Walker's 'huge' outing gives Philly much-needed length

CINCINNATI -- The Phillies beat up on the Reds in Friday's 8-3 victory at Great American Ball Park. They had 13 hits -- six for extra bases. All nine hitters had at least one hit. And they scored five runs in the first three innings.

But what happened on the mound was probably more critical to the club's long-term success. Right-hander Taijuan Walker went six innings and allowed one run on four hits and two walks, striking out four.

"The biggest thing was to get through the six innings," Walker said. "There's still a couple of things to work on. I feel like I got behind in counts. But it was good to come back. The pitch count was a little lower. Overall, it was a lot better."

It was exactly what a team desperate for starting pitching innings needed.

"It was huge," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "Then just using three relievers was huge too. We should have, for the first time in a long time, a full bullpen tomorrow. That's a good feeling to have.”

Walker had gone 4 1/3 and 4 2/3 innings in his first two starts with the Phillies. The reason? Eight walks allowed in nine innings. That's not what the Phillies had in mind when they signed Walker to a four-year, $72 million contract in the offseason.

Short starts have been a problem for the Phillies in general. Entering Friday, their starters were 1-6 with a 4.64 ERA and averaging just under five innings per outing.

Walker gave up some hard-hit balls -- four at 100 mph-plus -- but 58 of 98 pitches were strikes. He picked things up after Jose Barrero led off the third with an infield single.

"That next pitch was kind of an angry fastball," Walker said. "After that, I thought the velo got better. I carried it the rest of the way. I was a little more aggressive. The goal was not to walk anyone. I walked two. That's better than five. The goal was to attack, attack, attack."

Offensively, it figured to be the Phillies' night. They came in with the fourth-best OPS in baseball against righties at .794. And they were facing Connor Overton, who had allowed 14 hits in eight innings in his first two starts of the year.

The Phillies scored one in the first, one in the second and three in the third off Overton, before breaking it open with three in the ninth.

"You get an early lead like that, it makes my job easier," Walker said. "Just go out and be aggressive and make them put it in play and let the defense work for me.”