'I was fighting back tears': Phillips wins first MLB start in front of hometown fans

PHILADELPHIA -- A few hours before making his first Major League start, Tyler Phillips walked into the Phillies clubhouse Saturday in a T-shirt and shorts. Reliever José Alvarado called for his attention from his perch in a corner locker.

“Today is your day,” Alvarado said.

Thanks to Phillips’ six-plus solid innings, and timely contributions from Johan Rojas and Nick Castellanos, his day turned out A-OK. Rojas homered and made another spectacular catch in center -- his second of the week -- and Castellanos drove in four runs as the Phillies beat the A’s, 11-5, at Citizens Bank Park.

Phillips wasn’t quite as sharp as he was in his Major League debut on July 7, when he struck out seven in relief against the Braves, but he was plenty good enough in his first career start in the ballpark he grew up attending as a fan. Phillips allowed four runs on six hits over six-plus innings, striking out six and walking none.

No one could blame Phillips if he had early nerves. A native of Lumberton, N.J., he went to high school at Bishop Eustace Prep, just 7 1/2 miles across the Walt Whitman Bridge from the ballpark. Many among the sold-out crowd of 44,231 were family and friends. They made their presence known when Phillips took the field alone to open the game -- an idea hatched by Bryce Harper.

“Every moment that I’ve had since I’ve been called up, I’ve just been choked up,” Phillips said. “My throat’s been feeling weird, my heart’s been racing every time I come across the bridge to the field.”

Once he got the lead, Phillps settled in, retiring eight straight batters after giving up a leadoff single in the fourth. He needed just seven pitches to get through the sixth. Phillips then left to a standing ovation in the seventh -- and with the lead -- after surrendering back-to-back hits to open the inning, including a solo homer by Brent Rooker.

“It was damn near impossible [to keep it together],” Phillips said. “I know what a standing-O means in Philly, and I wasn’t expecting that for myself. To have that many people standing behind me, it means something. My passion for this city -- I was fighting back tears. I was choked up real bad.”

With a runner on and the Phillies already trailing 1-0 in the second inning, Phillips escaped trouble thanks to a terrific reaching grab by Rojas, who sprinted toward the warning track in center field to keep the Phillies close.

“I thought it was burning him,” Phillips said. “But just when you think it’s going to burn him, he’s there to get it. [Rojas] said in the dugout, ‘Man, you know me. I got ‘em.’ He’s made countless plays behind me in the Minor Leagues, and just to be able to settle in after that, I think it was a big momentum-shifter.”

Phillips became one of just six players who’ve debuted since 1893 to record at least 12 strikeouts and zero walks in his first two career appearances. That’s enough, manager Rob Thomson said, to earn him another turn in the starting rotation.

“He threw strikes, he was really efficient,” Thomson said. “He made an adjustment in-game, I don’t know whether it was him or [catcher Garrett Stubbs]. He was throwing a lot of breaking balls early and they started getting on him. Then he went to his sinker and it had really good life on it. He started getting a lot of soft contact and broken bats.”

The Phillies’ offense, meanwhile, shook off its doldrums from the series opener. Castellanos and Trea Turner also homered against A’s starter Mitch Spence, who allowed six earned runs on five hits over 3 2/3 innings.

The A’s brought the tying run to the plate in both the seventh and eighth innings, but the Phillies bullpen worked through the jams. Harper added to the Phillies lead with a solo shot in the seventh to give him a home run against every Major League team. Harper then broke it open with a two-run double in the eighth.

That saved the storybook day for Phillips, who, true to Philly form, plans to spend the All-Star break down the Jersey Shore with his family. But first, he had more immediate plans.

“Right now,” Phillips said. “I just want to go get a cheesesteak.”