Ranger Suarez dominates, Kyle Schwarber hits No. 50 in 9-3 Phillies win
Philadelphia Phillies’ Kyle Schwarber, right, reacts to his three-run home run with Bryson Stott, left, during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the New York Mets, Tuesday, Sep. 9, 2025, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)
Ranger Suarez and Kyle Schwarber stole the spotlight in a great win for the Phillies to increase their division lead on the Mets up to a season-high 9 games, and lower the magic number to clinch the NL East to 9.
Suarez continued his uncharacteristically great 2nd half of the season with another incredible performance in the Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Mets. He gave the Phillies 6 innings of scoreless baseball, allowing just 1 hit and giving 3 free passes and striking out 12 Mets batters, a career best.
While Ranger’s 2nd half started out rough like many of his others, he now has a 0.38 ERA across his last 4 starts.
Meanwhile, Schwarber added another achievement to his historic season. Schwarber rewrote the Phillies’ history books, joining Ryan Howard in an exclusive club of 50 home run hitters in team history.
The Schwarbarian joins The Big Piece
Schwarber’s chase to home run number 50 in the best season of his career has been nothing short of special to watch, and he finally hit the milestone tonight.
With a blast in the 7th inning, he became just the 2nd Phillie in franchise history ever to hit 50 home runs in a season.
However, Nick Castellanos was the one to get the scoring started for the Phillies. After Harrison Bader and Bryce Harper each went down to start the inning, Schwarber kept the 1st alive with a 2-out single and would move into scoring position after a pitch hit J.T. Realmuto to create the Phillies’ first scoring opportunity of the night.
Castellanos was able to take advantage and scored them both with a 2 out double to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. The 2 runs were all they would get after Edmundo Sosa grounded out to end the inning.
The Phillies didn’t take their foot off the gas in the 2nd inning, where they’d tack on 2 more. A leadoff lineout and Bryson Stott caught stealing brought up the aforementioned Otto Kemp with 2 outs and the bases empty. Kemp blasted his 5th home run of the season to add one more to the Phillies’ lead and make it a 3-0 ballgame. Bader then made it back-to-back bombs with his 16th of the season, making it 4-0.
Then it was the moment we had all been waiting for. After 39 straight at-bats, 10 games, and 11 days without a home run, Schwarber finally reached home run number 50.
An infield single from Stott and a 2-out hit from Bader set up Schwarber for the historic moment with 2 on and 2 out.
Schwarber left no room for doubt on home run number 50 with a towering 437-foot bomb to center field, making it a 7-1 game.
As Schwarber continues to chase the Phillies’ record of 59 homers in a season in his remarkable campaign, it’s worth briefly noting the drastic improvement he’s had since signing with the Phillies.
His story since being released by the Cubs has been nothing short of fascinating. All 4 of Schwarber’s best seasons in terms of home runs, RBIs, and OBP have come with the Phillies. Over the last 4 years, we’ve been able to witness the birth of a Phillies legend, and he’s only getting better.
The Phillies would tack on a couple more the very next inning. Stott started the scoring by bringing home Sosa with a 2-out RBI single to boost the lead to 8-2. Kemp extended the inning with an infield single to bring up Bader. Bader continued his great night and got his 3rd hit of the night, an RBI single to score Stott and make it 9-2.
Power Ranger Activated
After a slow start to the 2nd half of the season, Ranger seems to have finally figured it out in his last 4 starts. Throughout his career, one of the more confusing parts of the Suarez experience was his struggles in the 2nd half, but then always dominating in the playoffs.
This year, he’s made 10 starts since the all-star break, and through the first 6, it looked like more of the same. Across those starts, he had an ERA of 5.86 and looked nowhere near his 1st half self.
However, over his last 4 starts, he’s now seemed to figure it out with an ERA of 0.38. Given he only allowed 4 baserunners total throughout his entire start, there isn’t really much to talk about for Ranger other than how dominant he was.
The Mets didn’t even get a runner in scoring position until the 5th inning. Back-to-back 2-out walks from Francisco Alvarez and Jeff McNeil set up Jose Siri with a runner on 2nd. Ranger worked out of the jam, striking out Siri on only 4 pitches.
His night came to an end after striking out Pete Alonso to end the 6th inning, where he was honored with a standing ovation in front of the home crowd.
David Robertson started the night off for the Phillies’ bullpen. Mark Vientos immediately took advantage of Ranger being out of the game, taking Robertson deep to make it 4-1. Robertson was able to quickly recover, retiring the rest of the side in order.
Tanner Banks would come in relief for the 8th inning and also see some struggles. A double from Siri set up Juan Soto with a runner on 2nd and 3 away, and he brought Siri home with an RBI single to make it 7-2. Despite another single from Alonso, Banks was able to stop the bleeding after that.
Max Lazar was brought on to close it out and has some struggles. A one-out single from Starling Marte and a double from Alvarez quickly put traffic on the bases. McNeil took advantage with an RBI single to make it 9-3. Fortunately, Lazar recovered by getting Siri to fly out and striking out Francisco Lindor to cap off the win.
Ethan Whitney
Ethan is a writer for Philly Sports Reports and a Color Commentator for Rally Sports Network. He has been a massive fan of all Philly Sports for as long as he can remember and wants to share that passion with the world. He is looking for a long career in the sports media sphere.
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