Kyle Schwarber sets the tone for the Phillies with a 461-foot homer and a 5-foot single

PHOENIX — The infielders were playing back in Saturday’s first inning, which made J.T. Realmuto and Bryson Stott come to an agreement in the Phillies dugout that Kyle Schwarber — one of the all-time postseason home run hitters — should start the game with a bunt.

“Shock the world,” Stott said.

Schwarber hit four homers — best known in October as Schwarbombs — in the first four games of the National League Championship Series. A Schwar-bunt? That would catch the entire stadium by surprise, Realmuto said. It seemed like a crazy idea. They weren’t alone.

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“It actually crossed my mind,” Schwarber said after the Phillies regained control of the series with a 6-1 win over the Diamondbacks. “Should I bunt here? They’re playing back. Ah, what the hell.”

Schwarber swung away and the result — a 5-foot single off Zac Gallen with an exit velocity of 30 mph — was the same. So was the affect as Schwarber set the tone for the Phils after two brutal losses at Chase Field. He reached first, bragged to the dugout about the size of his marbles, and scored four batters later from second base. The Phillies had a lead. More importantly, they had a sigh of relief.

“He took that first swing and I said ‘Never mind. That was an aggressive bunt,’ ” Stott said. “He walks up there and you know that the first pitch of the game can go 430 feet or he’s going to put an at-bat on you. Doing what he does is huge for us.”

The Phillies lost leads in Games 3 and 4 as Arizona evened the series at 2. The momentum the Phils flew to Phoenix with after two crazy nights in South Philly seemed fleeting. But their tone-setter said the Phillies never doubted.

“Everyone looked forward to getting to the ballpark, I’ll tell you that,” Schwarber said. “When you have a belief in yourself and a group cause that we have and the team that we have, it can be really hard to beat us. We all believe in ourselves, truly.”

Rob Thomson returned Schwarber to the leadoff spot on June 2 and has kept him there ever since. He was great in June, dipped in July, steadied himself in August, and finished the season scorching. But when Schwarber went 4-for-25 in the first two postseason series, it felt like maybe the Phillies needed a different look at the top spot.

The manager kept his tone-setter there and Schwarber is now the favorite to be the NLCS MVP if the Phillies return to the World Series.

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“We just play better with him in the leadoff spot,” Realmuto said. “I think it’s a no-brainer that he needs to be up there setting the tone for our lineup. … He’s one of the most feared leadoff hitters in the game. I think when you have someone like that who can get on base so much and do damage from the first pitch of the game, I know as a catcher going through opposing lineups, that’s not fun. You start thinking about the first pitch the night before the game even starts.”

A 5-foot single set the tone early and a 461-foot homer in the sixth provided the tenor for the late innings. It was his fifth homer of the series, joining him with Chase Utley (2009 Phillies) as the only Phils to have five homers in a postseason series. It was also his 11th career postseason homer with the Phillies, tied with Jayson Werth and Bryce Harper for the most in franchise history.

Schwarber had the game’s furthest hit and shortest hit. Both were crucial. Harper, the next batter, followed with a homer to give the Phillies a four-run lead. Two innings later, Realmuto’s two-run homer extinguished any hope the D’backs had of returning to South Philly with a series lead. Schwarber’s homer started a late surge that put the game away.

“He’s country strong, man. It’s incredible,” Harper said. “Just the way he goes and the way he swings. He uses that lower half so well. He drives through the ground. Whenever you’re able to put your feet in the ground and stay grounded, it’s incredible. When guys are able to do that, that’s how you hit the ball that way and that far.

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“Every chance he gets up there, he has an opportunity to hit a homer. And I think that’s the coolest thing about being Kyle Schwarber, he’s got a really good chance to go deep in any count, any pitch. It’s really impressive.”

Schwarber’s home run left his bat at 114 mph, nearly four times faster than his first-inning single. And the sound? Loud, Realmuto said. Schwarber has set the tone — in the clubhouse, at the plate, and in the dugout — all series for the Phillies. One at-bat, Schwarber can think about bunting. Another, he can stand at home plate and watch another tone-setting homer sail away.

“You know when it comes off his bat that it’s not coming down for a long time,” Realmuto said.