Kyle Schwarber walk-off HR beats Dodgers, extends Phils’ win streak to six

The Phillies were batting with two out in the bottom of the ninth in a tie game against the Dodgers, and it seemed like Friday’s game was about to go into extra innings.

Then Kyle Schwarber stepped up to the plate.

He promptly launched a 1-1 cutter from left-handed pitcher Caleb Ferguson 389 feet to the right-field seats at Citizens Bank Park to give the Phillies a 5-4 win, their sixth straight. Schwarber has now hit 17 home runs this season (compared to 15 singles), four of them coming in June. It also was the Phillies’ second walk-off win in as many days.

A win is a win, but this one may have felt better than most. When the Phillies last saw the Dodgers, in Los Angeles in early May, they were outscored 36-11 in a three-game sweep that dropped their record from 15-14 to 15-17.

On Friday, they looked like a completely different team.

“They’re a good team,” manager Rob Thomson said of the Dodgers. “They swing the bats. They can score quickly. Getting a walk-off win against anybody is good — but with what happened out in L.A., it feels good.”

The first six innings of Friday’s game seemed to be setting up a relatively unexciting Phillies win. The defense committed no errors, and first baseman Kody Clemens made a highlight-reel play in the sixth inning, robbing Max Muncy on a line drive to his right. Ranger Suárez gave the Phillies six innings of one-run ball. The lineup was manufacturing runs. They were cruising.

But in the seventh inning, the Phillies (31-32) got a stark reminder of just who they were facing. Matt Strahm took the mound in relief of Suárez, who had thrown 103 pitches. Strahm walked Miguel Vargas, struck out Miguel Rojas and Jonny Deluca, then allowed back-to-back home runs to Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman that tied the game 4-4.

In the span of two at-bats, the Phillies’ 4-1 lead had vanished. This series was always going to be a litmus test for them. Over their past two series, they had faced sub-.500 teams and won five straight games. But this weekend, they’re facing the 36-28 Dodgers, who came in ranked fourth in baseball in OPS (.791), second in home runs (109), and third in slugging percentage (.461).

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The Phillies encountered more adversity from there. They went down 1-2-3 in the seventh. José Alvarado, making his first appearance since being activated off the injured list before the game, did not show the pinpoint command that one has come to expect from him. He allowed a double to J.D. Martinez to start the eighth and a two-out walk before getting out of the inning.

J.T. Realmuto was hit by a pitch with one out in the eighth and stole second, but the Phillies were unable to capitalize on it. In the top of the ninth, Gregory Soto retired Rojas, Betts, and Freeman in order to keep the game tied heading into the bottom of the ninth. Pinch-hitter Drew Ellis grounded out, Edmundo Sosa flied out, and then Schwarber stepped up to the plate to provide an exciting Phillies win, after all.

After a bumpy first three starts, Suárez has settled into form. He’s allowed four earned runs over his last 19⅔ innings pitched. Friday might have been his most encouraging start, to date. He saw his velocity creep up a couple of ticks on his changeup, and he sustained it throughout his start. Thomson said his fifth inning — in which he struck out the side against Betts, Freeman and Will Smith might have been the best inning he’s seen from him in his career.

“I think he’s getting a feel for his change, and his curveball is really good right now,” Thomson said. “His velocity is jumping up. So he’s been really good.”

Schwarber is now batting .267/.405/.767 with a 1.172 OPS in the month of June. He went 2-for-3 on Friday night with two walks and the home run. But his most memorable hit of the night might have come in the third.

Schwarber lined a ball to left-center field that hit the fence and caromed toward center field, much like Realmuto’s inside-the-park homer last postseason. Schwarber — who is not the fastest runner on the world — rumbled his way to his first triple of the season.

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“I thought I was going to be like J.T. in the playoffs,” he joked. “An inside-the-park home run.

“I hit it and saw it kick and I said, ‘Oh, here we go.’ And Dusty [Wathan, the third base coach] gave me the down sign and I started really panicking. That’s what was going through my mind.”