PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies woke up on Friday morning to find themselves in postseason position for the first time since April 7.
More importantly, they then went out and played like a postseason-caliber team on Friday night -- well, at least offensively.
On a rare occasion in which they got contributions from throughout the lineup, the Phillies battled their way to an 8-6 victory in their series opener against the White Sox at Citizens Bank Park.
There was a lot to like from the club’s fourth straight victory, including a few particularly encouraging signs.
Struggling right fielder Adolis García homered for the second straight game after going deep just once in the entire month of May. Brandon Marsh hit his first homer off a left-handed starter since 2022. Alec Bohm had a pair of hits and a pair of RBIs out of the cleanup spot.
It's no secret that perhaps the three most concerning areas for the Phillies this season have been a lack of production out of right field, handling left-handed pitching and minimal contributions out of the cleanup spot.
Check. Check. Check.
“It was just a matter of time,” Marsh said of García and Bohm turning things around. “Those guys, they work their tails off behind the scenes, and it's starting to show. If we want to get to where we want to go, we're going to need those guys -- and all of us.”
Even after letting the lead slip away on an off night for Jesús Luzardo, the Phillies put together the type of rally they've been missing all season. After the White Sox tied it in the top of the seventh, the Phillies recaptured the lead with a two-run bottom half that featured two singles, two walks, two stolen bases, a sacrifice fly, a run-scoring wild pitch -- and one Kyle Schwarber headfirst slide (faceplant?) across the plate.
Schwarber went sprawling to score on Edmundo Sosa’s sacrifice fly to give the Phillies the lead for good.
“I think Kyle said that he sent himself,” said interim manager Don Mattingly.
Added Schwarber: “You're just pretty much dead set on trying to make the left fielder make a good throw and the catcher make a tag. All you're doing is thinking about scoring.”
So how confident was Mattingly that Schwarber was indeed going to make it?
“Wasn't that confident,” Mattingly said with a smile, noting it wasn’t a super deep fly ball.
Along with showing off his wheels, Schwarber went full prototypical leadoff hitter by tallying four singles in a game for the first time in his career. And while he conceded that he’d prefer to avoid diving headfirst in the future, those are the type of game-winning plays the Phillies need if they hope to continue their recent surge.
“Incredible slide at home plate for the boys, you know?” Marsh said.
Put it all together and it resulted in the Phillies' eighth win in their past 10 games. They have the best record in the Majors (25-10) since Mattingly took over on April 28.
They've gone from an early season freefall to currently in one of the National League Wild Card spots at 34-29. And even with 99 games left to play, it's never too early to check in on the standings.
"To be honest with you, I pay attention to it from the very first day," Mattingly said. "I see who's winning, and I watch the races all the time.
"But also with some perspective of knowing how many games are left, knowing what we have to do to take care of ourselves and just try to keep getting better and better all the time, so that as the end of the season is coming, we're playing our best baseball."
The complementary pieces are vital, because the Phillies know they have the star power to make a run. They have arguably the best one-two punch in baseball atop the rotation in Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler. They have the MLB leader in both home runs (Schwarber, 23) and batting average (Marsh, .332). They have one of the most clutch postseason players in MLB history in Bryce Harper.
They also have Jhoan Duran.
The lights-out closer improved to 15-for-15 in save opportunities this season. He has not allowed a run in any of those 15 appearances, and he’s turned in five consecutive 1-2-3 ninth innings.
Even the current frontrunner for a batting title would want no part of Duran.
“Walk back to the dugout,” Marsh said on how he’d hypothetically approach Duran. “He's amazing. … We’ll keep relying on him at the end of games, and hopefully, we’ll be in a position to have him pitch for us a lot more this year.”