Kyle Schwarber hits two of record eight Phillies homers to clinch first-round bye with win over Marlins
Schwarber is two homers shy of tying Ryan Howard's franchise record with four games to go. The Phillies will get a bye in the wild-card round and open the division series at home on Oct. 4.
Last Sunday, Bryce Harper stood at his locker after a game in Arizona and highlighted the only team goal left for the Phillies to achieve in the regular season.
“I want to clinch the bye,” he said. “For sure.”
Three nights later, his teammates delivered.
In the most emphatic way imaginable.
With Harper out sick again Wednesday night — and J.T. Realmuto (bruised right index finger) and Trea Turner (strained right hamstring) sidelined — Kyle Schwarber, Edmundo Sosa, and what remained of the lineup set a Phillies record with eight — count ‘em, eight! — home runs in an 11-1 clock-cleaning of the Marlins at Citizens Bank Park.
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How’s that for a way to lock up the No. 2 seed in the National League playoffs? The Phillies will get a bye in the best-of-three wild-card round, a trapdoor best avoided, and open the division series at home on Oct. 4.
“There’s a lot to be proud of, and we’re not done yet,” said Schwarber, who hit two more homers — Nos. 55 and 56 — to move within two of tying Ryan Howard’s single-season Phillies record. “We’ve got to push, keep pushing. You don’t just want to be remembered for regular seasons.”
Fair enough. But there are 10 days to look ahead to another Red October. For now, a thorough review of one of the most impressive nights in recent Phillies history — is appropriate. Heck, it’s necessary.
The most powerful statement? Take your pick.
Start with Sosa, who became the 24th player — and first shortstop — in the Phillies’ 143-season history to hit at least three homers in a game. If you didn’t know that he spent the previous 12 days on the injured list with a strained right groin, well, how would you have known?
Bryson Stott golfed a 441-footer to right-center field against Marlins lefty Ryan Weathers. It was the longest homer of his career and his first against a lefty since … checks notes … May 18, 2024.
Alec Bohm continued his torrid stretch since returning from the injured list last weekend by hitting his first homer at home since July 5.
Rookie infielder Otto Kemp got in on the act, too, with a missile into the left-field seats, the third of four homers in the Phillies’ five-run seventh inning.
It’s a wonder third base coach Dusty Wathan didn’t have a bruise from all the handshakes.
As usual, though, Schwarber was the headliner. Because not only did he inch closer to Howard — who was at the game, by the way — but Schwarber’s first homer in the third inning marked his 23rd against a lefty, the most ever in a season by a left-handed hitter.
Barry Bonds never hit that many.
Neither did Babe Ruth.
Consider, too, that Schwarber struggled to hit lefties early in his career. He began to improve in 2021, after getting cut loose by the Cubs, signing with the Nationals, and going to work with then-Washington hitting coach Kevin Long.
“His numbers were glaring against lefties,” said Long, now the Phillies’ hitting coach. “He didn’t deserve to play against them. And there was the honesty factor where he said, ‘They pinch-hit for me all the time. I’m never going to get better if I don’t get a chance.’ Well, the chances were given, and he didn’t capitalize. So this is the predicament you’re in. How do you get out of it? You have to get to work. And he did it.”
Schwarber loathes talking about personal accomplishments as long as there are team goals left to chase. But he conceded that he thought about those early days with Long as he rounded the bases in the third inning.
“It just kind of takes you back to 2020,” Schwarber said. “You get non-tendered, and then you sign a one-year deal and you get with a really good hitting coach and you come up with a plan and attack it. And it just felt like it’s kind of grown over the years.”
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Every Schwarber at-bat this week is not to be missed. And after his 468-foot clout into the second deck in right field in the seventh inning, 36,816 paying customers rose when he came to the plate in the eighth against Marlins outfielder Javier Sanoja.
But Schwarber, self-deprecating as ever when he hangs his head over struggling to hit position players, blooped a pop-up to left field that fell for a single.
“Hey, I got a hit,” he said. “Finally.”
But No. 57 would wait.
Sosa had to wait at second base in the seventh inning for the umpires to confirm that his third homer cleared the left-field fence amid the outstretched arms of a fan in the front row.
“The guys in the dugout kept telling me to keep going, but I was just waiting for the final decision to come,” Sosa said through a team interpreter. “After they called it, obviously I got even happier, more excited.
“It’s like chills. It was my turn today to be part of history.”
Sosa’s homers came against three pitchers: Weathers in the fourth inning and righties Lake Bachar and Valente Bellozo in the fifth and seventh, respectively.
What’s the degree of difficulty of hitting three homers after not playing for 12 days?
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“Pretty easy,” Stott said, cracking a smile.
Said Schwarber: “It’s pretty impressive. He goes up there, and he’s just got that boogie-whip to him where he’s able to stay through it just enough.”
Aside from being the beneficiary of all the homers, Jesús Luzardo set a few personal milestones of his own. In his final regular-season start, he went seven innings to eclipse his career-high with 183⅔. And he struck out 10 batters, giving him a career-best 216.
Imagine predicting those numbers in December after the Phillies traded for Luzardo from the Marlins.
Rob Thomson can’t.
“He’s had a really, really good year,” the manager said. “I didn’t quite expect this. … Great pickup.”
Luzardo likely will start a game in the division series. The Phillies can think about it now, having pocketed the bye.
“It’s like winning a playoff series, really,” Thomson said. “It’s an important night.”
Said Schwarber: “The postseason is a wild animal. There’s a lot of different things that we need to do too. We’re excited for it.”
After a historic game of powerball, how could they not be?