PHILADELPHIA — In the context of a 162-game season that runs from the final week of March through the first week of October, a six-game stretch in the middle of August is akin to a needle in a haystack.
Look it up, though, and you will find the sense in what looked like an arbitrary lineup shuffle Monday night for the Phillies.
Bryson Stott batted leadoff in those six games last season. He did well. And he has reached base with a hit in every game so far this year. So, in Game No. 10, with the Phillies facing the reigining Cy Young Award winner, manager Rob Thomson moved Stott into the leadoff spot in what turned out to be a 15-3 shellacking of Sandy Alcantara and the Marlins before 28,642 at Citizens Bank Park.
Cause and effect? Maybe. It surely didn't hurt. And at a time when the Phillies are down multiple everyday players, it bears a longer look from Thomson, who figures to be doing more lineup mixing and matching than he ever did after taking the reins last June.
First, let's get to the details. The Phillies scored five runs against Alcantara in the third inning, then knocked him out in the fifth. They blitzed him for 10 hits and nine runs, the most he allowed in a game since Aug. 6, 2021.
The Phillies kept pouring it on, too, against Marlins reliever Devin Smeltz, a product of Bishop Eustace Prep in South Jersey. They finished with 20 hits. Trea Turner, Nick Castellanos, Alec Bohm, and Brandon Marsh each had three hits apiece. Bohm homered and finished with six RBIs, matching his career high.
It wasn't enough apparently for Castellanos, who got ejected in the ninth inning for contesting a called third strike by home plate umpire John Libka. Castellanos had a case. The Phillies also had a nine-run lead at the time.
The offensive outburst could hardly be attributed to a change at the top of the order. But it's worth noting that the third-inning rally, in which the Phillies scored four runs with two out, began with Stott singling up the middle and stealing second base.
Stott has all the characteristics of a good tablesetter. He sees a lot of pitching and works deep counts. He has a keen eye and good strike-zone awareness. And he also happens to have a 10-game hitting streak to begin the season.
"I've always thought that he kind of fits the mold of a leadoff guy," Thomson said before the game. "I'm just seeing Bryson's at-bats and saying, 'OK, he's getting on base, he's doing what Bryson can do, so let's put him up top and get some of the sluggers in there behind him.'"
Indeed, with Stott atop the order, the Phillies can lengthen a lineup that will be missing Bryce Harper for another few months and Rhys Hoskins for the season. Darick Hall is out now, too. But with Stott in the leadoff spot, Turner can bat second, followed by Kyle Schwarber, Castellanos, and Bohm in traditional run-producing spots.
In the big third inning, Turner followed Stott with an RBI single. After Turner stole second and Schwarber walked, Castellanos ripped an RBI double. Bohm followed with a run-scoring single, and the rout was on.
Welcome Matt
Pop quiz: Two turns through the rotation, name the Phillies' most effective starting pitcher.
Hint: He's actually a reliever.
Matt Strahm, who took on a starting role two-thirds of the way through spring training to replace injured Ranger Suárez, followed up four scoreless innings last week at Yankee Stadium with five against the Marlins. He yielded four hits (all singles) and piled up six strikeouts.
But Strahm also got help to escape his only real jam. With two on and one out in the first inning, Brandon Marsh ran down Jorge Soler's drive to right-center field. Strahm tipped his cap to salute Marsh, then struck out Bryan De La Cruz to end the inning.
Cave connects
Amid all the eye-popping offensive numbers, let it be said that the third-inning rally began with a leadoff home run by Jake Cave.
An offseason waiver claim from Baltimore, Cave won a spot on the season-opening roster with a strong spring training. He has played a lot, too, starting in the outfield against right-handed pitchers, but was off to a 2-for-16 start.
But Cave jumpstarted the Phillies against Alcantara, who breezed through the first two innings. He worked the count full, then got a down-and-in sinker at 98 mph and crushed it to right field for the first homer allowed this season by Alcantara.
