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An epic comeback win for the Phillies, fueled by Schwarber’s magical night – NBC Sports Philadelphia

An epic comeback win for the Phillies, fueled by Schwarber’s magical night – NBC Sports Philadelphia

If the Phillies finish a game better than the Dodgers or Brewers and achieve the best record in the National League, they will look back on Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto as one of the most important nights of their season.

It was without a doubt her most dramatic.

They slowly got back into the game by having good at-bats in nearly every inning after trailing by five runs in the first inning. They finally took the lead in the ninth inning on a three-run blast from Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber had the best night of his major league career in the Phillies’ epic 10-9 victory.

Schwarber went 5-for-6 with three home runs, a double and six RBIs against the Blue Jays. He opened the game with a no-doubter against Chris Bassitt, took Bassitt out again in the fourth inning to bring the game to two runs, and capped a thrilling nine-pitch at-bat against Chad Green in the ninth inning with his third run of the game.

Schwarber had not hit a home run since his grand slam against the Marlins on August 14. A week earlier, he had hit three home runs and scored seven at Dodger Stadium.

Schwarber is the only Phillie in modern times to have two three-home run games in the same season. He has a batting average of .245/.379/.474 with 31 home runs, 88 RBIs, 92 runs scored and 94 walks, which is a National League lead. He also has 47 fewer strikeouts than last season.

Schwarber’s ninth-inning batting performance was far from the Phillies’ only long, professional batting performance. They had 18 hits, six walks and one hit batsman. They only managed 4 of 19 runs with runners in scoring position, but they took advantage.

September call-up Kody Clemens came off the bench and had numerous at-bats, an 11-pitch RBI groundout in the seventh inning that brought the Phillies within two runs, and a ninth-inning double down the first-base line that put two runners in scoring position before Schwarber’s game-winning hit.

The Phillies needed the full offense because Tyler Phillips slammed six runs in the first inning. He managed just two outs and got eight men on base before being replaced by Tanner Banks. Phillips was expected to be back in Miami on Sunday, but that’s probably not a given now. Kolby Allard won’t be available to return from Triple A until next Tuesday, September 10.

Rob Thomson used Banks, the returning Jose Alvarado, Taijuan Walker in his bullpen debut, Jose Ruiz, Orion Kerkering and Matt Strahm to cover the final seven innings. They will need innings from Cristopher Sanchez on Wednesday afternoon.

Castellanos had to leave the game after being hit by a pitch, and Bryce Harper appeared to strain something in his final at-bat, wincing in pain and dropping the bat as he exited. Their statuses should be updated before Wednesday’s game.

The Phillies are in top form, winning two of three games in Kansas City, two of three against the Astros, three of four against the Braves and kicking off their six-game road trip with one of their most successful nights of the year.

On Tuesday, they overcame deficits of 6-1 and 8-4. Last week, the Phillies trailed by multiple runs in the fifth inning or later in five of their seven home games, but still managed to win 5-2.

The Phils are 82-56 with 24 games played.

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