The Philadelphia Phillies stand on the precipice of their second consecutive National League East title after defeating the Kansas City Royals 8-6 Saturday evening. Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh each went yard while Jhoan Duran picked up his 30th save of the season.
The Phillies (89-60) now have a magic number of one over the New York Mets to clinch the division.
Walker continues to struggle in the first inning
Taijuan Walker has been a valuable swingman for the Phillies this season, but the first inning continues to haunt him. Going into Saturday, Walker allowed runs to score in the first inning of three of his previous four outings.
He appeared poised to escape trouble early, striking out Mike Yastrzemski and getting Bobby Witt Jr. to fly out. The Royals then proceed to get five hits in a row, including a two-run home run to Salvador Perez, to score three runs off Walker. Walker now owns a 29.25 ERA in the first inning in his last five starts.
“He just competes and he keeps coming and gives up three,” said Rob Thomson on Walker post-game. “He gets the first two outs and six pitches. Pasquantino hit’s a pitch below the zone for double. The Garcia pitch was right in the middle of the plate, But then Perez hits a cutter at the upper left box of the strike zone. He hooks it over the left center field wall, so it’s just weird. But he just kept fighting, and that’s what he does.”
Over the last 28 days, Harrison Bader has dominated opposing pitching, batting .400 on the stretch. Leading off the bottom of the first, he proved you don’t have to hit the ball well every time to get on base, reaching on a swinging bunt to the third baseman, beating out the throw. Following a four-pitch walk to Kyle Schwarber, the pair were on base when, later with two outs, Brandon Marsh slapped a line drive to the warning track in left field, scoring both runs to put the Phillies on the board 3-2.
A moment for Salvy and a response for the Phillies
Perez then caught Walker on a red-zone splitter to hit home run No. 300 on his career, putting the Phillies behind 4-2 in the third inning.
A sense of deja vu overtook Citizens Bank Park then, as Bader and Schwarber reached on a respective single and walk for the second-straight time at the plate. Bader’s hit marks his sixth-straight multi-hit game dating back to Monday.
Following a wild pitch from Royals’ starter Ryan Bergert to Bryce Harper, Bergert walked Harper to load the bases for the Phillies with no outs. J.T. Realmuto cut the deficit in half, hitting a sacrifice fly line-out into right field, scoring Bader. That would, however, be the only run the Phillies managed to plate on the inning.
Schwarber sparks a rally
As the game moved into the fifth inning, fans across Citizens Bank Park began to check the score of another game. At Citi Field, the New York Mets had just blown a 2-0 lead over the Texas Rangers, losing their eighth-straight contest by a score of 3-2. The loss brings the Phillies’ magic number to secure the National League East title down to two games.
Minutes after the Mets’ score went final, Kyle Schwarber ignited the Phillies once more. Schwarber took a slider from Royals’ reliever Angel Zerpa into the first row of section 105 in right field, tying the game up at 4-4. Schwarber now has 51 home runs on the season with 13 games to go in the regular season.
Bryce Harper then quickly worked a four-pitch walk to put the go-ahead run on base for the Phillies. J.T. Realmuto then followed up, hitting an infield single to an indecisive Witt Jr.
One out later, the Phillies opted to pinch hit Nick Castellanos for Max Kepler. Favoring a lefty-righty matchup, Castellanos has struggled in recent weeks while Kepler has found himself in a resurgence. Making his first pinch hit appearance since 2023, Castellanos got the job done, floating a line drive into center field for a sacrifice fly, scoring Harper to put the Phillies in front. Otto Kemp then took it upon himself to score Realmuto, slugging a double into left field. Overall, the Phillies scored three runs on the inning, taking a 6-4 lead on the Royals.
Donavan Walton, a little over two months after being purchased by the Phillies from the Mets, led off the bottom of the sixth inning, reaching on a single into left field. Bader and Schwarber hit back-to-back singles behind him, scoring Walton. The RBI was Schwarber’s 126th of the season.
Handing it off to the bullpen
Taijuan Walker’s day concluded after five innings of four-run baseball. Walker allowed seven hits and one walk, striking out three batters and allowing three of his runs on two home runs to Salvador Perez.
Tanner Banks then entered and pitched a clean and quiet sixth inning. Matt Strahm entered for the seventh inning, allowing a leadoff double to pinch hitter Tyler Tolbert. Tolbert eventually scored, but Strahm managed to quell any attempt at a larger rally from the Royals.
Brandon Marsh would then reclaim the three-run advantage for the Phillies, hitting his 10th home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the seventh.
David Robertson was then handed the ball with a three-run lead in the top of the eighth. He allowed a two-out double by Jonathan India before Carter Jensen slung a single into left field, scoring India and cutting the Phillies’ lead back down to two at 8-6.
Two runs, however, would suffice. Jhoan Duran entered in the bottom of the ninth, intent on pitching his 30th save of the season and 14th since joining the Phillies. Quickly working Randal Grichuk and Bobby Witt Jr. into ground outs, Duran faced off with Vinnie Pasquantino for the final out. In front of 43,000 Phillies fans, Duran struck out Pasquantino on a 102 mph fastball out of the zone, sealing the deal for the Phillies.
Inside the box
With his three-hit night, Harrison Bader is now the first Phillies player to record six consecutive multi-hit games since Alec Bohm did in 2022. Additionally, he is the first outfielder to do so since Lenny Dykstra in 1990. Bader is now batting .517 on the home stand with seven runs scored in six games.
The Phillies combined for 12 hits on the day, their fifth straight day combining for double digits in hits.
“We put some good at bats out there tonight,” said Thomson. “And big hits from the sac fly from Castellanos was huge, home run from Schwarber, a double from Kemp, add-on from Marsh with the home run. So there were a lot of really good at bats tonight.”
The Phillies have now won five straight series since getting swept by the Mets in late August. On the season, the Phillies have won 32 series, marking the fifth time they have done so in franchise history.
No ordinary getaway day
Tomorrow, on the final day of the Phillies’ current home stand, Aaron Nola will take the mound with the chance to punch the Phillies’ ticket to not only the postseason, but their second consecutive National League East title. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. Nola will battle against Royals’ southpaw Noah Cameron.
“I think it’s huge,” Thomson said on the chance to clinch the division at home. “I’d like to kind of get it out of the way as quick as we can. To do it in front of our fan base would be special.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source phillysportsnetwork.com ’
