Turnbull takes no-hit bid into 7th, Bohm hits pair of 3-run homers, Phillies beat White Sox 7-0

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Spencer Turnbull carried a no-hit bid into the seventh inning, Alec Bohm hit a pair of three-run homers and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago White Sox 7-0 on Friday night to extend their winning streak to four.

Chicago has lost seven of eight and 12 of 14, dropping to a major league-worst 3-16. The White Sox have been shut out seven times and are hitting a major league-low .190.

Turnbull (2-0) didn’t allow a hit until Gavin Sheets singled into right field with one out in the seventh. He struck out six and walked two, pitching seven innings for the first time since his no-hitter for Detroit against Seattle on May 18, 2021.

“I thought about it a couple times,” Turnbull said of a no-hitter. “But you try to keep it out of your head for a little while, at least until after the game.”

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Turnbull likely wouldn’t have gone the full nine innings even with a no-hit bid intact.

“I think I would have gotten him out before he got to his pitch limit,” Thomson said. "We’re not going to put him in jeopardy.”

Turnbull retired 14 consecutive batters after a two-out walk to Paul DeJong in the second. Phillies starters have allowed one earned run over 29 1/3 innings in their last four games.

Before the game the Phillies announced Taijuan Walker will make one more rehab start for Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Sunday. He then could return to the Phillies rotation, which could cause Turnbull to move to the bullpen. However, Turnbull’s making that decision difficult on Phillies management.

“Obviously I want to make it as hard as possible,” Turnbull said. “I want to start and give myself the best chance and give the team the best chance to win when I’m out there. But those decisions aren’t really up to me. I’m just here to help the team win in whatever role that is.”

With the Phillies wearing their blue, yellow and black jerseys for the second time, Matt Strahm allowed Nicky Lopez’s one-out single in the eighth and Orion Kerkering pitched the ninth, finishing a two-hitter.

Bohm matched a career high with six RBIs and had his fourth career two-homer game. He drove a four-seam fastball from Garret Crochet (1-3) over the right-field scoreboard in the first and a full-count cutter into the left-center field seats in the third.

Bohm leads the Phillies with 17 RBI. He credited some tweaks to how the team prepares for opposing pitchers this season for a better approach at the plate.

“It’s a little more in depth and a little more focused work during the day against what the guy’s featuring that night,” Bohm said. “Putting the machine on an angle. Little things like that just trying to emulate what we’re going to see out there that night.”

Whit Merrifield homered in the fourth off Crochet, his first with the Phillies, and Trea Turner had his fourth three-hit game this season.

Crochet allowed seven runs and five hits in three innings.

“He got behind in the count and threw too many pitches,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifo saidl. “Every time there’s a crooked number there’s probably a walk somewhere."

UP NEXT

RHP Zack Wheeler, 0-3 despite a 3.00 ERA in four starts, will pitch for the Phillies on Saturday against Michael Soroka (0-2, 6.98).

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Philadelphia Phillies' Alec Bohm, right, rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run against Chicago White Sox pitcher Garrett Crochet during the first inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Alec Bohm, left, and Bryce Harper celebrate after the Phillies won a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Alec Bohm, right, and Trea Turner celebrate after Bohm's three-run home run against Chicago White Sox's Garrett Crochet during the third inning of a baseball game, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Spencer Turnbull pitches during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Spencer Turnbull reacts after pitching the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Friday, April 19, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Wall Street pointed toward gains early Friday ahead of a report on U.S. employment that is expected to show the economy remains strong despite a prolonged period of high interest rates.

Futures for the S&P 500 rose 0.3% before the bell, while futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.7%.

Later Friday, the U.S. government will report on how many jobs employers added in April.

Economists expect it to show a slowdown in hiring from March. However, a report Thursday showed that fewer U.S. workers applied for unemployment benefits last week than economists expected in the latest signal that the job market remains solid despite high interest rates.

The U.S. economy is in a tight spot, where the hope is that it remains strong enough to stay out of a recession but not so strong that it worsens the already stalled progress on inflation.

Stubbornly high readings on inflation this year pushed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell to say on Wednesday that it will likely take “longer than previously expected” to get enough confidence about inflation to cut interest rates.

In equities trading early Friday, Apple rose 6% after the tech giant raised its dividend and announced a $110 billion share buyback, even as it posted the steepest quarterly decline in iPhone sales since the outset of the pandemic.

Expedia fell 12.2% after the online travel company beat Wall Street targets but lowered its full-year bookings guidance because its Vrbo rental unit has been slow to recover from its migration to Expedia's platform.

In Europe at midday, Germany's DAX gained 0.4%, while the CAC 40 in Paris and London's FTSE 100 each picked up 0.5%.

Markets in Tokyo and mainland China were closed for holidays.

The Japanese yen strengthened slightly against the U.S. dollar amid signs of heavy central bank intervention to tamp down the dollar’s advance.

The financial newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that estimates showed the government spending an estimated 8 trillion yen (about $50 billion) in reserves this week to try to keep the yen from slipping further against the dollar.

The weaker yen has helped boost prices for imported goods, a factor behind the Bank of Japan's recent decision to give up its negative interest rate policy and raise its benchmark rate to zero to 0.1% from a longstanding level of minus 0.1%. It might raise rates further, Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics said in a commentary, even if its target of 2% isn't met.

“Even though the economic case for preventing the yen from sliding is much weaker, the Ministry of Finance seems to have responded with an even more forceful round of foreign exchange interventions this week than it did two years ago," Thieliant said.

While a weak yen is a boon for Japanese companies that earn much of their revenues overseas, significant shifts in the foreign exchange market can play havoc with corporate planning and a sharply weaker yen also boosts costs for imports of oil and other vital commodities.

The dollar was trading at 153.18 yen early Friday, down from 153.65 late Thursday. The euro rose to $1.0748 from $1.0727.

In Asian trading, Hong Kong's Hang Seng jumped 1.5% to 18,475.92, tracking gains on Wall Street. News of fresh moves by Chinese leaders to energize the economy also helped drive buying of technology shares.

E-commerce giant Alibaba climbed 4.1% and rival JD.com was up 5.5%. Baidu advanced 4.4%.

Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,629.00 and the Kospi in Seoul slipped 0.3% to 2,676.63. Taiwan's Taiex picked up 0.5%.

India's Sensex shed 0.9% to 73,952.37.

On Thursday, the S&P 500 rose 0.9%, a day after swinging sharply when the Federal Reserve said it's likely delaying cuts to interest rates but not planning to hike them. That more than halved its losses for the week. The Dow advanced 0.9% and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.5%.

In energy trading, U.S. benchmark crude oil gained 35 cents to $79.30 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It lost 5 cents on Thursday.

Brent crude, the international standard, added 43 cents to $84.10 per barrel.

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Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Currency traders pass by the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher Friday ahead of a report on the U.S. jobs market, with several major markets including Tokyo and Shanghai closed for holidays. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders work near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 3, 2024. Asian shares were mostly higher Friday ahead of a report on the U.S. jobs market, with several major markets including Tokyo and Shanghai closed for holidays. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A currency trader smiles near the screen showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI), left, and the foreign exchange rate between U.S. dollar and South Korean won at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Friday, May 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)