Kyle Schwarber caps dramatic comeback with walk-off home run as Phillies sweep Cardinals
The Phillies were down to their final out before scoring six runs — capped off by Schwarber's walk-off home run — to complete a sweep of the Cardinals.
Edmundo Sosa walked up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon. The bases were loaded with two outs. The Phillies faced a four-run deficit against the Cardinals.
These aren’t circumstances that normally lead to success (let alone a six-run rally, en route to a 6-4 walk-off win). But Sosa wasn’t afraid. He looked to his teammate, Bryce Harper, standing on third base, 90 feet away.
Harper gave him a knowing glance. “Like, ‘Yes, you got this,’” Sosa recalled. Then the utility infielder turned toward the dugout. His teammates wore the same expression.
Momentum in the ballpark was starting to build. Kyle Schwarber could feel it from the moment Harper hit his line-drive double to lead off the inning.
Luis Arraez and Brandon Marsh recorded back-to-back flyouts, but J.T. Realmuto singled, and Justin Crawford walked to give the Phillies a chance for a victory.
Schwarber leaned over to Trea Turner, who was beside him, and joked that Sosa would “hit a grand slam somehow.” He didn’t do that. But the infielder did something nearly as good; roping a double to left field double that just stayed fair, to drive in all three runners.
Momentum continued to build; the infield dirt vibrated, the crowd began to rumble. Schwarber stood in the on-deck circle as Bryan De La Cruz worked a six-pitch at-bat against Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien, fouling off a two-strike pitch before taking two balls, then finding a hole up the middle for a game-tying single.
Then, it was Schwarber’s turn. He said he went up to the plate looking to pass it on Turner; instead, on a 2-2 count, the slugger launched a 459-foot home run to center field to give the Phillies their ninth straight win.
When Schwarber saw St. Louis’ center fielder turn around in resignation, he knew it was over. He flipped his bat, flipped his helmet, and started jogging around the bases.
“I think it was just more just shock, disbelief,” he said. “I didn’t know what to do there. I’m not trying to be disrespectful to them. But it was just a little bit of disbelief.”
Anyone watching in the moment wouldn’t begrudge his reaction. For eight innings, the Phillies offense looked lifeless, recording only four hits, with no runs off the Cardinals’ pitching staff. And St. Louis had brought in O’Brien, who led the National League with 33 saves, to start the ninth.
It seemed like the eight-game winning streak would come to an unceremonious, muted end, and a strong, scoreless showing from the bullpen would be squandered.
Instead, that streak is alive and well, as the Phillies head to the West Coast for a nine-game road trip. Since the Field of Dreams Game in Iowa, they’ve made up five games against the Cubs in the National League wild-card race, sitting in second place at 73-58, only a game-and-a-half behind Chicago.
Over that span, they’ve also made up seven games against the NL East-leading Braves, who led the Phillies by 2½ games going into their night game at Milwaukee.
“I feel like it’s a lot of really good baseball,” Schwarber said. “It’s a lot of complete baseball. It’s not like we’re out there just hitting homers and relying on that, I feel like there’s a lot of different things we’re doing well.
“I feel like the defense is playing really well. Our pitching obviously is our pitching, our starters set the tone for us, they’re attacking the zone, they’re trusting the defense, getting their punch outs.
“And our offense just from top to bottom feels like they’re doing what they need to do with their plans, and staying aggressive to their plans, and whatever individual approach they need to have.”
One person who was not surprised was Cristopher Sánchez, who took in the six-run rally from the TV in the clubhouse. The left-handed starter said he felt good about his outing, but conceded that there were a few routine plays he could’ve made, which proved costly.
He allowed stolen bases to Jordan Walker and JJ Wetherholt, both of whom ended up scoring for runs.
“Usually I control the runners pretty well,” he said. “I was bothered a little bit because they took those two bases quite easily.”
Sánchez fanned seven Cardinals across 6 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits with no walks. It wasn’t as dominant as his other showings, but on Sunday afternoon, that didn’t seem to faze him.
“Incredible, incredible,” Sánchez said of his teammates’ come-from-behind effort. “But this is who we are. This is who we are.”
Bryson Stott injury scare
In the bottom of the sixth, Bryson Stott took a foul ball off his right foot in the midst of his at-bat; the trainers visited him at home plate briefly. He remained in the game but was later removed in the eighth inning, with a right foot contusion. Arraez replaced him at second base.
Interim manager Don Mattingly said after the game that X-rays on Stott’s foot were negative and they’ll see how he feels tomorrow.
“I kind of expect him to be in there,” Mattingly said. “Honestly, a lot of the foot things, if it’s not a fracture, they bounce back decent. Not a lot of area to get swollen up in there. So I expect him to be able to play.”
The Phillies haven't won a playoff series since 2023, and their postseasons keep getting shorter and shorter. How can they fix it? Radio play-by-play announcer Scott Franzke joins Phillies Extra, The Inquirer's baseball podcast, to discuss Trea Turner's future, the managerial uncertainty, whether the Phillies can get "creative" to change the mix of the roster, and more. Watch here.
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