Phillies narrowly avoid being no-hit by White Sox, split doubleheader

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CHICAGO -- They had three huge two-out hits and four excellent innings of bullpen work in a Game 1 win Tuesday afternoon, but the Phillies' bats went to sleep in Game 2 of a doubleheader against the White Sox.

The Phils lost, 3-0, and narrowly avoided being no-hit. Brandon Marsh got them off the hook with an opposite-field double to begin the eighth inning, their only knock of the night.

The Phillies couldn't touch White Sox starter Lucas Giolito, who was done after six innings only because he had thrown 102 pitches. He struck out seven and walked one. Kyle Schwarber's free pass in the first inning was the Phillies' only baserunner of the game until Giolito hit Garrett Stubbs to lead off the sixth. The inning culminated with a double-play ball off the bat of Bryson Stott, whose 17-game hitting streak came to an end.

"He had a really good changeup and he's so tall," Stott said of Giolito. "You see it, but it just never gets to home plate. I think a lot of us were out in front on it. Once that's in your head, then he can beat you with some other stuff. We have so many scouting reports but you don't really see the changeup until you get up there and swing at it.

"The pitcher has something to do with it. Giolito was on his stuff tonight. He just made better pitches than we did swings."

Bailey Falter settled in after the first inning but the game was essentially decided within four batters. He walked Luis Robert Jr., and after Eloy Jimenez singled with one out, Jake Burger laced a three-run shot to left field on a 92 mph, center-cut fastball.

Falter walked Elvis Andrus to start the bottom of the second but picked him off and then retired 14 in a row. He set a new career-high by going seven innings, also becoming the first Phillies starting pitcher this season to record an out past the sixth.

"I feel like that's how it always is for me, just one or two pitches that get away from me," Falter said. "It could have gone either way after the first inning but I settled down a little bit, made some pitches and went deeper into the game. ... I feel like it was a good stepping stone tonight."

Doubleheaders have not gone well for the Phillies over the last decade. They've swept just two of their last 32, losing both games 14 times and splitting the other 16.

The Phils (7-11) lead the majors in batting average and rank in the Top 5 in on-base percentage and slugging but are middle of the pack in runs per game. It's been a feast or famine offense. They've had five games with at least seven runs and nine games with three or fewer. They're 1-8 in those games.

"It's encouraging to me because we really haven't hit many home runs yet and that's part of our DNA," manager Rob Thomson said of that disconnect on Tuesday afternoon. "We haven't walked a whole lot but we're starting to. Those are really the two key elements for me that create runs."

The Phillies homered once on the day (Josh Harrison in Game 1) and walked five times, but still rank in the bottom third of baseball in both categories.

The bottom third of their lineup Tuesday night wasn't exactly dangerous. It was Kody Clemens, Garrett Stubbs and Cristian Pache, who are a combined 5 for 47 this season, hitting .106.

"It's tough," Thomson said. "Guys like Clemens and Pache, when they don't play every day, it's tough to get into a rhythm sometimes. They do as much as they can in the cages, especially when we're at home where we've got the high-velocity machines and things like that, it's a little bit easier. But I feel for those guys sometimes. They've got to be ready but sometimes it's tough to get into a rhythm when you're not playing every day."

The Phillies were trying to stay away from Edmundo Sosa, who is day-to-day with a back injury. He would have been available Tuesday in an emergency situation but they wanted to give him another day to rest it.

The series ends Wednesday afternoon when Taijuan Walker (1-0, 4.20) opposes Mike Clevinger (2-0, 2.20). Walker allowed a run over six innings in Cincinnati in his last start. Clevinger started against the Phillies in Game 4 of the 2022 NLCS with the Padres. He was handed a four-run lead in the first inning but faced only four batters, going single, homer, walk, double then hitting the showers.

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