Fueled by their offense once again, the Phillies topple the Mets in Sunday’s series finale
The Phillies have now scored a total of 44 runs on 60 hits, winning four games out of six against both the Marlins and Mets. Next up, a four-game series in Washington against the Nationals.
They gathered at the usual time (shortly before 3 p.m.), in the usual spot (around home plate) for early batting practice. Bryson Stott and Alec Bohm were there; J.T. Realmuto, too.
Before long, Bryce Harper joined them. Again.
What else did you expect? Yes, the Phillies star prefers the indoor cage for his pregame swings, but he felt like launching balls into the seats Saturday and wound up hitting for the cycle a few hours later.
Only a fool would do anything differently.
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So, Harper hit on the field again Sunday. And he stuck with his 35-ounce “heavy” bat instead of the 31½-ounce model that he ditched the night before. And guess what? Yep, Harper got three more hits — a triple short of another cycle — in a 6-2 rubber-game victory over the Mets that was powered by another titanic Kyle Schwarber homer.
Harper doubled in the second inning, homered in the fifth, and singled in the seventh. He has seven hits in his last nine at-bats after enduring a 1-for-22 funk.
Surely, he wants to bottle this feeling.
But it isn’t only Harper. Or even Schwarber, who has four homers in the last two games, leads the majors with 29, and is on pace to finish with 61, which would constitute a record for a franchise that has existed for 144 seasons.
No, as the Phillies punctuated a winning homestand and left for Washington to play four games this week, the offense was finally building positive mojo. In going 4-2 against the Marlins and Mets, they scored a total of 44 runs on 60 hits.
After the pitching, notably co-aces Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler and star closer Jhoan Duran, carried the Phillies from a 9-19 start back into wild-card position, the bats are mashing again.
The Phillies won the series against the Mets by taking advantage of mistakes early. They scored two first-inning runs without a hit out of the infield before Schwarber’s three-run homer in the second and Harper’s solo in the fifth.
Schwarber is on his typical June power binge. After launching 456- and 457-foot missiles halfway up the second deck Saturday night, he returned to that territory in the series finale against Mets lefty David Peterson.
Wheeler, meanwhile, sidestepped back-to-back singles to open the second inning and shrugged off Carson Benge’s leadoff homer in the third.
After walking the bases loaded with one out in the sixth, and with his pitch count up to 101, Wheeler got a visit from interim manager Don Mattingly. But Mattingly stuck with Wheeler in hopes of getting a double play.
It nearly happened. Wheeler got a ground ball and the force at second base. Jonathan Bowlan came on and struck out Marcus Semien to extinguish further threat.
Wheeler followed Sánchez’s six-inning, one-run gem by allowing two runs in 5⅔ innings, leaving his ERA at 2.11.
Now, the Phillies will begin the week in possession of the second National League wild card, a half-game behind the Cardinals.
Father's Day will hit a little differently this year for Don and Preston Mattingly. After years of working in baseball for different teams, often on opposite sides of the country, they are together with the Phillies as the first father-and-son manager-and-GM combination ever. Preston Mattingly joins Phillies Extra to discuss working with his dad, as well as the Phillies' decision to demote Andrew Painter to the minors and their preparations for the trade deadline. Watch here.
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