Schwarber burns challenge 1 pitch too early as Phillies' rally falls short

PHILADELPHIA -- It’s new, but Kyle Schwarber knew enough to take his shot in the 10th inning.

The Phillies had rallied from a three-run deficit with two outs in the ninth inning in Saturday’s 5-4 loss to the Rangers in 10 innings at Citizens Bank Park. They allowed two runs in the top of the 10th, but they had the tying run on first base with one out in the bottom of the inning.

Rangers left-hander Tyler Alexander fell behind Schwarber, 2-1, when he threw a cutter low and away.

It was called a strike to even the count at 2-2.

It was close enough, however, that Schwarber challenged it.

“I’m thinking it’s a coin flip in my head,” he said. “Because if it’s a close one and you flip that count to 3-1, then you could get the bases loaded on a walk or whatever. Or you get a better pitch to hit.”

But the ABS Challenge System showed that the ball clipped the zone. Schwarber lost.

The next pitch was a changeup below the zone, but it was called strike three. If Schwarber had a challenge remaining, he would have won that one to stay alive. But teams get one ABS challenge per inning in extra innings, so Schwarber walked back to the Phillies’ dugout wondering what might have been.

Welcome to a new era of baseball, where one overturned or upheld pitch can change an entire at-bat or game.

You never know.

“That’s kind of the risk-reward aspect of it all,” Schwarber said. “I was in a swing count there, where it’s 2-1. He got a borderline pitch, and that’s probably the time to [challenge] if you were going to do it. It’s not blatant. It’s not like a blatant ball, right? I’m just like, 'Well, we’ve got one, so we’ve got to use it.' And it’s in that swing count. And then, obviously, we would have won the second one -- the next pitch that I was punched out on.”

But Schwarber can’t see the future, so he couldn’t have known the next pitch would have been better than a coin flip.

“It’s not like I’m thinking I’m mad about it,” Schwarber said. “I did it when I thought I should have done it.”

Bryce Harper followed Schwarber with a broken-bat single to score a run, but Alec Bohm popped out to end the game.

“It’s a game of inches,” Phillies outfielder Brandon Marsh said. “It’s less than inches. I’m still getting used to it. It’s crazy, and not in a bad way. It’s kind of nuts seeing just how close those balls are to the zone, missing or barely catching it. We’re all still trying to get a good gauge for it.”

The Phillies had only one hit with two outs in the ninth inning before they staged their three-run rally. Bohm dropped an 0-2 pitch into right-center field for a single. Pinch-hitter Edmundo Sosa walked on a 3-2 pitch in the dirt. Adolis García popped up the first pitch he saw into foul territory, but Rangers first baseman Jake Burger dropped it for an error.

Three pitches later, García hit a broken-bat double to left field to score a run.

Marsh then singled on a 1-2 pitch to plate two runners to tie the game.

The Phillies nearly rewarded fans who stayed until the end in frigid conditions with what would have been their their first win after trailing with two outs in the ninth and no more than one hit since July 31, 1984, when they rallied against the Cubs at Wrigley Field.

The Phillies announced Saturday’s first-pitch temperature at 45 degrees, making it the coldest start to a game in Philadelphia since April 5, 2019, when it was 43 degrees at first pitch against the Twins.

It wasn’t a great day to pitch. Everybody’s fastball velocity was below their average last season.

But the Phillies had trouble hitting, too. They learned before the game that Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom would not pitch because of neck stiffness.

They got left-hander Jacob Latz instead. Latz allowed 18 hits, 16 runs and 10 walks in 15 2/3 innings this spring, but he pitched four-plus hitless innings against the Phillies. The Rangers bullpen did its job until the ninth.

The Phillies’ bullpen put up zeroes following Aaron’s Nola start. He struck out seven and allowed three runs in five innings.

“Never gave up,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said.