– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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BALTIMORE — The Philadelphia Phillies made a popular party line come to fruition on Sunday afternoon: we’re here for a good time, but not for a long time.
Bryan De La Cruz and Bryce Harper homered through the rain as the Phillies shut out the Baltimore Orioles 6-0 in a rain-shortened six-inning game inside Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Sunday afternoon. Zack Wheeler pitched two scoreless innings before the game was delayed before the top of the third inning, then three Philadelphia relievers combined to complete the shutout.
Orioles starter Kyle Bradish retired the first seven Phillies batters before eighth-place hitter Justin Crawford doubled to left. Three pitches later, De La Cruz cranked a two-run shot over the centerfield wall to open the scoring, just outfielder’s second homer of the season.
The Phillies added two more runs in the third inning, first on a bases leaded walk drawn by Bryson Stott. Crawford grounded into a force play that brought home Brandon Marsh to extend the lead to 4-0 as the rain intensified.
The game was delayed for over an hour, but then Philadelphia went right to work in salting the game away while the conditions held up long enough to finish the required five innings. In the fifth, Harper hit his 23rd home run of the season to center field off Baltimore reliever Josh Walker. Philly added three more runs in the top of the sixth, with the bottom of the lineup again — Crawford and De La Cruz — driving home a run before a Kyle Schwarber sac fly closed out the scoring.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Sunday afternoon’s game, with photos taken by staff photographer Yusuf Abdullah. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 13 pictures in total.
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