Welcome to the show, Cole Irvin! The 25-year-old rookie won his Major League debut this afternoon after allowing only one run over seven efficient innings. No, efficient isn’t the word I want here. Impressive? Dazzling? No, not it either. Wait. Got it. Seven emotional innings. Yes, there it is. Emotional.

His final line: One run, five hits, a few left on base, and many, many tears. Beautiful stuff.

Irvin bought what was a sluggish Phillies offense early on some time before it finally erupted with a six-run fifth inning. After a one-out error by Kansas City shortstop Aldaberto Mondesi and a walk issued by starting pitcher Jakob Junis, Jean Segura made the Royals pay with a game-tying single. You can see that knock (and more) after the jump.

That got things going, but the big blow of the rally was delivered three batters later when J.T. Realmuto doubled off of reliever Richard Lovelady to break the game open:

That would be more than enough for Irvin who would need only 39 pitches to complete his final three innings of work.

Bryce Harper Swag Update

Harper definitely didn’t like his first inning punch out from home plate umpire Gabe Morales, and this photo, one rife with dejection, isn’t ideal, but it was the best one I could find to show off his sweet Mother’s Day apparel.

PHOTO CREDIT: DENNY MEDLEY-USA TODAY SPORTS

How About This Schedule?

Sort of a weird series in Kansas City for the Phillies. They managed to win two out of three and secure a winning six-game road trip despite not hitting a single home run in any of the three games. Good thing, too, because they need every win they can stockpile with the JV portion of the schedule now complete. Check out this run they have in front of them over the next three-plus weeks:

  • Brewers (24-17): One of the best teams in the National League, featuring MVP frontrunner Christian Yelich. Four games.
  • Rockies (18-21): Handled the Phillies last month when they won three of four games at Coors Field. Three games.
  • At Cubs (23-14): Lead the NL Central, 20-6 record over their last 26 games, including an 8-2 record this month. Four games.
  • At Brewers (24-17): See above. Three games.
  • Cardinals (22-18): Another NL playoff contender. Three games.
  • At Dodgers (26-16): Lead the NL West. Three games.
  • At Padres (22-18): A young and talented team on the upswing. Three games.

That’s seven series against six different teams with a combined 135-104 record (.565 winning-percentage) that includes a trip to Wrigley and Milwaukee, AND a west coast swing, all with exactly one day off. That’s a lot of baseball packed into a hellacious schedule. At 23-16 and atop the NL East by no less than three full games at day’s end, the Phillies are in a great spot through 39 games, but it’s fair to say that we’re going to find out quite a bit about this squad in the coming weeks.