Pitcher Kyle Gibson delivers a pitch against the Oakland Athletics during the third inning of a game at Citizens Bank Park on April 9, 2022. (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) ((Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images))PHILADELPHIA - Kyle Gibson struck out 10 and tossed two-hit ball over seven shutout innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 4-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.Nick Castellanos hit his first home run for the Phillies, and Rhys Hoskins and Jean Segura hit back-to-back homers to support Gibson.
Gibson (1-0) threw a tidy 82 pitches and walked none in his fourth-career double-digit strikeout game.Jose Alvarado gave up Stephen Piscotty’s RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-1.
Corey Knebel allowed Jed Lowrie's RBI single in the ninth and issued the first walk by a Phillies pitcher this season. Knebel still picked up his first save.That’s a 2-0 start for the Phillies.Who knows, maybe Bryce Harper was onto something in his pregame speech given on the field after he accepted his 2021 NL MVP award from Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt.
Harper ran down the usual list of thanks for a season in which he finished with a .309 average and 35 homers: wife, fans, kids, Jesus, teammates.