Kyle Schwarber’s grand slam caps off a big sixth inning in Phillies’ 11-7 win over the Astros
Cristopher Sánchez had an atypical start, allowing six runs and 10 hits in six innings, but Schwarber and the Phillies' offense kept chipping away and exploded for six runs in the sixth.
His bat was aloft, in his right hand, straight up in the air like an Olympic torch.
Kyle Schwarber’s swing on the 3-2 sweeper had been half with one hand. But there was no doubt, from the moment bat met ball, that he’d done it again. And as he took his first steps out of the batter’s box and chaos erupted in every corner of Citizens Bank Park, Schwarber paused to take it all in.
His 44th homer of the season certainly wasn’t his furthest, at 408 feet. But it was still one of his biggest yet, a towering grand slam that gave the Phillies a commanding lead in their eventual 11-7 win over the Astros on Wednesday night.
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It helped them overcome an atypical start from ace Cristopher Sánchez, who allowed a lot of hard contact and only struck out three. The Astros saw his pitches well all night, including his vaunted changeup.
Of the 10 hits he allowed, half were for extra bases. That included a pair of homers from Isaac Paredes and Cam Smith, both coming on mislocated sinkers.
But the Phillies offense kept finding gaps, and also capitalized on poor defense from Houston. They responded to a four-run top of the third by Houston with a four-run bottom of the inning, stringing together four ground-ball singles that got through the infield.
They had more work to do, though, after the Astros put up two more runs on Sánchez in the fourth on Smith’s homer. But after Trea Turner’s solo shot chipped away in the fifth inning, the Phillies completely broke the game open in the sixth.
Edmundo Sosa tied things up and got some redemption, all at once. A day after he had failed to hustle out of the box, costing the Phillies an extra base in the ninth inning on Tuesday, Sosa said the mistake would not happen again.
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He entered Wednesday’s game as a pinch-hitter against Astros lefty Bryan King with two runners on. As soon as his bat connected on a fastball from King, clocking just a 58.2 mph exit velocity, Sosa dashed to first. It happened to find some grass in right field, allowing Luis Arraez to tie the game at 6-6.
A single from Justin Crawford and bases-loaded walk from Bryan De La Cruz kept the line moving for Schwarber’s big swing.
Jonathan Bowlan, Alex McFarlane, and Jhoan Duran split the job in relief. Bowlan allowed a run in the seventh inning on a double and a single.
It was not a save situation for Duran, but the Phillies called on their closer for the ninth anyway, since he had not pitched since Sunday. The roller coaster game was capped by a roller coaster final play, as Bryson Stott initially overshot a foul pop-up, recovered, and made the catch while falling down.
With the minor league season winding down, Phillies farm director Luke Murton returns to Phillies Extra to discuss the state of the system and upcoming changes to his role. He also offers an encouraging update on injured top prospect Aidan Miller. Watch here.
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