The Phillies Room: Game 2 - Gibson K's 10, Harper Receives MVP

2022 Topps Heritage #486
Phillies 4, Athletics 2
Game 2 - Saturday Afternoon, April 9th in Philadelphia
Record - 2-0, 2nd Place, 1/2 game behind the Mets

One Sentence Summary: Kyle Gibson struck out 10 and Nick Castellanos hit his first home run for the Phillies in this 4-2 win over the Athletics.

What It Means: The team will go for the series sweep this afternoon against the Athletics with Zach Eflin on the mound.

What Happened: Castellanos got the Phillies on the scoreboard early, homering in the first inning off former Phillie Cole Irvin after Bryce Harper had been hit by a pitch. In the sixth, Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura hit back-to-back home runs to give the Phillies a 4-0 lead. Hoskins, Segura and Alec Bohm, getting the start at third base, all had multi-hit days.

Jose Alvarado allowed a run in the eighth and Corey Knebel gave up an unearned run in the ninth to earn his first Phillies save.

Featured Card: Gibson fell one strikeout short of tying his career high of 11. Relying on an impressive curve, Gibson pitched seven innings, allowing only two hits and walking none. He's only appeared on two Phillies baseball cards to date, with appearances in the 2022 Topps flagship set and the 2022 Topps Heritage set.

Field Report: For the second game in a row, Doug was there, but this time he took his Mom, his grandfather (celebrating his birthday) and his Uncle Drew. Doug tells me he can highly recommend the new burnt tips cheesesteak from Bull's BBQ. The four of them enjoyed the pre-game ceremony during which Harper received his 2021 National League MVP award. Following the game, Doug's grandfather John met up with Athletics' pitcher Lou Trivino who he used to umpire when Trivino was in high school.