Phillies' Kyle Schwarber makes history with epic 3-home run game vs. Blue Jays
09/04/2024 10:31 AM
For a while, it seemed as though the Philadelphia Phillies were headed down the slippery slope that is a late-season choke job. After having a stranglehold on the NL East to start the 2024 season, the Phillies have played mostly mediocre baseball, inducing plenty of panic from the team’s passionate fanbase. But they seemed to have righted the ship lately, with designated hitter Kyle Schwarber playing a starring role in their latest win, a 10-9 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays.
Schwarber, in particular, went on an incredible home-run hitting binge on Tuesday night; the 31-year-old had himself a 5-6 night, with three of those hits going out of the yard. Two of those home runs were solo shots and one dinger drove in three with one swing, while another one of his hits scored a run, giving him a total of six runs batted in on the night.
In having himself a three-home run party, Kyle Schwarber was able to etch his name deeper into Phillies lore. According to ESPN, Schwarber became just the first player in franchise history to have two three-home run games in a single season, flexing his slugging muscle and allowing him to breach the 30-dinger mark for the third time in three seasons in a Phillies uniform.
Schwarber also fell a triple shy of the cycle, which would have made him the second Phillies player this season to do so. He also hit a double in the top of the third inning in addition to all his aforementioned RBI hits.
Moreover, this was the first time in Schwarber’s career that he managed to tally five hits in a single game, and he didn’t even need extra innings to do so after an offensive barrage from the Phillies afforded him plenty of trips to the plate.
After this Schwarber-powered victory over the Blue Jays, the Phillies have now won eight of their past 10 games, making their topsy-turvy stretch in the middle of the season nothing but a thing of the past.
Kyle Schwarber and the Phillies get back to business
In the first two months of the season, the Phillies were on a historic winning pace. They won 40 of their first 58 games on the year, thanks in large part to a stellar display from their starting rotation. The team was boasting four ace-caliber pitchers to begin the year, an almost unfair advantage.
However, the Phillies came crashing down to earth after that stellar beginning to the season. They won exactly just half their games in June and July (25-25), and for the first half of August, they were playing below .500 baseball. But now, the Phillies have gotten their stride back and have now looked like the powerhouse team of yore.
It’s not as though the Phillies’ schedule has merely softened up. Nine of their past 10 games have been against teams that would make the postseason had the season ended today. This stretch includes an epic four-game showdown against their division rival Atlanta Braves, which they won three out of four games from.
In particular, this series against the Braves appears to have awoken the Phillies from their deep slumber. That may be the impact that comes from winning the series finale via a rousing walk-off from Nick Castellanos. And it looks as though Philadelphia is well on their way to having another fruitful run in October.
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