Kyle Schwarber’s best Babe Ruth impression leads Phillies to season-best win over Pirates
Babe Ruth, Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Henry Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr., Roger Maris, Ryan Howard, Giancarlo Stanton, Sammy Sosa … name the prolific power hitter, and Kyle Schwarber looks like a peer right now, a trend that continued Friday in Pittsburgh.
Schwarber’s latest effort was so heroic that another rough outing from Aaron Nola wasn’t enough to stop the Phillies from securing their finest win of the season so far at the expense of the Pittsburgh Pirates, an 11-9 extra-inning victory. To get there, the Phillies erased a 6-0 deficit.
The Pirates hung six runs on Nola in the bottom of the third inning, beginning with a two-run single by Oneil Cruz. Brandon Lowe added another pair with a two-run homer. And then, Marcell Ozuna capped off the inning with a two-run shot of his own, his 28th career home run against the Phillies:
Nola lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs, while walking three and striking out just two. Over his first nine starts this season, Nola has given up nine home runs and posted a 5.91 ERA. There’s not much to say right now — Nola is a franchise legend, but it’s hard to feel optimistic about the fact that he’s got four seasons remaining after 2026 on a seven-year/$172 million contract.
In the top of fourth inning, Bryson Stott got the Phillies on the board with a sacrifice fly against Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft, which scored Bryce Harper.
An inning later, Schwarber cut the deficit to three runs with a two-run home run that went 400 feet:
It was Schwarber’s eighth home run in as many games, and MLB-leading 19th of the season.
In the seventh inning, Schwarber hit a blistering line drive 408 feet to left-center giving him his 20th homer of the year:
If you need an idea of how staggering of a pace Schwarber is hitting home runs at, consider that a year ago, he hit 56 home runs and his 20th home run didn’t come until June 7 (coincidentally, also in Pittsburgh). He’s already banked 20 on May 15 this year.
In the ninth, the Schwarber show continued (well, maybe not on the basepaths, but still). Schwarber came up with the bases loaded and one out against former teammate Gregory Soto and worked a four-pitch walk to cut the lead to 8-6. Bryce Harper then missed out on a grand slam by inches, instead tying the game with a two-run double where Schwarber was thrown out at third on:
Schwarber finished the evening 3-for-5 with two homers, five RBIs, a walk and two runs scored.
In addition to Schwarber, Harper had a monster night, going 4-for-5 with two RBIs.
After José Alvarado pitched a clean ninth inning to send the game into extras, Brandon Marsh led off the top of the 10th inning by doubling in Alec Bohm:
Later on in the frame, Rafael Marchán plated both Marsh and Stott with a two-run single:
Orion Kerkering did allow the ghost runner to score in the bottom of the 10th inning, but ultimately locked down the victory.
With the win, the Phillies improve to 23-24. They are 13-4 since Don Mattingly took over as interim manager.
The Phillies and Pirates will continue their series Saturday, with Cristopher Sánchez (4-2, 2.11 ERA and 2.20 FIP across 55 1/3 innings) set to face off with Bubba Chandler (1-4, 4.62 ERA and 5.52 FIP across 39 innings).
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