Philly Leader

KANSAS CITY -- Phillies backup catcher Garrett Stubbs delivered a standout performance in Sunday's series finale against the Royals, stepping in for starter J.T. Realmuto, who had a two-homer, seven-RBI game on Saturday.

Stubbs went 4-for-4 at Kauffman Stadium, leading the Phillies to an 11-3 victory. It marked the first four-hit game of his career, featuring a triple, double, and two singles. Twice he came to bat needing a homer for the cycle but singled in the eighth and was hit by a pitch in the ninth.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten on base five times,” Stubbs said. “Maybe in Little League. I would have taken 4-for-5 with a chance to get a homer in the fifth at-bat.”

Kansas City had position player Garrett Hampson pitching when Stubbs was hit by a 57 mph offering.

“Everybody was giving me crap about not getting out of the way,” Stubbs said with a laugh. “I tried. It just didn’t work out.”

Starting from the No. 9 spot and hitting .193, Stubbs used all parts of the field effectively. His RBI triple off Royals starter Seth Lugo led off the third inning and helped Philadelphia take an early lead. He later doubled to left field during a three-run inning.

The bottom of Philadelphia’s batting order excelled as well; hitters Nos. 7-9 combined for eight hits out of twelve at-bats as part of Philadelphia's total of 16 hits.

“I look pretty smart putting Stubby in there today,” manager Rob Thomson said jokingly. “The triple got us going and then a big two-strike double from him down the line.”

Spot starter Kolby Allard contributed five strong innings after being recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley, allowing two runs on eight hits and leaving with a lead.

Allard filled in so that rotation members could get extra rest days; Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are among National League leaders in innings pitched this season.

“I thought it went pretty well,” Allard said. “Garrett and I had a good game plan to get ahead and execute pitches.”

Allard navigated around an early mistake by third baseman Alec Bohm who failed to complete what could have been an inning-ending double play due to losing track of outs.

Bohm later redeemed himself offensively by going 2-for-4 with three RBIs despite grounding into an inning-ending double play earlier.

“Not remembering the outs, that was a mental mistake and it can’t happen,” Thomson noted regarding Bohm’s defensive lapse but praised his subsequent contributions: “[Bohm] is one of our better players... But you can’t take your at-bats on the field with you.”

Philadelphia continued its offensive surge from Saturday's game with another high-scoring performance over Kansas City's bullpen across both games logging 34 hits and scoring 22 runs combined.

“We got our approach back," Thomson concluded. "Not trying to do too much... Eliminate chase as much as you can."