The Phillies trailed 6-1 in the first inning in Toronto on Tuesday night, but ultimately escaped with a 10-9 victory. What happened in between? Well, lots of hits, lots of runs, good bullpen work mixed with not so good — and an awful lot of Kyle Schwarber.
Schwarber homered to start the game, breaking the longest home run drought of his career. He had not gone to the garden since August 14. However, his heavy lifting in this match came later, even by his hulking standards.
Schwarber doubled and scored in the third inning as the Phillies rallied to cut the Blue Jays’ lead to 6-3.
Schwarber homered in the fourth to make it 6-4 Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. however, would answer with a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Blue Jays an 8-4 lead.
The Phillies would tighten things up in the top of the seventh inning with a three-run inning. Schwarber’s RBI single was part of the rally.
He was 4 for 5 at the time with two home runs, a double and three RBI in the game. That’s a pretty healthy stat line.
But in the top of the ninth, this happened after a ridiculous seven foul balls:
It was launched at a speed of 180.4 kilometers per hour and went 126 meters. Much more important, the Phillies took a 10-8 lead after trailing 6-1 and 8-4. The Blue Jays would get one back in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough. The Phillies had won after the best game of Schwarber’s career.
The score line of the box is: 6-4-5-6
It doesn’t show you the three home runs along with a double, meaning he collected a total of 15 bases.
This was the third three-homer game of Schwarber’s career. He had one last month and again in 2021. This was the fourth game he played with at least six RBI (he had seven twice). It was the first game of his career with five hits (he has played four games with four hits).
Given the way the game went, it’s hard to imagine him ever influencing a game as much as he did in this one.
Meanwhile, both the Braves and Mets won, so this big Phillies win means they were able to trail the Braves by seven games and the Mets by 7.5.