The Philadelphia Phillies acquired pitchers Kyle Gibson and Ian Kennedy, bolstering their staff in a deadline trade Friday in which they got the Texas Rangers' top starter and closer in exchange for rookie right-hander Spencer Howard and two other pitching prospects.
Texas also sent pitching prospect Hans Crouse, a second-round draft pick four years ago, and cash to the Phillies. Howard (0-2, 5.72 ERA), who was Philadelphia's second-round pick in 2017, is going to Texas with right-handers Kevin Gowdy and Josh Gessne.
Gibson (6-3, 2.87 ERA) was a first-time All-Star this season, but the 33-year-old right-hander lost his last three starts for Texas. Kennedy had 16 saves in 17 opportunities for the last-place Rangers, and the 36-year-old right-hander hasn't issued a walk in his last 11 appearances, a span of 45 batters dating to June 4.
Philadelphia went into Friday night's game at Pittsburgh with a 51-51 record. The Phillies were second in the NL East, 3½ games behind the New York Mets.
Gibson is still owed about $3.6 million of his $10 million salary for this season, and is signed for $7 million in 2022. There is about $762,000 remaining on Kennedy's $2.2 million salary, and the former big league starter will be a free agent at the end of this season, his 15th in the majors.
Since his big league debut with Minnesota in 2013, Gibson has a 75-77 career record with a 4.42 ERA in 224 games (219 starts). He has allowed 16 runs (15 earned) with 13 strikeouts and 12 walks over 17⅓ innings in his last three starts.
His career-high eight walks last Saturday in Houston were the most by a Rangers pitcher since 2003, but he still got a quality start by allowing only three runs (two earned) over six innings in the 4-1 loss. His 13 quality starts were only one less than New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and Toronto's Robbie Ray, who have the most among AL pitchers.
Kennedy has a 97-105 record with a 4.10 ERA in 401 career games (290 starts). He went 21-4 and led the National League in wins for Arizona in 2011, and followed that with a 15-win season for the Diamondbacks. His last season in a rotation was 2017, when he went 5-13 in 30 starts for Kansas City before transitioning to the bullpen his last two years there.
Kennedy struck out two in a perfect ninth inning for a save in a 5-4 win at home over Arizona on Tuesday night. His final appearance for the Rangers came on the same night that All-Star slugger Joey Gallo hit the go-ahead homer and had two outfield assists in what also was his last game for them before getting traded to the New York Yankees.
The Phillies also acquired infielder Freddy Galvis in a deal with the Baltimore Orioles for right-hander Tyler Burch.
Galvis, 31, began his career in Philadelphia, playing his first six seasons in the majors there.
Galvis has been on the injured list with a right quadriceps strain since last month. He's slashing .249/.306/.414 with nine home runs in 72 games this season.
Burch, 23, was originally signed by Philadelphia as a non-drafted free agent out of Lewis-Clark State College in 2019.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.