Kyle Schwarber homers twice in Phillies’ 4-1 win against the Red Sox
Zack Wheeler gave the Phillies another quality start, allowing just one earned run on three hits and one walk over seven innings.
BOSTON — It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this iteration of Kyle Schwarber will show up. Last year, it was June 4. In 2022, it was June 1. In 2021, it was June 12.
This year — barring an unexpected cold streak — it will be remembered as June 11. The left-handed slugger stepped up to the plate in the first inning at Fenway Park and torched the first pitch he saw from right-hander Kutter Crawford, a fastball down the middle, 444 feet to right-center field.
He didn’t stop there. In the fifth inning, Schwarber belted the second pitch he saw, a splitter down the middle, almost as far (427 feet) and to nearly the same spot. His two homer night powered the Phillies to a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox.
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They were Schwarber’s first home runs of the month. He is known for hitting a barrage of long shots over the course of the summer, but no month compares to June. He’s now hit 57 home runs in June over his 10-year career.
Manager Rob Thomson is hopeful a hot stretch is coming.
“I’ll let you know in a month,” he said. This has been a different season for Schwarber, in more ways than one. He is spending most of his time at DH. In previous years, he’s dug himself into a hole in March, April and May, but this year, Schwarber has been more consistent. He hit .243/.367/.419 from March 29 to May 31.
Getting off to a better start was a focus of his entering the season. Now, he’s trying to even his splits. Schwarber is hitting .320 against lefties, and .180 against righties.
“Tonight was good, but I feel like for me it’s being consistent [in my work] and making some adjustments,” Schwarber said. “I’m going to try to keep making adjustments on the right-handed side of things and I feel like it is starting to feel better and better.”
His leadoff home run set the tone for a win the Phillies were happy to get. The past few days had been difficult. After blowing a lead to the Mets in London on Sunday, they flew to Boston, and had Monday’s off day to recalibrate their body clocks.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Phillies announced that catcher J.T. Realmuto had been placed on the injured list with right knee pain. It was a tough blow for a team that has weathered its fair share of injuries lately, but the Phillies take pride in their next-man-up mentality.
Schwarber did his part on a night when the offense was lackluster. The lineup went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and combined for four runs on seven hits with 10 strikeouts. But Schwarber gave them a jolt, and starter Zack Wheeler held the Red Sox to just one run on three hits, with one walk, over seven innings of work.
It was an especially impressive outing given that Wheeler doesn’t like pitching on extra rest. His last start, prior to Tuesday night, was on June 3. But that didn’t seem to affect him. Wheeler threw two light bullpens between starts, and felt both fresh and sharp against the Red Sox.
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“I felt good. They got to me in the first inning,” Wheeler said. “The ball was up a little bit, so they put a good one on it. But I think I settled in and kind of went from there.”
He probably could’ve pitched deeper; Wheeler was at 88 pitches when Thomson pulled him. But the manager wanted to be careful, given his starter’s irregular workload of late.
“[He had] seven days off, and then he’s going to be going on his regular rotation next time out,” Thomson said. “So, [I was] just keeping it safe and taking care of him. But I mean, his stuff was excellent. Command, first pitch strikes. Seemed like he was ahead all night. I thought he was fantastic.”
Matt Strahm struck out the side in the eighth, and José Alvarado pitched the ninth. He induced a groundout, and then allowed a single to David Hamilton, who took off for second on a wild pitch and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Garrett Stubbs, when Stubbs’ attempt to throw out Hamilton at second wound up in center field.
Alvarado induced a Rob Refsnyder pop out, and struck out Rafael Devers to end the game. The Phillies now have a 10 game lead over the Atlanta Braves in the NL East, but that isn’t something they’re paying much attention to.
“I knew that we were in first place, but I didn’t know by how many,” Schwarber said. “It’s a good thing for us. Everyone was kind of emphasizing ‘Get off to a good start, get off to a good start,’ and we have.
“So, I guess for us, it’s just that we have to keep doing what we’re doing and keep moving forward. I feel like the best thing is that this team … we enjoy winning, but we just really don’t like to lose. And I think that’s what fuels us. We want to keep going, we want to keep winning, and when we lose, you won’t see one happy face in this clubhouse.”