‘Unbelievable:’ A late night batting cage session propelled Kyle Schwarber’s three-homer night vs. the Blue Jays

TORONTO — On Saturday night, after going 0-for-3 with a walk against Atlanta, Kyle Schwarber stayed late in the batting cages with the Phillies’ hitting coaches. The DH is in his 10th big league season, but this year, he’s encountered a new challenge: Righties.

It’s an odd challenge, given how much success he’s had against that group in the past. But the discrepancy is real: Schwarber entered Tuesday’s game hitting .193 against right-handed pitching and .315 against lefties. He hadn’t hit a home run against either since Aug. 14.

He wanted to address it, so Schwarber and assistant coach Rafael Peña did some drills from the right side. Hitting coach Kevin Long encouraged his pupil to trust himself. His ability to hit righties did not evaporate in a single season. But that doesn’t mean this season has been easy.

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“I don’t think I’ve ever said this in my career — where, ‘Oh, you’re way better against one side vs. the other,’” Schwarber said. “And it’s frustrating. You pride yourself on being a hitter. And it doesn’t really matter what hand it is, but when it gets to that extent … you’re just like, ‘Why is it so glaring?’”

Schwarber left the batting cage feeling better than he did when he first arrived. And on Tuesday night, in a 10-9 win over the Blue Jays, all of that work came together.

He hit a leadoff home run off starter Chris Bassitt in the first — a right-handed starter. He hit a double off of Bassitt in the third, and another home run off of Bassitt in the fourth. He topped that off with an RBI single off of southpaw Genesis Cabrera in the seventh, and capped his night with a three-run home run, off of righty Chad Green, in the ninth.

According to Phillies PR, there are only two players in franchise history who have recorded five hits and three home runs in the same game. One is Schwarber, and the other is Mike Schmidt.

Schwarber does not love to wax poetic about his accomplishments. He takes pride in the work behind the results, and for that reason, Tuesday was particularly gratifying.

“You’re putting yourself in a good position to fire, and when you’re doing that, and you’re on time, it allows my best strength — which is my eyes — to work for me,” Schwarber said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing that we’ve been able to do.”

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The key will be consistency. Schwarber said that he’s had weeks where he feels like he’s made progress against righties, only to scuffle later on. But going 5-for-6 with three home runs was as good a start as anyone could ask for.

“Unbelievable,” manager Rob Thomson said of his DH.

Schwarber’s big night played a big role in the Phillies’ come-from-behind win on Tuesday, but not the only role. After Tyler Phillips allowed six earned runs on eight hits in just two-thirds of an inning, the Phillies started to slowly but steadily chip away at the Blue Jays’ lead.

Nick Castellanos hit an RBI force out and Bryson Stott hit an RBI double to add two runs in the third. Toronto’s pitching staff combined for six walks, which the Phillies took advantage of. In the seventh inning, reliever Erik Swanson walked in a run. In the next at-bat, pinch-hitter Kody Clemens worked Swanson to 11 pitches and hit a dribbler down the left field line to score Stott.

The bullpen did a good job of keeping things close. Taijuan Walker, in his Phillies bullpen debut, pitched a 1-2-3 fourth inning, allowed two singles in the fifth, and a two-run home run to Vladimir Guerrero in the sixth. Thomson was encouraged by the lack of hard contact.

“He was at 31 strikes,” Thomson said. “Getting ahead, first pitch strikes. I thought his split had some bottom to it, which was good to see, but he was running his fastball through the zone and making them put the ball in play. And he had a lot of success.”

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After Schwarber gave his team the lead in the ninth, Matt Strahm held onto it in the bottom of the ninth — but not without making it close. He struck out Will Wagner, Alejandro Kirk, and then allowed a solo home run to Leo Jiménez to turn it into a one-run game.

That didn’t end up mattering. Strahm induced a pop out from Ernie Clement to secure the win.

“There was no sense of defeat,” Schwarber said. “It just felt like everyone had a good attitude about it and it showed. We had some really good at-bats against Bassitt, who has traditionally done really well against us. And obviously the bullpen did a fantastic job of keeping us in the game.

“Tai was big, coming out there and giving us innings. And even Alvarado coming out in the [third]. Just keep going down the line. Guys kept keeping us in the game, giving us a chance.”

Castellanos was hit by a 96-mph sinker in the thigh in the eighth inning. He slowly walked to first base, and continued to walk up the line, to shake it off. Thomson described it as a “charley horse” and said the Phillies will check on it Wednesday.

Bryce Harper took a weird swing in the ninth. Thomson said he “kind of tweaked his elbow” but said Harper is fine.