PITTSBURGH -- Designated hitter Kyle Schwarber put himself in the Phillies' record book as his team came back from a six-run deficit and defeated the Pirates, 11-9, in 10 innings at PNC Park on Friday night.
“That was a wild one,” Phillies manager Don Mattingly said.
It was the bottom half of the Phillies’ batting order, however, that got things rolling in the 10th. Brandon Marsh broke an 8-8 tie by doubling off right-hander Dennis Santana and sending Alec Bohm home with the go-ahead run. Two batters later, with runners on second and third, Rafael Marchán added to the lead with a two-run single.
The team was happy for Marchán after the game. He is one of three catchers on the Major League roster and plays the least. But, his work ethic is second to none, as he’s often one of the first in the batting cage on a daily basis.
“Marchy, great at-bat,” Schwarber said. “I love the way this guy comes in every single day. … He works and keeps wanting to get better. He goes out there and has one of the bigger hits for us. It was really cool to see.”
Schwarber continued his home run barrage by launching his 19th and 20th homers of the season. The first came in the fifth inning, a two-run shot, against right-hander Braxton Ashcraft. Two innings later, Schwarber hit another two-run missile off left-hander Mason Montgomery.
Schwarber’s 20 homers in the club’s first 45 games of the season tied a Phillies record set by Cy Williams in 1923. Schwarber is also the second Phillies player to hit nine or more homers in an eight-game span, joining Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt (1976). Schwarber also accomplished the feat in June 2021 -- while with the Nats -- joining Albert Belle (1998 and 1995) as the only players in MLB history to have such a span in multiple seasons.
“It’s one of the cooler things I’ve seen in baseball because of the way he puts the bat on the baseball. It’s been pretty fun to watch,” teammate Bryce Harper said.
Schwarber has hit home runs in bunches during his 12-year career. However, personal accomplishments don’t seem to move the lefty slugger. He is ecstatic that the Phillies picked up another victory in their turnaround, and are now a game under .500 at 22-23.
“I’m just happy that we are finding a way to win games,” he said. “That’s the biggest thing. Yeah, sure, you want to have success at the plate. Do you want to do a lot of positive things? Yes. … You are way happier with the win than the loss. I’m happy [the home runs] are correlating with the wins.”
Mattingly, for one, isn’t the least bit surprised about Schwarber’s torrid stretch.
“Not really. You have another monster behind him [Harper], who throws up four [hits] tonight,” he said. “He is always dangerous. It’s not like you can bypass Schwarber and not think Harper is not going to hurt you.
“Schwarber is one of those guys where if you make pitches, you can get him out. If you make mistakes, he makes you pay. You feel you can go after him a little bit with the right pitch. But he makes you pay when you make mistakes or leave the ball over the plate. He is a good game planner.”
The Phillies tied the game at 8 in the top of the ninth inning. With Philadelphia down, 8-5, Pirates closer Gregory Soto had problems getting hitters out. In fact, the Phillies had the bases loaded with no outs when Schwarber drew a walk, scoring Edmundo Sosa. Harper followed and hit a two-run single -- which nearly got out for a grand slam -- to tie the game.
The Phillies were put in the position to stage such a big rally due to the fact that something is not right with right-hander Aaron Nola, who was hit hard.
Nola was able to get off to a good start by shutting down Pittsburgh in the first two innings. But it went downhill in the third as the Pirates scored six runs. First, he allowed a two-run single to Oneil Cruz, then surrendered a pair of two-run jacks to Brandon Lowe and Marcell Ozuna.
Nola left the game with two outs in the fourth, allowing six runs on six hits, continuing one of the toughest stretches of his Major League career. Opposing hitters have a .293 batting average against him, while he has averaged 5.07 innings per start.
After the victory on Friday, Nola was the first in line to greet his teammates in the clubhouse with high fives.
“That was a great win,” Nola said. “The guys battled the whole game. Some big outs by the bullpen. Big plays by the defense and timely hitting, too. They exploded late in the game. I didn’t give them too much.”