Matt Strahm earns another start and Phillies will increase his pitch count

Strahm earns another start and Phils will push him: 'I'm not worried about pitch count' originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

NEW YORK -- He was probably staying in the rotation for another turn anyway, but Matt Strahm earned at least one more start with the way he pitched Tuesday night at Yankee Stadium.

Strahm held the Yankees to one hit in four scoreless innings, retiring Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton and DJ LeMahieu twice apiece in the Phillies' 4-1 win.

It was Strahm's first real start since 2019 so he was going to be capped at 65 pitches. He threw 61. Next time out, the Phillies plan to push him to 75-80 pitches, manager Rob Thomson said after the game.

"For me, I'm not worried about pitch count, ups, downs, whatever," Strahm said. "When the ball gets taken from me, that's when I'm done. I refuse to call myself a reliever or starter, I'm just a pitcher. Whatever they need, whenever they need it, I'm gonna do it."

LeMahieu hit a ball 395 feet to center field to lead off the bottom of the first but it stayed in the yard. From there, Strahm cruised. He retired eight in a row before Anthony Volpe singled to right field. He walked Gleyber Torres in the fourth but induced flyouts of Stanton and Josh Donaldson to end the inning.

"He was great," Thomson said, "he handled those guys pretty well. Slider was good, fastball had movement, it was effective, pitched up in the zone, got a lot of swings and misses.

"We were going to send him back out but we had a long inning, they made a pitching change, it was just like, let's start the inning with (Andrew) Bellatti."

Strahm entered the Phillies' rotation after Andrew Painter and Ranger Suarez suffered elbow injuries in spring training. He was signed to a two-year, $15 million contract to be a high-leverage, multi-inning reliever but unforeseen circumstances forced the Phillies' hand and the 31-year-old lefty responded.

Suarez felt great after a bullpen session Sunday and will throw another Wednesday, but he's still a little while away from returning. He hasn't pitched in a game since March 8 so he will need a rehab assignment.

Bellatti, Jose Alvarado and Connor Brogdon turned in stellar performances Tuesday out of the bullpen, which entered the night with an 11.30 ERA. Bellatti struck out two in a 1-2-3 fifth inning. Alvarado struck out the side (including LeMahieu and Judge) in a dominant 12-pitch sixth. Brogdon's ability to pitch the seventh and eighth was important on a night the Phillies were without Seranthony Dominguez, who felt "a little bit tight" but would be fine, according to Thomson.

"We've got all the confidence in the world in the guys down there," Strahm said. "To see them start clicking, hopefully it keeps rolling and we pile up some wins."

Four runs won't win you every game, but the Phillies' offense also picked it up after scoring one run on consecutive nights. Kyle Schwarber set the tone with a homer on the second pitch of the game, Brandon Marsh added a solo shot two innings later and Trea Turner and Schwarber picked up clutch two-out RBI singles in the fifth.

"When you see a guy going out there and pitching really well, you want to keep putting up runs for him," Schwarber said. "I think the biggest thing was getting the lead and Strahmy went out there and pitched his butt off. He hasn't really gotten a chance to build up and he goes out there and goes four strong.

"There's going to be a lot more of those opportunities coming up throughout the year. Two-out hits aren't easy hits but it's nice when you do come up with them. It's big when you can keep tacking onto a lead, especially against a team that's one swing away from putting it in the seats."

The Phillies go for a series win against that team Wednesday afternoon when Aaron Nola opposes Gerrit Cole. Nola and Cole rank first and second in the majors in innings since 2018 and Cole is the only pitcher in the majors within even 50 of Nola.