Taijuan Walker fires eight strong innings as Phils top A's

Kyle Schwarber hit the first pitch of the game for a home run, Taijuan Walker allowed one run in a season-best eight innings and the Philadelphia Phillies opened a three-game interleague series with a 6-1 victory over the host Oakland Athletics on Friday.

J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm also homered for the Phillies, who began a Western swing on Monday with a loss at Arizona but have since won four in a row.

The visitors wasted no time taking command in this one, with Schwarber connecting off JP Sears (1-4) for his 19th home run of the season.

Realmuto made it 2-0 when he led off the second with his eighth homer. Bohm added a two-run shot in the fourth inning, his seventh, after Bryce Harper had singled.

Walker (7-3) pitched with a lead for his entire outing. He allowed Oakland's lone run in the third and yielded a total of seven hits while striking out eight without issuing a walk.

The right-hander has given up just one run in his past three starts covering 20 innings.

Andrew Vasquez threw a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts to complete one-run effort.

The Phillies gave Vasquez an additional layer of comfort by adding two insurance runs in the top of the ninth, one coming home on an errant pickoff throw and the other scoring on a Bohm single.

Down 2-0, the A's cut their deficit in half in the third on singles by Aledmys Diaz, Shea Langeliers and Esteury Ruiz, the latter producing the RBI.

Sears lasted seven innings and gave up four hits, three of them homers. He surrendered four runs, struck out seven and, like Walker, walked none.

Harper finished with two hits and two runs, and Bohm also had two hits for the Phillies, who have won 11 of their past 13 games.

Ruiz had a single and a double for the A's, who have dropped three straight in the wake of seven consecutive wins. Jace Peterson also doubled among Oakland's seven hits.