Don Mattingly was shagging balls in the outfield during batting practice one recent day at Citizens Bank Park when an usher leaned over the wall and offered an opinion on the Phillies’ lineup.
“He wanted to know why I don’t hit (Kyle) Schwarber fourth,” Mattingly recalled Wednesday afternoon. “He likes the traditional way.”
Mattingly explained to the usher that Schwarber hit a key home run the day before and wouldn’t have been up in that spot if he wasn’t hitting in the leadoff hole.
The usher nodded his approval then asked Mattingly for a ball. The Phillies skipper obliged.
The anecdote proved quite timely because Schwarber’s spot in the lineup came up in the sixth inning Wednesday night as the Phillies loaded the bases against Houston Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh. The Phils were up, 7-6. Make it 11-6. Schwarber clubbed a grand slam 408 feet into the right field seats for his MLB-leading 44th home run.
The Phillies went on to win the game, 11-7, overcoming deficits of 4-0 and 6-4 along the way.
“I feel like a lot of good things happened tonight,” Schwarber said. “We got punched right away and kept responding right back. We had a lot of great at-bats.”
The victory was meaningful as the Phils advanced in two playoff races. They closed to within three games of first-place Atlanta in the NL East and took a 1 ½ game lead on the Chicago Cubs for the first NL wild-card spot. Winning the division or the first wild card would mean the Phils play the first round of the playoffs at home. There are 16 games remaining in the regular season. The Phils will look to win the series against Houston with Zack Wheeler on the mound Thursday afternoon.
Cristopher Sanchez was far from his best Wednesday night. In fact, he was hit hard at times, both in volume and exit velocity. But he managed to earn his 17th win. With three starts remaining, he has a chance to become the Phillies’ first 20-game winner since Roy Halladay in 2010.
Sanchez was tagged for 10 hits, including three doubles and a pair of two-run home runs, in six innings. But his teammates showed much resilience in coming back from being down – and they didn’t make any baserunning mistakes. In fact, they ran the bases aggressively, with runners in motion several times, as they stroked five singles and scored four times against Houston starter Hunter Brown in the third inning to tie the game at 4-4.
“All credit to the offense,” Sanchez said. “I want to thank them for having my back tonight. It’s all on them tonight.”
Sanchez gave up a two-run home run to Cam Smith as the Astros went ahead 6-4 in the fourth.
Trea Turner started the Phillies’ second comeback with a homer in the fifth before the bats went nuts against the Astros’ bullpen in the sixth. Nine men came to the plate. Edmundo Sosa tied the game with a pinch-hit single and Bryan De La Cruz drew a bases-loaded walk to put the Phils up by a run and set the stage for Schwarber’s 10th career grand slam. He hit a full-count sweeper.
“A lot of good things happened with guys getting on base before I got in that situation,” Schwarber said. “I was just up there looking to extend the inning, find a way to get the job done. It’s not like you’re up there thinking you’re going to put one in the seats. You’re in battle mode, trying to find your way on base and extend the inning. That was the thought there. You’re not going up there thinking you’re going to be a hero. It’s more a fact of staying within yourself, being in the moment and having a good at-bat.”
Schwarber is on a longball heater with four homers in the last five games.
Turner is also cooking. He has homered in back-to-back games. He has five extra-base hits in the last four games. In addition to the homer, he had a single in the four-run third inning Wednesday night. Both hits went to the opposite field, a good sign that he’s staying on the ball. In addition to the two hits, he stole a base and scored two runs. He was vintage Trea Turner.
“I think we’ve seen the games when Trea gets going,” Mattingly said. “It’s like a different dynamic with our offense because of his speed, his power and his getting on base.”
Turner credited the crowd of 38,642 for its electricity in helping fuel the Phillies’ four-run third inning.
“They were loud,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. You give up those four runs (in the top of the inning) and you feel a little defeated, like you might be out of it. To immediately respond like that and pick up Sanchie was pretty cool.”