PHILADELPHIA -- Andrew Painter checked off just about every box imaginable on Saturday night.
Best start of his young career? Emphatic check.
“You can't ask for much better than that,” interim manager Don Mattingly said after the Phillies’ 12-3 rout of the Cardinals at Citizens Bank Park. “If he turns into something like that, then it's a monster.”
The resurgent rookie led the way as the Phillies won their eighth straight game to pull within three games of the first-place Braves in the National League East. Painter allowed just one run while pitching a career-high seven innings -- and that doesn't come close to telling the full story.
Painter forced 20 swings and misses, easily surpassing his previous high of 14. He also reached the 100-pitch mark for the first time in his career -- and he did so without slowing down one bit ... literally.
On his 100th pitch of the night, Painter unleashed a 99.6 mph fastball to Cardinals outfielder Blaze Jordan. It was the fastest pitch of Painter's young career.
“I knew that was probably my last at-bat,” Painter said. “I didn't want to walk off that mound with anything left in the tank.”
The fastball was far from the only thing he had working. Painter induced six whiffs with his changeup, five with his four-seamer, four with his sweeper, three with his slider and two with his curveball.
Painter threw first-pitch strikes to 22 of the 27 batters he faced. He now has a 3.62 ERA in five starts since returning from his June 18 demotion to Triple-A.
“It's part of the game. That's baseball. It happens to a lot of guys,” Painter said of being sent down, at which point he was 1-8 with a 7.06 ERA. “So just not being discouraged by that, and going down there and putting in the work. There were a lot of things we had to straighten out in that couple week span.
“Being able to learn from that failure is a big key.”
Meanwhile, Painter got plenty of support on a night when every Phillies starter recorded at least one hit. Bryce Harper hit his 389th career home run in the sixth inning and Kyle Schwarber hit his 378th career homer -- and MLB-leading 38th of the season -- in the eighth.
But this night was all about Painter.
Prior to winning each of Painter’s last three starts, the Phillies went nearly three months (May 19-Aug. 10) without winning a single game out of the No. 5 spot in their rotation.
That's why they sent Painter back to Triple-A just 14 starts into his big league career. It's also why they were open to acquiring another starting pitcher prior to the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.
When that didn't pan out, it essentially left Painter to sink or swim.
Did any of that provide extra motivation?
“You're always up for a challenge, right?” Painter said. “But you don't want to look too much into the outside stuff. You know, just being able to control what you can control, and do the day-in, day-out stuff, and just put the work in.”
That mentality was on full display in Painter’s final inning. Looking to get through the seventh for the first time in his professional career, he found himself in a bit of a jam following an error by shortstop Trea Turner.
Instead of a potential inning-ending double play, Painter was left to deal with runners on second and third with only one out. He struck out Cardinals catcher Jimmy Crooks for the second out, then quickly got ahead of first baseman Jordan before dialing up that 99.6 mph heater on a 1-2 pitch.
It was fouled off.
Painter then missed with a sweeper and Jordan fouled off a slider before the seventh pitch -- a changeup inside off the plate -- resulted in a grounder up the third-base line. Edmundo Sosa smothered it with a sliding stop, then made a perfect throw across the diamond to end the threat.
Painter slapped his glove and pumped his fists as he walked off to a standing ovation.
“I could tell that was really important to him,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said of getting through seven. “The whole outing today, it looked like he was a dog on the mound. He wanted to get guys out, he wanted to attack the strike zone. He just looked really confident out there.”
And the ovation?
“It was great. It was great,” Painter repeated.
And remember, despite the long journey to get to this point, Painter is still just 23 years old.
The last Phillie to throw at least seven innings of one-run ball with eight strikeouts at Painter's age was Aaron Nola in 2016. Prior to that it was Cole Hamels in 2007.
“It’s easy to forget how young he still is,” Realmuto said. “So just the growth that we've seen out of him recently, and the guy we saw today -- the ceiling is so high for him. When he has that demeanor and that much confidence on the mound, he can be whatever he wants in this game.”