Kyle Schwarber hit a walk-off home run on Sunday. (Jake Law/Phillies Nation)

PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber‘s bat landed near the coach’s box down the first-base line, his helmet landed nearby and the ball landed 459 feet away in dead center field, bouncing on Ashburn Alley as the slugger circled the bases.

The surging Phillies entered the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday afternoon down four runs. Offense had been hard to come by for Philadelphia. But with two outs, the club rallied for four runs against Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien, bringing their leadoff man to the plate.

The major-league leader in home runs, Schwarber crushed his 39th of the season to deliver a 6-4, walk-off victory for Philadelphia, its ninth win in a row. The Phillies have now swept three consecutive series, finishing their latest with an exclamation point.

“Schwarbs just frickin’ smashed that ball,” interim manager Don Mattingly said.

The club’s star designated hitter, actually playing first base in the series finale versus St. Louis, hit the Phillies’ first walk-off home run since June 9, 2023, when Schwarber hit one into right field to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers. On Sunday, he ended the drought with a monster shot, becoming the first Phillie to clear the batter’s eye in center field since Darick Hall in 2022.

Schwarber, however, did not even realize how far it had traveled. Once he was sure it was gone, he was preoccupied with launching equipment and celebrating with teammates.

“Oh, that’s cool,” Schwarber said. “I knew, maybe when I hit it, I saw the center fielder just kind of stop it was over, so I didn’t pay attention.”

The members of Philadelphia’s bullpen, with their spot in right-center field, had a unique view of the homer as it soared over their heads. The relievers who hadn’t pitched yet were fooled by center fielder Nathan Church, who initially sprinted back like he had a play at the ball. They had a good idea it would get past the fence, but they did expect it to go that far.

“We knew it was definitely going to go out,” right-hander Jonathan Bowlan said, “and it just kept going.”

“We thought it was barely going to go out,” lefty Brooks Raley said, “and then it went all the way over everything.”

Left-hander José Alvarado called it “unbelievable,” comparing it to the go-ahead home run that Houston’s Yordan Alvaraez hit off him in Game 6 of the 2022 World Series. It’s not often that the bullpen sees a ball hit in that territory.

“(It was like) a plane taking off,” righty Chase Shugart said. “He hit it and it kept going, and we all just started freaking out.”

Not everyone got to actually watch it live. As the Phillies (73-58) started to put something together, closer Jhoan Duran began to quickly warm up in case the game went to extra innings. They loaded the bases with two outs, and Edmundo Sosa hooked a three-run double down the left-field line to cut the deficit to one. Bryan De La Cruz drove in Sosa with a single into left to tie it.

That brought up Schwarber with a chance to win it. He skied a two-run homer that sent the stadium into a frenzy. “It was definitely hammered,” Shugart said. “He did not miss.”

Duran was facing the bullpen catcher when Schwarber made contact to complete the comeback. He saw his fellow relievers’ reactions to the homer and knew he wouldn’t be needed. He raised his arms and let the ball drop out of his right hand.

“I’m jumping with them, so we were really happy that happened,” Duran said. “We wanted to win that game, and that’s crazy how it happened.”