PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Phillies went 12-16 in May, a frustrating month — capped off by an embarrassing 11-1 loss to the Reds. But June is off to an excellent start thanks to a 17-3 romp of Cincinnati on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park.
Among the stars of the game were outfielders Andrew McCutchen and Odúbel Herrera, who each hit two of the Phillies' seven home runs. Ronald Torreyes began the home run barrage with his first long ball in four years. Rhys Hoskins had three RBIs, and Alec Bohm broke out of his slump with three hits.
And then there was that bird.
"In the first couple innings, we had a bird poop on a couple of us," McCutchen said postgame. "That had to be some type of luck. Something's gonna change."
The outfielder said the bird did its business on reliever Archie Bradley and a coach.
Seven home runs matched a franchise record, and the 17 runs surpassed the Phillies' combined total of 13 over the previous six games.
"I'm not saying it's particularly the bird," McCutchen said, "but I don't know."
As McCutchen explained, the Phils just had to run with it.
"We were like: 'Yup, it's changing. It's changing. Here we go.' I was like: 'It's gonna be a great game tonight,'" he said. "And it ended up being a great game. So ... not too fun to getting pooped on, but it was good to be able win in the fashion that we did."
McCutchen — formerly a longtime member of the National League Central Pittsburgh Pirates — hit his 20th and 21st career home runs in that ballpark with his two homers Tuesday night.