone, even the two Phillies asked to catch them. Outfielder Brandon Marsh already caught one ceremonial first pitch.

Marsh hadn’t been clued in as to who was on deck. Just the Eagles’ career leader in regular-season games played in Graham and only the ninth 2,000-yard season rusher in NFL history in Barkley.

“I didn’t even know we had two jefes coming out from the other side of the street,” Marsh said. “That was pretty cool seeing those guys.”

The celebration cooled when Colorado starter Germán Márquez struck out four and walked none over six scoreless innings. He did give up a hit to Alec Bohm and his torpedo bat.

It was a whirlwind of late offense again for the Phillies — no torpedo necessary — who touched the Rockies’ bullpen for all six runs in the rally.

The late offense is a common theme already in Philadelphia’s 3-1 start.

Take the season opener against Washington: MacKenzie Gore recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts and allowed one hit in six shutout innings. Bryce Harper and Schwarber hit first-pitch homers off relievers to put Philadelphia up 2-1 in a 7-3 victory.

Game 2, it was a five-run sixth inning in another win. In the finale against Washington, the Phillies trailed 5-0 in the ninth but loaded the bases with none out before losing 5-1.

“I’d like to get to the starters here pretty quick,” manager Rob Thomson said. “It’s anxious to come down to the end.”

Trea Turner had the plate appearance of the game for the Phillies.

Turner had missed the past two games with back spasms and was out of the starting lineup in the home opener.

He pinch-hit in the seventh with a runner on and two outs against reliever Scott Alexander. Turner fell behind 0-2 before taking four straight balls to reach base.

Sosa knocked in the go-ahead runs with his second double of the game. Schwarber then connected for his third homer of the season, a 434-foot drive — there’s a reason his homers are called Schwarbombs — that made it 4-2.

“It’s easy to kind of look at it and everyone be frustrated, shocked,” at the lack of offense, Schwarber said. “But you’ve got that in the back of your heard knowing that we’re capable of doing that. Keep the same mindset throughout the whole game.”

Max Kepler and Nick Castellanos hit back-to-back homers in the eighth for a 6-1 lead.

Phillies starter Cristopher Sánchez struck out seven over 5 1/3 innings and allowed Hunter Goodman’s solo homer in the sixth. Four relievers combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings to preserve the win.

Schwarber, Castellanos and Kepler delivered the decisive blows.

Just don’t forget to give an assist to the Eagles.

“You bring us the big guns there with Saquon and BG,” Schwarber said. “Get them going even more. We rally late. We feel the energy and we want to keep the energy.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Dan Gelston, The Associated Press

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