Kyle Schwarber was at the center of Phillies’ 8-6 slugfest win over the White Sox: ‘He set the tone for us’
Friday was the Phillies’ highest-scoring game since May 15. Schwarber, who notched his ninth career four-hit game, recorded four singles for the first time.
Kyle Schwarber chugged, like a choo-choo, up the third-base line and dove headfirst, touching home plate with his right hand.
And then he stayed there, prone, arms over his head.
Freeze that. Or frame it. Hang it in the Art Museum, or at least Ashburn Alley. Because the Phillies needed a seventh run, more than they scored in a game since mid-May, and there was Slugging Schwarber in the seventh inning Friday night, making it happen with a single and a sprint.
“Kyle said he sent himself,” interim manager Don Mattingly cracked after an 8-6 victory over the White Sox — and even if that were true (Schwarber said it may have been a slight exaggeration), nobody with the Phillies would’ve objected.
» READ MORE: What if the Phillies’ most impactful addition was a resurgent Trea Turner? He’s working to make it happen.
They won their fourth consecutive game — and for the eighth time in 10 games — to continue their surge up the standings. They’re 25-10 under Mattingly to go from a 9-19 start to a half-game lead for the top wild-card spot in the National League.
But save for the way it ended — with lights-out closer Jhoan Duran setting up another helpless batter with a 101-mph heater and striking him out on a hellacious sweeper — the latest win had little in common with the ones preceding it.
Start here: The offense did the heavy lifting.
After weeks of eking out low-scoring victories because of otherworldly starting pitching and a sturdy bullpen, the Phillies scored five runs in the second inning, or more than in all but one of their previous 14 games.
They did it against a left-handed starting pitcher, too. The Phillies were batting .186 against lefty starters before teeing off on Anthony Kay for six runs on seven hits in four innings.
And the loudest hits came from multiple sources.
Brandon Marsh tied the game with a two-run homer in the second inning, his first against lefty starter deep since July 16, 2022 … when he was still with the Angels.
Alec Bohm pulled a ball in the air to left field — to the surprise of the White Sox, who played him to go the other way — for a two-run double to cap the scoring in the big second inning.
Adolis García followed his slump-interrupting homer Thursday against the Padres by going deep in the fourth inning — and flipping his bat again, too.
“It’s always nice to see when we put up a lot of runs,” said starter Jesús Luzardo, bailed out for matching his career-high by allowing three homers. “Knowing that we have such a potent offense, it’s just a matter of time.”
» READ MORE: Amid struggles at the plate, Justin Crawford has found others ways to improve: ‘You see a difference’
But everything started with Schwarber, albeit in most atypical fashion for baseball’s most unique leadoff hitter.
Schwarber leads the majors with 23 home runs, which account for 41% of his hits. But in notching his ninth career four-hit game, he recorded four singles for the first time.
“It was great,” Marsh said. “He set the tone for us, and we followed him.”
After the White Sox tied it at 6-6 on a two-out, shattered-bat bloop, Schwarber led off the seventh inning by punching a single to right field. He went to second on a walk and third on Bryce Harper’s single.
Two batters later, with one out, Edmundo Sosa hit a sinking liner to left fielder Sam Antonacci, who came in for the ball and reached down to catch it.
Let’s allow Schwarber to narrate the rest.
“Once you see it go up, you know the situation, you’re pretty much dead set on making the left fielder make a good throw and the catcher make a tag,” he said. “All you’re doing is thinking about scoring. Probably don’t prefer to slide headfirst. But [on-deck batter] J.T. [Realmuto]’s telling me to kind of step to the right, and you’re just trying to avoid the swipe tag.”
Did Schwarber really go on his own?
“I mean, once I saw the ball hit, I said, ‘Yes,’ like I want to, like I’m going,” he said. “And AC [third base coach Anthony Contreras], he was reading the play. About a second and a half to go, he’s like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah.’ I was pretty much dead set on going, though.
» READ MORE: Is it finally time for Mike Trout to be traded? The all-in Phillies make too much sense.
“Trust me, I mean, knowing the situation, you want to score in any way that you can. And then we were able to extend the inning and score another run, which is nice insurance, too.”
Not that Duran needed it. He has retired 16 batters in a row, 10 by strikeout, including Miguel Vargas to end another game. He hasn’t allowed a baserunner since May 25. He’s 15-for-15 in save opportunities.
The best approach to facing Duran right now?
“Walk back to the dugout,” Marsh said. “He’s amazing, you know? I feel like he can execute any pitch of his. I really have like a loss of words. He’s been nails for us.“
Duran hasn’t had much choice. The Phillies have played so many close games — often low-scoring, too — that they’ve needed their star closer to nail it down.
“Our pitching has been doing such a great job going out and keeping us in games,” Schwarber said. “They’re keeping us in spots where we can just put up the runs that we need to put up to where we’re walking away with wins.”
But more frequent offensive outbursts, in any form they take, will surely ease the burden.
With 60 years in professional baseball — 41 of them with the Phillies — Larry Bowa is back at spring training. The 1980 World Series shortstop, former coach, and manager joins The Inquirer’s Scott Lauber to talk about top prospect Aidan Miller, Trea Turner’s future at shortstop, the Phillies’ title hopes, and more. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Previous episodes: Joe Maddon | Rhys Hoskins | Terry Francona | Aaron Rowand | Hunter Pence | Paco Figueroa | Gage Wood | Scott Boras | Brian Barber | Aaron Nola
