If the Phillies finish a game better than the Dodgers or Brewers for the best record in the National League, they’ll look back to Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto as one of the most important nights of their season.
It was without a doubt their most dramatic.
They inched back into the game by taking good at-bats in nearly every inning after falling behind by five runs in the first and finally went ahead on a three-run blast in the top of the ninth from Kyle Schwarber, who had the best night of his major-league career in an epic 10-9 Phillies win.
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Schwarber went 5-for-6 with three home runs, a double and six RBI against the Blue Jays. He led off the game with a no-doubter off Chris Bassitt, took Bassitt out again in the top of the fourth to make it a two-run game and capped off a tense nine-pitch at-bat against Chad Green in the ninth with his third of the game.
Schwarber had not homered since hitting a grand slam against the Marlins on August 14. A week earlier, he hit three home runs and drove in seven at Dodger Stadium.
Schwarber is the only Phillie in the modern era with two three-homer games in the same season. He’s hitting .245/.379/.474 with 31 homers, 88 RBI, 92 runs scored and a National League-leading 94 walks. He’s also struck out 47 fewer times than last season.
Schwarber’s ninth-inning plate appearance was far from the only long, professional at-bat worked by the Phillies. They had 18 hits, six walks and a hit batsman. They went just 4-for-19 with runners in scoring position but made them count.
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September call-up Kody Clemens came off the bench and had enormous at-bats, an 11-pitch RBI groundout in the seventh that brought the Phillies within two runs, and a ninth-inning double down the first-base line to put two runners in scoring position ahead of Schwarber’s game-winner.
The Phillies needed all the offense because Tyler Phillips was blown up for six runs in the first inning. He recorded only two outs and put eight men on base before being lifted for Tanner Banks. Phillips was tentatively in line to start again Sunday in Miami but that’s likely TBD now. Kolby Allard is not eligible to be recalled from Triple A again until next Tuesday, September 10.
Rob Thomson used Banks, a returning Jose Alvarado, Taijuan Walker in his bullpen debut, Jose Ruiz, Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm to cover the final seven innings. They’ll need innings out of Cristopher Sanchez on Wednesday afternoon.
Castellanos came out of the game after being hit by a pitch, and Bryce Harper appeared to tweak something in his final at-bat, wincing in pain and dropping the bat as he struck out. Their statuses should be updated ahead of Wednesday’s game.
The Phillies are on a real roll. They won two of three in Kansas City, two of three over the Astros, three of four over the Braves and started their six-game road trip with one of their most triumphant nights of the year.
They came back Tuesday from deficits of 6-1 and 8-4. Last week, the Phillies trailed by multiple runs in the fifth inning or later in five of the seven games of their homestand yet went 5-2.
The Phils are 82-56 with 24 games to play.