PHILADELPHIA -- Taijuan Walker needed help.
The first inning this season has been his “bugaboo,” according to Phillies manager Rob Thomson. Walker had allowed seven runs in the first innings in his first two starts, then two more in the first inning of Saturday afternoon’s 4-3 victory over the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park.
Fans booed. They were grumpy.
The Phillies had not played good baseball through 13 games. They were 6-7, and a two-run deficit seemed like a lot for a team that had scored in just one of the previous 29 innings and ranked 24th in baseball, averaging 3.54 runs per game.
But then the Phillies’ No. 2 and 3 hitters showed up.
Kyle Schwarber hit a three-run home run to right field in the third inning to give the Phillies a 3-2 lead. Bryce Harper followed with a homer into the home bullpen in right-center field to give them a two-run lead.
It was Schwarber’s and Harper’s first homers since April 3. It also was the third time they’ve hit back-to-back homers with the Phillies (twice in 2025).
It’s funny what happens when the best hitters in the lineup produce. It cannot happen every day, of course, but it has not happened nearly enough this season, which is why there has been so much angst in the Delaware Valley.
Eventually, this group believes it will get going.
Alec Bohm got the third inning going by reaching on an error. Bohm hit eighth on Saturday, a reflection of his disappointing start (.505 OPS) and Thomson’s belief a drop from the cleanup spot (first 11 games) to seventh (Friday) to eighth might relax him. Justin Crawford slapped a ball past third baseman Nolan Arenado for a base hit to put runners on first and second.
Trea Turner struck out swinging for the first out, then Schwarber hit a 1-0 changeup from Arizona right-hander Brandon Pfaadt to right field for a three-run home run.
Harper smashed a 1-0 fastball to make it 4-2.
Harper has been hot for more than a week. He entered Saturday batting .345 (10-for-29) with four doubles, two home runs, six RBIs and a 1.131 OPS in his previous eight games.
The Phillies’ Nos. 1-3 hitters entered Saturday with a .730 OPS, which ranked 15th in the Majors. It says two things: Turner, Schwarber and Harper haven’t done what everybody expects them to do -- the Phillies’ Nos. 1-3 hitters ranked fifth last season with an .813 OPS -- and there also are a lot of teams struggling even worse at the top, including the Cubs (.721), Yankees (.720), Tigers (.719), Reds (.595), Red Sox (.572), Mariners (.556) and Padres (.543), each of whom made the postseason in 2025.
The Phillies would not score again on Saturday, which means they’ve scored in just two of the last 37 innings they’ve played.
That’s not good, but it was good enough to win a game on Saturday.