PHILADELPHIA — Andrew Painter’s fastball to Tyler Soderstrom missed badly below the zone for ball four. Before Soderstrom had even taken off his elbow guard and stepped out of the batter’s box, catcher Rafael Marchán was already out of his crouch and headed for the mound. The entire Phillies infield gathered around their rookie pitcher and tried to give him a moment to reset. Painter had ...

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Andrew Painter, right, is pulled from the game in the fourth inning of a 12-1 loss to the Athletics at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Philadelphia.

Elizabeth Robertson/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

PHILADELPHIA — Andrew Painter’s fastball to Tyler Soderstrom missed badly below the zone for ball four. Before Soderstrom had even taken off his elbow guard and stepped out of the batter’s box, catcher Rafael Marchán was already out of his crouch and headed for the mound.

The entire Phillies infield gathered around their rookie pitcher and tried to give him a moment to reset. Painter had already given up two runs against the Athletics in the first inning.

But those were not the last runs Painter allowed, and it would not be the last mound visit, either. The 23-year-old righty struggled with command against the A’s lineup, plunging the team into an early deficit they couldn’t dig out of for the 12-1 loss.

The first four batters of the game scored — walk, home run, walk, home run — and Painter threw 31 pitches before recording an out in the first inning. Tanner Banks was warming before the inning was over, though Painter managed to complete 3 2/3 innings. But when the left-hander was ultimately called from the bullpen, Banks was handed a 7-0 deficit.

Painter allowed seven hits, including three home runs that all came on fastballs. He fell behind in the count often, throwing first-pitch strikes only 55% of the time. On the occasions when he did get ahead, he struggled to put hitters away.

Kyle Schwarber gave the home crowd something to cheer about in the fourth inning with his 12th home run of the year, a solo shot to right. But that accounted for one of just four hits the Phillies mustered against A’s righty J.T. Ginn, who stifled them for eight innings.

Ginn, who racked up eight strikeouts — five on his sinker — posted the longest outing of his career.

The A’s continued to run up the score on the bullpen, tacking on two more runs on Banks. After Lawrence Butler drew a walk in the fifth, Justin Crawford lost sight of a fly ball in center and it landed well behind him, allowing Zack Gelof to sail into third for an RBI triple. Gelof scored on a single from Nick Kurtz.