Phillies bash their way to dominant 15-3 win over Diamondbacks

The Phillies started scoring in the first inning and didn't let up all game long.

Published June 14, 2023, 12:49 a.m. ET

PHOENIX — Kyle Schwarber set the tone early in the Phillies’ 15-3 win on Tuesday night. Less than twenty-four hours after Kody Clemens hit a long shot that landed just foul, Schwarber hit a ball towards that same foul pole, that landed fair. It traveled 450 feet, marking the longest home run of the year for any Phillies player to date.

It was Schwarber’s 18th home run of the year. The Phillies didn’t stop piling on there. Trea Turner walked, stole second base, and scored on a Nick Castellanos double. Bryce Harper flied out, and J.T. Realmuto reached base on a throwing error by third baseman Emmanuel Rivera to score Castellanos. Bryson Stott reached base with a single, and Alec Bohm hit an RBI ground out to score Realmuto.

By the end of the first inning, the Phillies had four runs on just three hits. By the end of the third inning, they had six runs. By the end of the fifth, they had seven runs, and by the end of the night, they had scored 15 runs, on 20 hits, with five walks. Their run total tied their highest for the season (they also scored 15 on April 10 at home against Miami). They recorded a season-high eight extra-base hits. It was their fifth double-digit win of the season. They’ve scored 30 runs over their last three games.

Every Phillie — except Garrett Stubbs, who had just one pinch-hit at-bat — had at least one hit on Tuesday night. Eight of their starting nine had multiple hits. It was an encouraging showing from a team that was built to slug but has looked dormant at times.

“It’s good seeing guys finding some holes,” said Brandon Marsh. “We’ve been hitting a lot of balls hard right at players. It was good to see 20 of them fall today. The boys needed that.

“Those guys at the top of the order, they set the tone for us today. And the day care followed suit.”

Also encouraging was the fact that Phillies were capitalizing on the Diamondbacks’ mistakes. This isn’t a defensively sloppy team. Entering Tuesday night, the Diamondbacks had committed only 23 errors this season, the fewest in baseball. But they committed another on Tuesday, when Rivera’s throw sailed over first baseman Christian Walker’s head.

They committed another mistake when Clemens hit a fly ball with one out in the third inning that was caught by Corbin Carroll, who jogged forward for it as his cap fell off. Carroll thought there were already two outs and he’d just made the third, so he turned back to grab his cap. Realmuto, who was on third base, took off running and scored. It was ruled a sacrifice fly, and Diamondbacks starter Zach Davies was charged with a hit.

The Phillies, conversely, played clean baseball. They committed no errors. Starter Zack Wheeler gave them six innings of four hits, one run, one walk ball with seven strikeouts against a tough opponent. The Diamondbacks rank fifth in baseball in OPS (.767) and slugging percentage (.440) and third in batting average (.265).

Wheeler didn’t have his best velocity, topping out at 96.7 mph, but he felt that his pitches were spinning well. At this point in his career, he is able to work with an average of 95 mph.

“I felt pretty good, didn’t feel my best, but felt good,” he said. “Everything was pretty much working. Command with my fastball wasn’t my best, but it had life to it so I was getting away with some stuff. Offspeed was there today; that was really clicking for me.”

Manager Rob Thomson only had to use one reliever after him: Luis Ortiz, who pitched a three-inning save, allowing four hits, two earned run and one home run. By the end of the night, the Diamondbacks had a position player pitching.

“I’m pretty sure these guys last year made us throw position players,” Marsh said. “So it’s all part of it. It’s all fun.”

Added Stott: “Any time you get a position player in the other team in the game, you know you’re doing good. It’s good to see.”