Kyle Schwarber and Co. dominate in Phillies’ victory over Arizona, ends two-game skid at home

On Saturday against the Diamondbacks, Kyle Schwarber took the field alone.

The rest of the Phillies fielders — except for starting pitcher Zack Wheeler and catcher Rafael Marchan — let him leave the dugout first to mark a rare start in left field. His second of the season, to be exact.

Alec Bohm took over as designated hitter to get a day off his feet, while Edmundo Sosa slotted in at third. Thanks to Wheeler, Schwarber wasn’t tested much in the field, but the rare opportunity to play some defense didn’t seem to affect his approach at the plate. Schwarber finished 2-for-3 with two doubles in the Phillies’ 12-1 victory over Arizona. He reached base four times and scored three runs to help the Phillies end a two-game slide at home.

“That’s been huge for us,” Bryce Harper said. “Obviously there [are] times where [Schwarber] goes up there and he wants to jump on a guy. We all know that. But he does a really good job of seeing a lot of pitches, getting on base, walking, and taking his chances when he knows he can.”

Saturday also marked the Phillies’ first win over the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park since Game 2 of the 2023 National League Championship Series.

And Schwarber wasn’t the only one. Harper and Bohm clubbed back-to-back homers in the third inning. And for the second day in a row, Nick Castellanos went deep to left field, this time launching a two-run shot in the fifth. He followed it up with an RBI single in the sixth that put the Phillies up by 9.

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In addition to collecting his 18th home run of the season, Harper was 4-for-5 with three RBIs.

David Dahl twisted the knife with a two-run shot of his own off of Diamondbacks catcher Tucker Barnhart, who had taken the mound in the eighth.

The Phillies offense collectively recorded 14 hits and drew five walks. They provided plenty of run support for a stellar outing by Wheeler. In his previous start, the right-hander had allowed a career-high four homers to Baltimore and only lasted 4⅓ innings. But Saturday was a very different story, with Wheeler facing the minimum through the first four innings.

“I was just a little out of sync [against Baltimore],” Wheeler said. “My fastball was cutting a little bit more than it normally does … In between starts [I was] trying to refine that a little bit, and just make it fly a little more true.”

Wheeler reached 97 mph with his four-seam fastball and generated four whiffs with the pitch.

“I thought his stuff was excellent,” Thomson said. “No walks, very efficient, only soft contact, got some strikeouts. It was good all around.”

Joc Pederson tried to bunt in the fourth inning to break up what was then a bid for a perfect game but sent the ball foul. Wheeler responded by striking Pederson out. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth when Wheeler hit Christian Walker with a pitch to lead off the inning.

His no-hitter ended in the next at-bat when Jake McCarthy laced a base hit into left field. The Diamondbacks scratched across one run, but Wheeler was able to limit any further damage. He finished his night striking out eight and walking zero over seven innings. The two hits and one run he allowed all came in the fifth.

“You’ve got to throw in on Walker, so I tried to get it in there, and unfortunately hit him,” Wheeler said. “I made a pitch to the next guy, McCarthy … It was high, out of the zone. He did a nice job hitting, got a base hit.”

Gregory Soto and José Ruiz shut the door in relief, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, respectively. The final out of the game was a flyout to Schwarber, who called off Turner in shallow left to make his only put out of the game.

“It’s good to see him back out there,” Harper said. “Obviously he loves to be out there and play in the field, but he’s done such a good job in that DH role for us.”

Sosa took a pitch to the elbow in the fifth inning. He finished the inning but was later removed for Whit Merrifield with a left elbow contusion. The X-rays taken were negative and the Phillies ruled him day-to-day.