The Fightins: Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber lead the Phillies all the way back in 11-7 win over the Astros
Now we’re talking. One night after gift-wrapping a game to Houston with brutal base running, the Phillies came right back out and played clean, aggressive, relentless baseball to storm back and win 11-7.
Kyle Schwarber mashed a grand slam, the offense refused to die after falling behind twice, and The Fightins picked up ground in both the division and Wild Card races.
Straight to the money shot. Kyle Schwarber stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning with the bases juiced against Astros reliever AJ Blubaugh with the Phillies up 7-6.
He absolutely obliterated a full-count sweeper 408 feet into the right-field seats for his 10th career grand slam and his MLB-leading 44th homer of the year.
Kyle Schwarber. RING IT
Kyle Schwarber Golfed It – Crowd Noise Only
The man is on fire right now with four homers in his last five games. Schwarber is carrying this lineup down the stretch exactly like your cleanup monster is supposed to, and with October barreling toward us, there is nobody on the planet I’d rather have red-hot than the big fella.
The Phillies had to dig out of 4-0 and 6-4 holes, and this time they did it without beating themselves. In the third they strung together five singles and hustled their way right back into it, plating four to tie it against Hunter Brown. That’s the smart, heads-up aggression that vanished 24 hours earlier but man, what a difference a night makes.
After Sanchez coughed the lead back up, Trea Turner kicked off comeback number two with a homer in the fifth, and then the sixth turned into a bloodbath.
Nine men to the plate. Sosa (of course) tied it with a pinch-hit single, De La Cruz drew a bases-loaded walk to grab the lead, and then Schwarber ended the conversation entirely. A deep, nasty, relentless lineup doing precisely what it’s built to do.
Cristopher Sanchez was nowhere near his best, and that’s me being nice.
He got smacked around, in both volume and exit velo, roughed up for 10 hits including three doubles and two two-run bombs over six.
Cam Smith’s shot in the fourth put Houston up 6-4. Ugly.
All good. With three starts to go, Sanchez still got a legit shot at becoming the Phillies’ first 20-game winner since Roy Halladay in 2010. Even on a stinker, he battled to leave with something his teammates could rescue. That’ll do.
Is Trea Turner… BACK?
Back-to-back games with a homer now, and five extra-base hits in his last four. Wednesday he added a single in that four-run third, swiped a bag, and scored twice.
Trea Turner, please.
Both hits went the other way, which tells you he’s staying on the ball instead of trying to yank everything. It’s only a few games but that’s vintage Trea Turner right there, and after a miserable season, seeing him do this in mid-September is enormous for this lineup.
The Phillies moved in both races.
They sliced Atlanta’s NL East lead to three and grabbed a 1.5-game cushion on the Cubs for the top Wild Card spot. Winning the division or the top Wild Card means playing round one in South Philly. With 16 to play, every inch of positioning counts, and home-field in a best-of-three is massive.
Zack Wheeler goes Thursday afternoon for the series win.
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Still holding firm in my prediction and belief, Phillies core are playoff bums. Just you wait. In the meantime, I directed my attention to the Union, that’s a legit team and we have a once in a generation talent on our hands.