Walker Buehler headlines Phillies' 8-2 win over Royals in strong debut and fifth straight victory
Buehler’s debut sets the tone, Harper and Stott bring the thunder
Walker Buehler didn’t waste time making a first impression. In his first start for Philadelphia on Friday night, he gave the Phillies exactly what they needed: five steady innings, one early blemish, and a handoff with a cushioned lead. The result was an 8-2 win over the Kansas City Royals, a fifth straight victory, and another night where the NL East leaders looked like a team rounding into playoff form.
Kansas City landed the first punch in the opening frame. Bobby Witt Jr. scored on a Maikel Garcia single to left, and for a moment it looked like the Royals might set the pace. Philadelphia answered fast. In the second, Rafael Marchán lifted a sacrifice fly to right, bringing home Kemp to even things at 1-1 and settle the game back onto the Phillies’ terms.
The third inning flipped the game for good. Bryce Harper unloaded on a 400-foot two-run blast to left-center, scoring Kyle Schwarber and putting the Phillies up 3-1. The ball left the bat with the sound that tells you a pitcher made one mistake too many. A few batters later, Kemp shot a single to left to score Brandon Marsh, and the lead grew to 4-1. The inning showed the full range of this lineup — star power from Harper, traffic on the bases, and contact hitting at the right time.
Philadelphia kept stacking runs in the fourth. Harrison Bader barreled a double to right to bring in Marchán, and Schwarber followed with an RBI double of his own to plate Bader. In two swings, the gap stretched to 6-1, and the Royals were officially in chase mode. It was the kind of steady, multi-inning pressure that gives a starter breathing room and forces the other dugout to burn through plans.
Credit the Royals for a brief push in the seventh. Witt Jr. grounded out to first with a runner on third, scoring Caglianone and trimming the margin to 6-2. Any momentum barely lasted an inning. Bryson Stott answered in the bottom half with a 391-foot drive to right-center, a two-run homer that scored Wilson and locked in the 8-2 final. On a night full of loud swings, Stott’s shot was the exclamation point.
Buehler’s outing didn’t need to be flashy; it just needed to be clean. Over five innings, he kept Kansas City off balance, limited the damaging contact, and turned it over with a comfortable lead. For a debut in a new uniform, that’s a textbook way to settle in. Philadelphia has been rolling for a week, and he fit right into the rhythm — simple plan, quick outs, and just enough bite when traffic appeared.
The lineup gave him plenty of cover. Harper’s two-run shot changed the tone, Schwarber piled on with run-scoring contact, and Stott’s late homer shut the door. Marchán chipped in early with a sac fly, Bader delivered extra bases in the middle innings, and Kemp came through with a key RBI single. That’s balanced production: the eight RBIs were split among six different hitters, which is exactly what managers love in September.
There was also a clear difference in how the Phillies won this game. It wasn’t a one-inning explosion. They scored in four separate frames — the second, third, fourth, and seventh — and did it every which way: a sacrifice fly, two-run homers, and doubles into the alleys. When a lineup applies that kind of steady pressure, opponents are constantly pitching from behind in counts and on the scoreboard. Kansas City never got a chance to settle in after the first inning.
Where it leaves both teams in the stretch run
The victory bumped Philadelphia to 88-60, a record that keeps them firmly in first in the NL East. With the Mets at 76-72, the gap remains wide. By the standard math used across the league, that puts the Phillies’ division-clinching magic number at 3, with the final weeks on deck. The way they’re playing — five straight wins, a deep lineup, and a rotation reinforced by a fresh arm — they look more like a team cleaning up details than searching for answers.
For Kansas City, this loss dropped them to 74-74 and left them in third in the AL Central, 10 games behind the Tigers. The Central has not been forgiving, and the margin at this stage means the Royals’ clearest path is staying in the wild-card mix and stacking series wins. They had chances early, especially after Witt Jr. crossed in the first, but the lack of sustained traffic against Buehler and the Phillies’ pen made the hill too steep.
Harper’s homer will draw the headlines, and fair enough — that swing flipped the scoreboard and pulled the crowd right into the game. Stott’s swing mattered just as much, though. A late two-run shot closed any door the Royals might have seen in the seventh. Schwarber’s two-bagger and Bader’s double showed how this lineup can toggle between patience and damage. When contributions are coming from the top, the middle, and the bottom, the box score looks a lot like this one.
Philadelphia’s bigger picture is straightforward. The rotation needed another proven arm for this stretch and what comes after. Buehler’s first look checked the main boxes: command, poise, and the ability to navigate a lineup that can run. He doesn’t need to be the ace here; he needs to turn games over with a lead. If he keeps doing that, the Phillies’ October plans get sturdier by the day.
Kansas City will try to flush this one and move on. The positives are there — Witt Jr. continues to create runs even without the big swing, and Garcia’s early RBI showed they can put pressure on quickly. The missing piece was the inning that breaks a game open. Against a club as locked-in as Philadelphia, that’s the difference between a tight contest and a long night.
So the streak hits five, the standings tilt a little more red, and a fresh face on the mound gave Philadelphia exactly what it wanted on a cool September night. The Royals had the first word. The Phillies had the last seven.
- September 13 2025
- Maverick Sterling
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Written by Maverick Sterling
View all posts by: Maverick Sterling