By Paul Casella | 26 minutes ago
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PHILADELPHIA — Kyle Schwarber entered the series finals against the Red Sox on Sunday afternoon after going nearly a week without a hit. He’d gone more than two weeks without a multi-hit game — and more than a month without a multi-RBI effort.
He snapped all those streaks — and helped the Phillies finish a six-game sled of their own — in a 6-1 win at Citizens Bank Park.
Schwarber was relegated to fifth in the standings and struck in the second inning to extend his slump to a 0-for-21 with nine strikeouts. He walked back to the first base dugout to hear a few boos from the sold-out crowd.
Those boos turned to cheers two innings later when Schwarber carried an RBI single into right field at 98.3 mph to defeat Bryce Harper. That cheer was then missed two more innings later when Schwarber welcomed left-hander Richard Bleier to the game by hitting a 110.8 mph, 434-foot home run on the second deck in right field.
“It feels good,” Schwarber said. “There’s definitely a level of frustration when you go through things like that.”
Schwarber went into the series finale with a .176/.295/.376 (.671 OPS), but the frustration had been building, especially in the past few weeks.
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His two hits on Sunday marked his first multi-hit game since April 21 against the Rockies. The three RBIs were a season high, his only other multi-RBI game that season came on April 4 at Yankee Stadium.
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And it all happened on a day that saw Schwarber finish outside of the top three in the lineup for the first time since May 27, 2022.
“Maybe it gives them both a go,” said manager Rob Thomson ahead of the game, which featured substitutions for Schwarber and Bryson Stott, who went 4-1 on his return to the lead.
Thomson then joked after the game, “He’s really comfortable on the five-hole.”
However, Schwarber really feels comfortable anywhere in the lineup.
Though he mostly hit the leadoff last season, Schwarber has more than 100 career plate appearances at every spot from first through sixth. He’s had more than 300 plate appearances for first, second, fourth, fifth or sixth — and at least 20 homers from each of those five spots in the lineup.
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“To me, a stain is a stain,” Schwarber said. “I will score wherever they want me to score.”
Given Schwarber’s recent slump, Thomson had faced numerous questions over the past week about how he might use the two-time All-Star in the leadoff spot. It was reminiscent of last year’s postseason, when Schwarber was 1-20 (.050) top of the order with eight strikeouts in the club’s first six playoff games.
In game seven, Schwarber went 2-on-3 with a home run, a walk and a strikeout in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series in San Diego — the exact same line he shot in Philadelphia on Sunday.
Schwarber’s breakout game in the NLCS started a stretch in which he won 11:35 (.314) with six homers in the last 11 games of the 2022 postseason.
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The Phillies are hoping Sunday will spark a similar turnaround.
“Confidence is a big deal for all these guys,” Thomson said. “You start to improve your timing, see the ball a little bit better, keep your head steady – things can change quickly.”
Schwarber is no stranger to quick turnarounds from slow starts. As of Sunday’s start, he had a career .204 batting average and .736 OPS prior to June. As of June 1, he is a .244 career hitter that goes hand in hand with an .873 OPS. His home run rate also increases from 4.9% in the first two months to 6.7% for the rest of the year.
“I hate it. I wish I hadn’t [start slow]. But it is what it is,” Schwarber said. “I can promise you that every time I step out there, I’ll take my best step forward – and so does everyone else in this clubhouse when we step onto this field.”
Schwarber’s best game yet underpinned Taijuan Walker’s best start yet with Philadelphia. The right-hander conceded just one run of three hits over six innings to earn his first home win as a Phillie with six strikeouts and no walks.
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It was just what the Phillies needed to pull off a six-game sled ahead of a two-game series against another American League East opponent in the Blue Jays going into Monday’s rest day.
“Great to get a win. Obviously, I think that’s more important,” Schwarber said. “Get out of that little streak that we had there and hopefully carry that momentum into the next streak.”