Kyle Schwarber's grand slam lifts slumping Philadelphia Phillies to much-needed win over Miami Marlins
Kyle Schwarber quieted the boo birds with his seventh career grand slam, shaking the Philadelphia Phillies out of their mid-summer malaise and leading them to a 9-5 victory over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night.
Trying to fight their way out of a rut, the Phillies got a needed win, a night after they suffered a four-hit shutout loss to one of the worst teams in baseball. Once the winningest team in baseball, the Phillies needed Schwarber's go-ahead slam to help snap a four-game losing streak and they won for just the eighth time in 24 games since the All-Star break.
"I think it was just more energy," Schwarber said. "You could feel it in the stadium. I felt like that was a cool thing. I feel like our guys are doing a really good job of weathering whatever's happened the last couple of weeks where we haven't been playing our best baseball."
Hours after manager Rob Thomson hinted that a team meeting could be on deck, the Phillies delayed the opening of the clubhouse to reporters by 70 minutes ahead of the game. Thomson demurred when asked about the meeting, saying only "what happens in the clubhouse stays in the clubhouse."
The lineup, though, is very much public and Thomson rattled his high-priced crew of slumping sluggers when he benched All-Star shortstop Trea Turner. Turner, in the second season of a $300 million, 11-year contract, was batting just .168 with 20 strikeouts since the break and had just three hits over his last five games.
"It's more time in the cage to hone his swing, get him off his feet and just let him breathe for a minute," Thomson said.
Tyler Phillips, the South Jersey native who grew up rooting for the Phillies before he took the mound for them, gave up a three-run homer to Jonah Bride in the first inning that seemed to set an early tone for another crushing defeat.
The Phillies cut it to 3-2 against Edward Cabrera (2-4) until Jesús Sánchez added a run-scoring single and Bride had a sacrifice fly in the fourth for the three-run cushion.
After two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth, Schwarber knocked one the other way on a changeup, hitting his 28th homer of the season to left-center for the 6-5 lead.
Phillies fans that had unleashed their pent-up boos over the last two games after the last two wildly successful seasons roared again for the go-ahead shot.
Cabrera gave up six runs in four innings and even tossed a cooler in the dugout after allowing the grand slam.
"I attacked him with my best pitch, and I wouldn't change anything," Cabrera said.
José Ruiz (3-1) recorded the last two outs of the fifth to earn the win. Matt Strahm, Jeff Hoffman, José Alvarado and Carlos Estévez combined to pitch two-hit ball over four shutout innings out of the bullpen.
Alec Bohm added an RBI single and J.T. Realmuto busted the game open with two-run double in the seventh for a 9-5 lead.
Since the All-Star break, the Phillies lost two of three to Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Cleveland and Seattle, were swept in a three-game set by the Yankees and are coming off a 4-6 road trip against the Dodgers and Arizona.
Even with the sudden dip in play, the Phillies did earn their 70th win in the first 120 games of the season, the first time they hit that mark since the 2011 NL East champions won 78 games over that same span.
"We've got the right guys to get through this and come out better for it," Schwarber said.
NEXT UP
The Phillies open a four-game series against Washington. The Nationals send LHP Mitchell Parker (6-6, 3.83 ERA) to the mound Thursday against Phillies RHP Zack Wheeler (11-5, 2.78 ERA).
The Marlins head to New York for a four-game set with the Mets.
