Alec Asher made a respectable showing in his big-league debut, but it wasn’t enough to get the Phillies a three-game sweep over the San Diego Padres Sunday afternoon at Citizens Bank Park.
Asher settled in after giving up a first-inning home run to Matt Kemp, but the Phillies cobbled together just six hits and a run off Padres starter James Shields in the 9-4 loss.
The loss snaps the Phillies’ seven-game home winning streak against the Padres.
Starting pitching report
Asher gave up four runs on eight hits and a walk. He struck out three and threw 16 first-pitch strikes to the 26 hitters he faced. After giving up a double to Cory Spangenberg to lead off the second, Asher retired 12 of the next 14 he faced before running into trouble in the sixth.
James Shields scattered six hits to go with eight strikeouts and a walk in seven innings. With the win, Shields is 4-0 against the Phillies, counting the 2008 World Series.
Bullpen report
Hector Neris pitched 1 1/3 innings, notching three strikeouts and serving up a solo homer in the seventh. Lefty Adam Loewen started the eighth and failed to record an out, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk.
MLB
Justin De Fratus pitched the final two innings to mop up.
At the plate
Odubel Herrera had a career-high four hits — all singles — but had a rough time on the base paths. In the first, he was thrown out attempting to steal third in a strike-‘em-out-throw-‘em-out double play and was also picked off first base with the Phillies trailing by two runs in the fifth.
Meanwhile, Cameron Rupp hit a solo homer in the second for his second blast of the series and eighth of the season, and Cesar Hernandez collected two hits, including an RBI-triple in the eighth.
Kemp hit his 16th homer in the first and Justin Upton hit a solo shot for his 24th of the season in the third. Yangervis Solarte also hit his 11th homer of the season for the Padres.
San Diego also got a three-hit game from Yonder Alonso.
Transaction
The Phillies announced they had claimed left-handed reliever Ken Roberts off waivers from the Rockies (see story). After making the claim the Phillies optioned Roberts to Triple A Lehigh Valley. Roberts appeared in nine games for the Rockies this season, racking up six scoreless outings.
Up next
The Phillies head to New York where they will open a three-game series against the Mets at Citi Field Monday night. The pitching matchups for the series are:
Monday: Jerad Eickhoff (1-1, 2.25) vs. Bartolo Colon (11-11, 4.68)
Tuesday: Aaron Harang (5-14, 4.79) vs. Jonathan Niese (8-9, 3.95)
Wednesday: Aaron Nola (5-1, 3.26) vs. Matt Harvey (11-7, 2.48)