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Kyle Schwarber Crushes Home Run #50, Phillies Break Multiple Milestones in 9-3 Win
By Luke Arcaini
Published:
Kyle Schwarber hit his 50th home run of the year on Tuesday night, joining Ryan Howard as the only Phillies in franchise history to hit 50+ in one season.
Ranger Suarez was the story of Tuesday night’s 9-3 win for the first six innings. Suarez set a new career-high in strikeouts, fanning 12 batters across six scoreless innings and allowing just one hit while walking three. Suarez has allowed just three earned runs in his last 30.2 innings, sitting down 39 batters via strikeout across his last five starts.
“I think he was in the strike zone when he needed to be, and he was out of the strike zone when he needed to be,” said Rob Thomson. “Masterful. He kept everybody off balance, all of his pitches were good, his command was good, he was commanding the ball glove-side very well… he was really, really good.”
All it took was one swing to change that headline, from Suarez, to Schwarber:
Schwarber’s last home run came on Thursday, August 28th, the night he hit four homers against the Braves. A 10-game home run drought is only long for a few players, and Schwarber is one of them. Schwarber was five for his last 39 before his titanic 3-run homer to put the Phillies up 7-1 in the bottom of the 7th inning.
“It was tremendous. What a season he’s having,” Thomson said. “It couldn’t have happened to a better guy… It was a really good night. I thought our offense was good, Ranger was really good, defense was really good, we played a really good game.”
It was another shining night for the offense, as the runs started piling on with a two-run single from Nick Castellanos in the first inning, followed by back-to-back home runs from Otto Kemp, on his 26th birthday, and Harrison Bader in the second inning.
Wins like that are what you kill to see from a team in late September. The Phillies have had glaring holes in their rosters over the years and have played through them. Right now, everything is clicking. They have the best closer in baseball, their starting rotation is filthy, and they’re getting contributions from everyone in their lineup.
Oh, and they got all of these milestones in one night:
- 50 home runs for Kyle Schwarber
- 500 career hits for Bryson Stott
- Ranger Suarez’s new strikeout career high (12)
- A birthday home run for Otto Kemp
The Phillies beat the Mets again. The Magic Number to win the NL East is down to 9, and the Phillies hold a 9-game lead in the division. The magic number to clinch a first-round bye currently sits at 14. The team is rolling, and it seems like they aren’t looking back with 17 games left in the regular season.
Luke Arcaini writes about the Phillies for Crossing Broad, covers the Phillies for FOX Sports The Gambler, and co-hosts "Phillies Digest" on YouTube. The wave is the worst thing in all of sports. Contact: lukearcaini8@gmail.com