Apr 12, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (61) pitches in the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images
On good days, this Phillies team can make baseball look pretty easy.
Saturday was a good day. And the Phils beat the Cardinals in St. Louis, 4-1.
Great team win for the fellas#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/zz1pNfX7cy
The Phillies scored two runs in the first on a Nick Castellanos double. That was very much needed after scoring two runs over their previous 20 innings of baseball. (Those were, uh... not good days.)
Feelin' gr8 pic.twitter.com/ERCBl4WRjO
The two runs would turn out to be enough for Phillies pitching, though the offense did tack on a couple more as the afternoon wore on.
Cristopher Sanchez looked strong, allowing just one run in 6.1 innings. Orion Kerkering quickly finished off the seventh after Rob Thomson pulled Sanchez. Jordan Romano pitched a stress-free eighth and Jose Alvarado looked untouchable in the ninth.
And behind the pitchers, the Phillies turned five double plays.
The @Phillies turned five double plays in a game for just the 8th time since 1901 😯 pic.twitter.com/aZudIqp61H
Cameras caught a wholesome moment between Castellanos and a fan early in the game:
Here’s that kid congratulating Nick Castellanos pic.twitter.com/wvlxTGpxxd
The rightfielder talked about it afterwards: "Cool to be a part of. I just caught it, looked up, he was right there and fired up, fired me up!"
— John Foley (@2008Philz) April 12, 2025
The Phillies improved to 9-5 this season with the win... and 9-1 when the offense manages to score more than two runs. That may be a season-long theme. A stacked rotation and a few very talented high-leverage relievers will give the lineup a chance to win on most nights.
Score a few runs and win a few games. Easy-peasy, no?
Well, at least it was on this day.
THE PHILLIES WIN!!
SANCHEZ GOES 6.1IP ALLOWING JUST 1ER, GROUND BALL MACHINE WITH 4 DOUBLE PLAYS!
PHILS MANUFACTURING RUNS WITH THE SMALL BALL
CASTE ANOTHER BIG MULTI HIT GAME ANOTHER 2 RBI
STOTT AND TURNER BAG AN RBI EACH
PHILS CAN TIE THE ROAD TRIP WITH A WIN TOMORROW! pic.twitter.com/EPu1Y2E4hX
Zack Wheeler will take the mound for the Phils on Sunday for the series finale.
