17 hits? In this economy?: Phillies 9, Mariners 0

After a hugely disappointing stint at home, Joe Girardi mentioned how it might be nice for the team to get out on the road, away from home, to try and get something started. Girardi has taken a lot of heat lately (deservedly so), but if last night was any indication, he might be right.

Facing the Mariners for the first time in ages, the Phillies’ offense finally perked up and had all engines revving. Pounding out 17 hits off Seattle’s pitching staff, they finally looked complete and whole.

Jean Segura got the fun start when he finally got his impressive looking peripheral stats to match up with the in game production, drilling a home run that looked like it got about ten feet off of the ground.

That brought up Rhys Hoskins, who has again attracted the scorn of the fanbase with his Siberian-esque cold streak. It’s nothing new for Hoskins as he has one of these streaks once a season, but this time, several chances that he missed on may have changed the course of several games. Standing in against Chris Flexen, Hoskins stayed back juuuuust long enough on a curveball to hook it inside the foul pole for a solo shot that made it 2-0.

In the third inning, Nick Castellanos, who has been scuffling a tad, doubled to center, then scored on a single by J.T. Realmuto. In the fifth, one out singles from Alec Bohm and Bryce Harper put runners on the corners for Castellanos, who delivered with another double that brought Bohm home and sent Harper to third. Realmuto dumped a ball in front of left field, making it 5-0.

Segura hit into a force out, beating out the play to avoid the double play and give the Phillies their sixth run of the game.

Meanwhile, on the mound, Ranger Suarez just kept rolling along. The Mariners were trying to swing early and often, but that doesn’t always work with Ranger. He just kept getting outs against the Mariners, eventually racking up six innings of shutout ball before handing the game over to the bullpen. Francisco Morales would make his major league debut with two innings of solid work, perhaps raising the eyebrows of decision makers about whether or not he should be sent back to the minors.

In the seventh, the Phillies closed out the scoring with a single and a stolen base from Harper, another RBI hit from Castellanos, then singles from Segura and Hoskins to eventually drive the score to the final 9-0 tally.

This was a game the team needed. Especially for someone like Hoskins, who desperately needs to get going for this offense to feel complete. It was possibly the most complete team win of the year and something they need to build off of tonight.