PHILADELPHIA _ Six games aren't supposed to be enough to draw reliable conclusions in sports, especially in baseball. But after six games, we can safely declare a few truths about the Phillies.
_ The offense is so good that it might just be historic.
_ There are real questions about the pitching.
_ More often than not, Bryce Harper will do something that leaves you talking.
All of those points were reiterated again Friday night in a 10-4 victory over the Minnesota Twins. In a game that was played in a steady, sometimes heavy rain, the Phillies scored five runs in the first inning and never let up. They also gave up 11 hits, including five by Twins shortstop Jorge Polanco, who became the first player to hit for the cycle against the Phillies since Washington's Brad Wilkerson on April 6, 2005.
And Harper, after going hitless in four at-bats and striking out in the sixth inning after going to a three-ball count, scored from first base on a single by Rhys Hoskins, exhibiting the sort of heads-up baserunning and relentless hustle that characterized Pete Rose, Chase Utley and other former Phillies fan favorites.
The Phillies have won five of their first six games. They have outscored opponents by a 49-26 margin. They haven't lost in four games at home. And their only loss remains a walk-off on Wednesday in Washington in which they were leading by two runs in the eighth inning.
After the Phillies scored five first-inning runs and chased Twins starter Jake Odorizzi after only seven batters, the game looked like a potential laugher. But starter Nick Pivetta allowed the Twins to get back within two runs at 6-4 and completed only five innings. It took a three-run outburst in the seventh inning, fueled by Harper's baserunning, for the Phillies to pull away.
In the modern era, defined as post-1900, the 1930 Phillies hold the single-season franchise record with 944 runs scored. More recently, the 2007 team racked up 892 runs. The beloved 1993 club scored 877 runs.
These Phillies? Through six games, they're on pace for 1,323 runs.
So, yes, they can mash. Odorizzi became their latest victim, throwing 36 pitches to seven hitters in a five-run first inning and recording two outs before getting yanked. The offense doesn't come in waves so much as a tsunami, and by committing two errors in the inning, the Twins all but drowned.
Andrew McCutchen got things started with a seven-pitch walk and scored from first on Jean Segura's line-drive double off the right-field scoreboard. After Harper struck out, Hoskins singled home Segura and J.T. Realmuto walked. Odorizzi could see his way clear after winning a seven-pitch duel with Odubel Herrera, but Cesar Hernandez walked to load the bases. After Twins manager Rocco Baldelli turned to the bullpen, Maikel Franco notched a two-run double and another run scored on an error to make it 5-0.
Staked to a big lead, Pivetta's mission was to dispense with the Twins hitters quickly enough to make the game official before the heaviest of the rain. He ran into trouble in the third inning, when he allowed three hits in a row, including a two-run homer to Max Kepler. He gave up a walk and a single to open the fourth but emerged unharmed.
And the Phillies tacked on another run in a third-inning rally that included a sacrifice fly by Hernandez and another intentional walk of Franco. In six games of batting in the No. 8 spot, with the pitcher behind him, Franco has drawn six intentional walks, one shy of his career high.
Consider it the opponents' way of saying "mercy" to a lineup that has been merciless.
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