Kyle Schwarber Continues His MVP Chase As Phillies Blowout Orioles 13-3
Courtesy of Philadelphia Phillies
Kyle Schwarber, the man that you are.
After taking two of the three games against the Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Phillies kicked off their three-game series against the Baltimore Orioles on a high note, picking up a 13-3 blowout win.
The bats came alive in this one as the Phillies combined for six home runs, one coming off the bats of Bryce Harper, Edmundo Sosa, Weston Wilson, and the newest Phillie, Harrison Bader, and the other two coming from MVP hopeful Schwarber.
Schwarber launched a game-tying two-run bomb in the third inning and broke the game open in the sixth with a grand slam. Schwarber has now crossed 40 home runs and 96 RBIs on the year, putting him in sole possession of first place for both those categories in the National League.
Jesus Luzardo was back on the mound coming off a phenomenal appearance against the Chicago White Sox, where he tossed seven shutout innings and allowed just two hits overall. Luzardo worked an easy 1-2-3 first inning, getting back-to-back groundouts to kick things off, and then got Gunnar Henderson to strike out to end the inning.
In the bottom of the first, Trea Turner grounded out to start the Phillies’ at-bats, and Schwarber struck out for a second out, but that brought up Harper. It didn’t take long for Harper to make his presence known, as he lifted a 1-1 sweeper deep out to center field for a solo home run to make it 1-0 Phillies.
Despite the top of the first going Luzardo’s way, the top of the second wasn’t the same. Adley Rutschman led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and Tyler O’Neill brought him in two pitches later with a bullet two-run home run to left that gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead.
Despite another hit, a single off the bat of Coby Mayo, two runs were all the Orioles scored in the second. In the bottom half of the inning, the Phillies responded by going down in order thanks to a pair of groundouts and a flyout.
In the top of the third, the Orioles used the long ball once again to add onto their lead, this time it being Jordan Westberg who ripped a solo bomb to left to make it 3-1 Baltimore. However, in the bottom of the inning, like the Orioles, the Phillies used a deep drive of their own to tie the game.
Edmundo Sosa led off the inning with a bloop single to center, but flyouts from Weston Wilson and Turner brought Schwarber up with two outs. On the second pitch he saw, the Schwarbarian smoked a fastball into the second deck in right field to make it three all.
With the game tied at three, Luzardo began to settle in in the fourth. He started the inning with back-to-back strikeouts to Jeremiah Jackson and Colton Cowser, and then got Mayo to ground out to end the inning. J.T. Realmuto led off the bottom half of the inning with a walk, but a pair of strikeouts and a flyout ended that campaign.
Both teams went down in order in the fifth, but in the top of the sixth, Luzardo picked up strikeout numbers six and seven, sending Henderson down for the second time, and O’Neill for his first of the game. In the bottom half of the inning, the Phillies exploded for five runs, giving them the lead.
Surprisingly, the inning started with two quick outs, a lineout from Schwarber and a strikeout from Harper. Realmuto singled after a review upheld, and Nick Castellanos followed that up with a single back up the middle to put two runners on for Bader. Bader, who up to that point still hadn’t had a hit as a Phillie, lifted a ball deep to left field for a go-ahead three-run bomb.
The hits didn’t stop there as Otto Kemp legged out an infield single and Sosa smacked his second hit of the game to left to put two runners on for Wilson. Wilson kept the line moving, smacking a single of his own to left, scoring Bryson Stott from second, who was running for Kemp, making it 7-3 Phillies.
Turner worked a walk to load the baseball, and up came Schwarber for the fourth time on the night, facing a brand new pitcher, Yaramil Hiraldo. With thousands of Phillies fans chanting “MVP” during his at-bat, Schwarber drilled a fastball to right field for a grand slam and Schwarber’s second bomb and sixth RBI of the night.
Harper ended the inning with a groundout, but the Phillies brought 11 men to the plate and scored seven runs to blow the game open. Tanner Banks came on in relief for Luzardo, who finished the day with seven strikeouts over six innings, allowing just three runs. Banks sent the Orioles down in order, picking up a strikeout over Cowser to end the inning.
The Phillies went down in order in the bottom of the seventh, and in the top of the eighth, Seth Johsnon picked up a pair of strikeouts to send the Orioles down in order once again. In the bottom of the eighth, the home runs kept coming for the Phillies.
After a Stott strikeout kicked off the inning, Sosa drilled into the Orioles bullpen for a solo shot to make it 12-3 Phillies. Not even a batter later, Wilson stepped up and he drilled a solo shot of his own to left to make a 10-run lead for Philadelphia.
Now just needing three outs to secure the win, Johnson remained in to finish off the O’s. While he allowed a walk to Rutschman, he struck out the other three batters he faced to end the game, with the Phillies winning 13-3.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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