Kyle Schwarber is one of those rare few whose very approach to the batter’s box makes the ground tremble. His every swing is laden with the potential for a home run. His presence evokes unease in pitchers, and anticipatory glee in Phillies fans. All of these things are intensified, to a nearly unbearable degree, when he strides to the plate with the bases loaded. It is one thing to know that, and another to see it. Tonight, we saw it.
The game began with Zach Neto making it to base with a basic bingle
against Taijuan Walker. He then found himself caught in a pickle between first and second, and was eventually put out. Mike Trout then took a four-seamer to center-left for a double, but a strikeout by the subsequent Angel ended the inning without any real damage done.
The Phillies got off to a quick start against Halo hurler Yusei Kikuchi, with Trea Turner working a walk and Kyle Schwarber smacking a double right up the first base line, right under Nolan Schanuel’s glove. Just as quickly, though, things descended into primordial chaos. Harper hit a grounder to second, the Angels tossed it home, and Turner and Schwarber got caught in a land of confusion . The result was a play that demonstrated why MLB’s official scorers have such a tough job: a 4-2-6-2-5 fielder’s choice double play that left Turner and Schwarber slinking back to the dugout, and Harper on second. The bruised feelings of the Fightin’ Faithful were assuaged somewhat by Nick Castellanos’ single, scoring Harper.
Walker worked his way into trouble to start the second, putting the first two batters on, then worked his way out of it just as fast, via a twin killing and a foul tip K. He kept the Phillies in the lead through the third, but in the fourth he surrendered a solo shot to Taylor Ward, tying the game. Moments after the ball landed in the greenery of the batter’s eye, the Angels’ home run fire helmet was tossed around so that it could await Ward as he triumphantly re-entered the dugout. From there, it was handed to Jo Adell, who sent a missile screaming over the left field wall right after. Walker then loaded the bases with a trio of singles. A line drive single from Neto scored one and left the bases loaded; a sliding catch from Nick Castellanos on the subsequent play ended the damage.
Walker was pulled for Daniel Robert to start the fifth; Robert delivered a clean inning and some much needed soothing for the fraying nerves of the fans. Further soothing occurred in the form of some good slapstick in the bottom fifth, as a ball got caught in the chest protector of Travis d’Arnaud, resulting in an automatic advancement for Johan Rojas from first to second. That was edifying for those of us (and I assume this would be nearly all of us, myself included) who did not know that rule, and beneficial for the Phillies, as Rojas then scored on a single from Turner.
But the laughs faded fast as the Phillies surrendered another solo shot, this one to Yoán Moncada. Down by two, the Phillies responded by loading the bases with just one away in the sixth. A productive lineout from Rojas scored one, and a walk from Turner then restored the sacks to drunkenness with Schwarber stepping into the batter’s box.
Technically, there were many possible outcomes for that situation. We could not know whether the ball in Schwarbdinger’s box was alive or dead until it was opened. And yet, the outcome seemed certain— marvelously so for the Phillies, dreadfully so for their Angeleno (Anaheimer?) counterparts. The precise details of the batted ball and its fateful flight through the night air need not be elaborated upon. The Phillies led, 7-4.
After that, little drama remained, though a two-run shot from Bryce Harper, to nearly the same spot that Schwarber’s slam landed, added some additional delight. Matt Strahm was tasked with delivering the final three outs and did so without delay, thus saving precious time that can be used to watch replays of that Schwarber slam.
The Phillies are 56-43. The deciding game of the series is tomorrow at 1:35.
More from thegoodphight.com:
- The latest odds on where Bryce Harper will land are out. Where are the Phillies?
- Hittin’ Season #219: Which Phillies will NOT be here in 2019?
- FanPost Friday: You can be the Phillies (assistant) GM in the SB Nation Offseason Simulation
- Phillies Stat Notes: Analyzing The Collapse
- Real World: A Phillies Postmortem
- One last mess at McFadden’s
- Are the Phillies trying to lower expectations on free agency?
