Kyle Schwarber ties Reggie Jackson mark as Phillies take 2-0 NLCS lead،
PHILADELPHIA — In Philadelphia, everyone calls this month Red October.
The exact definition is a little fuzzy, but let’s stick with this: it means circuits, lots of circuits. Lots of loud home runs that rise in decibels as the home fans realize the ball is flying over the outfield fence.
Kyle Schwarber had two of those booming blasts in the Philadelphia Phillies’ 10-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, Trea Turner added a third and the Phillies added several runs late in the game to pull within two victories back in the World Series. Schwarber’s first career multi-homer game in the postseason gave him 18, tying Reggie Jackson for the most left-handed hitters.
For the Phillies, the barrage of Red October continued: They hit 15 home runs in four games, the most in four games in postseason history.
Once again, they feasted on four-seam fastballs. After hitting three home runs on Zac Gallen’s fastballs in Game 1, Turner’s first-inning blast against Merrill Kelly went four-seam, as did Schwarber’s third-inning shot that landed in the first row of seats above the scoreboard on the right. field. His second home run, following a changeup from Kelly, was a more conventional Schwarbomb: 427 feet to right center with an exit velocity of 108.5 mph.
Schwarber is certainly one of the most unusual leadoff hitters in major league history. He hit .197. He led the majors in strikeouts. He didn’t steal a base. But he’s hitting home runs – 47 of them in the regular season – and he’s drawing walks, and the Phillies have thrived since he took over the top spot in early June. The Phillies were 25-31 on June 2 when manager Rob Thomson started Schwarber, hitting .160 at the time, in first place — as he would do in every game he played the rest of the season. The Phillies were 24th in the majors in scoring through June 1 and fifth after the move. Including the postseason, the Phillies are 70-42 since June 2 with Schwarber leading the way.
“As a catcher, I know what the opposing pitcher and catcher are thinking all day before a game, even the night before,” Phillies safety JT Realmuto said. “They worry about that first at-bat, they worry about that first pitch. They’re anxious. I know when we’re facing [Ronald Acuna Jr.] Or [Corbin] Carroll out there, when they can do damage on the first pitch, it’s a very uncomfortable feeling, and Schwarbs is the best at making the opposing pitcher uncomfortable before a game starts. It’s not fun as a pitcher. He’s the best in the game and sets the tone for our offense. »
Thomson’s decision was a throwback to last October for the Phillies, when Schwarber took the lead in every game and hit six home runs – three in the NLCS and three in the World Series. It may be unconventional, but it works.
“Well, it was JuneSchwarber, as they say here,” Thomson said. “I think we were struggling at that point, and it was time to make a little change. And it was a recipe last year with Schwarber leading the way, and it kind of clicked, and we started winning. We started scoring points and Schwarb got hot.”
“I had a lot of at-bats there,” Schwarber said. “Don’t get me wrong, I was terrible. I did a lot of trial and error. It’s more about making it your own. You have this design. I always said I had one of the best leadoff hitters, Dexter Fowler, and I got to watch that for a long time when I was in Chicago.”
Schwarber learned he had to play his game.
“For me, I have one eye, I can walk, speed is definitely a factor,” he joked. “Taking that design away and making it my own. I’ve been pretty comfortable there the last three years and it fits our lineup.”
In tying Jackson’s mark, Schwarber has an advantage with one more round of the playoffs, but he reached his 18th in 60 games – Jackson reached his 18th in 77 games.
The Phillies are now hitting .284/.366/.575 as a playoff team — and they’re not mixing in many cheap home runs, either. Turner’s first-inning blast was 421 feet, and 13 of their 19 home runs were over 400 feet. They narrowly missed three more in Tuesday’s game, as Alec Bohm flew to the wall in deep center field, Bryce Harper flew to the wall in left field and Jake Cave doubled the wall in center as a pinch hitter in the eighth. In total, the Phillies hit 14 balls in play over 95 mph and nine over 100, among their highest totals of the season.
Teams that beat their opponents are now 17-2 in the playoffs. The Diamondbacks are going to have to find a way to figure out their ball like they did against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when they hit nine home runs in three games.
“It’s like having a team full of 3-pointers against someone who can only shoot 2s,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “It happens fast and it adds up fast. But we’re built to beat you in a lot of different ways. We’re built to compete every night in a lot of different ways. Whatever recipe we can order, we’ll try to find a way.
