Painter wins MLB debut with 8 Ks, Schwarber homers as Phillies beat Nationals 3-2

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Andrew Painter struck out eight in 5 1/3 innings in a stunning major league debut, and Kyle Schwarber and Adolis Garcia homered to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Nationals on Tuesday night.

Jhoan Duran struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his second save. Brandon Marsh made a nice running catch of James Wood’s deep drive to left field to end the game with the tying run to second base.

Announcement

The 22-year-old Painter lived up to expectations as the most promising Phillies pitching prospect to make his debut since Cole Hamels 20 years ago.

The 6-foot-7 right-hander gave up four hits, one run and walked one while throwing 84 pitches.

Painter (1-0) mixed curves, sweepers and sliders with a fastball that nearly touched 100 mph and displayed all the greatness that had been expected of him since he was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus.

His Phillies debut was delayed following Tommy John surgery in 2023 that forced him to miss two full minor league seasons and pitched 118 innings last season, mostly at Triple-A Leigh Valley.

Announcement

Painted opened the game with a strikeout of Wood and struck out the side in the fifth. Painter tipped his cap to the cheering crowd as he left the mound in the sixth after allowing a one-out single to C.J. Abrams.

Kyle Schwarber hit his second homer of the season in the second and Adolis Garcia hit his first homer – both off reliever Zack Littell (0-1) – with the Phillies in the fourth for a 2-0 lead.

The Phillies got seven hits in a needed victory after losing two straight games to Texas and losing the first game of the series to Washington on Monday. The Phillies hadn’t led in any of their three losses, and Turner, Bryce Harper and Schwarber entered batting a combined .120 (6-for-50).

Next

Nationals RHP Cade Cavalli (0-0, 4.91) will start Wednesday in the series finale against Phillies LHP Cristopher Sánchez (1-0, 0.00).

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