Secret to Walker's surge? 'I switched it up a little bit'

OAKLAND -- For the first six weeks of the season, Taijuan Walker had some big, ugly numbers next to the letters "ERA."

It was 8.31 after his first start of the year against the Yankees. It was 6.91 after his May 1 start in Los Angeles against the Dodgers. And it was 6.53 on May 17 after a start in San Francisco.

But things are turning around for the Phillies' right-hander. In Friday's 6-1 win over the A's, Walker put together his third consecutive strong start (a combined one run in 20 innings). That ERA, while not quite as pretty as he wants yet, is down to 4.31.

“Going into every start, my body’s feeling better and better, feeling looser, more athletic,” Walker said after improving to 7-3 on the year. “And I think it’s really translating to the mound.”

Walker went eight innings on Friday, allowing just one run, striking out eight and walking nobody.

He got plenty of support behind him, too. Kyle Schwarber hit the first pitch of the game from Oakland lefty JP Sears over the right-field fence. It was the first official pitch Schwarber ever saw at the Coliseum, the only Major League ballpark he had never played in. It was also his 23rd leadoff home run in his career and 10th as a Phillie.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto hit a solo home run leading off the second, and Alex Bohm added a two-run homer in the fourth.

Cristian Pache returned to the lineup from a knee injury and made a spectacular catch in the seventh, robbing Aledmys Díaz on a ball that appeared destined for extra bases.

Pache made several other plus plays, including starting a relay to Walker and Edmundo Sosa that nabbed Tony Kemp attempting to go to third on Esteury Ruiz's RBI single -- the only run the A's scored on the night.

“He looks great,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said of Pache's presence in center field. “His defense is -- they say, ‘elite.’ That’s the new buzzword. And it is. It’s as good as it gets.”

There were two other catches Pache made look routine that probably weren’t that routine.

“He takes great routes, he gets good jumps,” Thomson said. “He made a couple of chest-high catches in shallow center field that if he doesn’t get the jump he does, it’s a diving play or it’s a base hit.”

Before the game, Pache said he wouldn’t be out there if his knee wasn’t 100%. He backed that up.

“That’s why I’m here,” Pache said. “When I play, I’m 100%.”

Simple as that. Not quite as simple was figuring out exactly what was different about Walker from the start of the season. The pitcher said he has varied his routine in between starts.

“I switched it up a little bit,” Walker said. “Going back and throwing on the side, doing ground balls, just being an athlete again, moving around and stuff.”

Thomson suggested Walker might have been affected from his work in the World Baseball Classic.

“The first six weeks of the year, and maybe this has something to do with the WBC, I’m not sure, but the velocity was down a little bit,” Thomson said. “He was kind of scattering pitches. Now, he’s attacking, the velocity’s up, he’s getting ahead and he’s putting people away.”

Walker’s catcher just appreciates that Walker is throwing the ball at his level.

“There’s just so many ways he can attack you, there’s so many pitches he can put guys away with,” Realmuto said. “He was throwing strikes tonight. When guys are doing that, it just makes my job so much easier.”

The win was the 11th in 13 games for the Phillies (36-34), who are in third place in the NL East, eight games behind Atlanta. They were six games under .500 on June 3 (26-32), but are now two games over and hoping to continue making noise in the division.