Taijuan Walker makes season debut, Bryson Stott homers twice as Phillies sweep Padres

Final Score: Phillies 8, Padres 6

Taijuan Walker was an important piece to the puzzle for the Phillies last season. He started 31 games, covered 172 2/3 innings and kept the team in games when he pitched. The Phillies went 21-10 in his 31 starts a season ago. The right-hander didn’t pitch in the postseason, though. Then, the start to his 2024 season was delayed after being diagnosed with an impingement in his throwing shoulder late in spring training.

The veteran finally returned to the mound for the Phillies on Sunday afternoon. His season debut was a mixed bag. He started the game with two quick and effective innings. He was then hit around in the third, only to settle down for the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. San Diego got to Walker again in the seventh.

The Padres scored three runs off Walker in the third. Jurickson Profar worked a two-out walk. Fernando Tatis Jr. followed up with an RBI double. And Jake Cronenworth hit a two-run home run to give the Padres a lead.

Walker would settle down and allow just one hit over the next three innings. He started the seventh with the Phillies ahead 7-3. He was pulled with the Phillies ahead by just one run.

Walker got Jackson Merrill to fly out to begin the seventh frame. The right-hander then walked Ha-Seong Kim and allowed a single to Graham Pauley. Next up was a pinch hitter. Luis Campusano stepped to the plate for nine-hole hitter Kyle Higashioka. With runners now on first and second, Campusano swung at, and drove, a 1-1 sinker deep into left field for a three-run homer, bringing the Padres within a run.

Altogether, Walker was charged with six runs over 6 1/3 innings. He threw 90 pitches, landing 59 of them for strikes. He didn’t limit the Padres’ contact as they swung and missed just 10 times. Walker’s fastball, something he’d like to be able to dial up into the mid-90s, averaged a tad over 92 mph.

Jeff Hoffman took over for Walker in the seventh and ended the Padres’ threat. Yunior Marte and José Alvarado followed Hoffman out of the bullpen. And they both worked clean innings to finish the game.

Walker’s third-inning struggles followed his offense giving him an early lead. In the top of the second, Nick Castellanos worked a one-out walk off San Diego starter Michael King. Bryson Stott then came to the dish and delivered. The Phillies second baseman made King pay for a mistake — he hung a 1-1 slider — by launching a two-run homer.

Stott wasn’t done there.

Two innings later, in the top of the fourth, Castellanos worked another walk, this time with two outs. Stott found himself down in the count 0-2 quickly. King tried to sneak a fastball by the left-handed hitter, but the pitch caught too much of the plate. Stott took advantage again, hitting his second two-run home run of the game.

Sunday was the first multi-home run game of Stott’s career. He came into the game struggling offensively. He was demoted to the eighth spot in the Phillies’ lineup a few weeks ago. Entering Sunday, he was hitting .210/.275/.284 with just three extra-base hits. The 26-year-old has shown flashes at times this year but hasn’t consistently hit like he did last year. Maybe going deep twice can get him going.

Highlights

• Stott’s pair of homers weren’t the only ones for the Phillies on Sunday. J.T. Realmuto got a hold of the first pitch of his sixth-inning at-bat for a second-deck, two-run home run.

• Walker made a great behind-the-back catch in the bottom of the second, leading to a double play.

• Johan Rojas made a series of plays. He misread a fly ball in the first inning that got over his head and resulted in a double. He made up for that with a great catch in the sixth and by driving in an insurance run in the eighth with a ground-rule double after Stott stole second base.
• Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to 12 games and extra-base-hit streak to eight games with a first-inning double. Bohm went 3-for-5 with two doubles on Sunday and is now hitting .365 with a 1.056 OPS on the year.

Notes

• To make room for Taijuan Walker on the 26-man roster, the Phillies designated Ricardo Pinto for assignment before Sunday’s game.

Ticket IQ Next Game

• Monday, April 29 vs. Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium
• 9:38 p.m. ET
• TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
• Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680

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