Final Score: Phillies 13, Twins 2
The Bryce Harper-less Phillies lineup went off.
After falling behind early, the Phillies scored 13 unanswered runs to bury the AL-Central leading Minnesota Twins 13-2. The Phillies (65-52) move to a season-high 13 games over .500.
Through eight games this homestand, the Phillies are averaging 7.5 runs per game and have hit 21 home runs.
The Phillies also continue to get quality starting pitching from unlikely contributor Cristopher Sánchez, who looks like a legit big league rotation piece. He allowed two runs and struck out five to earn his first victory of the season. Sánchez also threw over 100 pitches in a start for the first time in his career.
Sánchez left a couple sinkers out in the middle of the plate and the Twins made him pay early on. Back-to-back home runs from Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler gave Minnesota a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
But the Phillies lineup responded by sending 11 men to the plate and scoring six runs in the bottom of the second inning. Nick Castellanos and Bryson Stott got it started with back-to-back doubles with two strikes. J.T. Realmuto tied the game with a single and two batters later, Johan Rojas drove him in on a fielder’s choice. Starter Dallas Keuchel, making only his second start with the Twins, was lifted shortly after allowing two singles and a sacrifice fly to the top of the Phillies order.
Schwarber, Turner, Castellanos, Realmuto and Bryson Stott all had multi-hit games. Castellanos and Turner extended their 12 and eight-game hitting streaks respectively, Schwarber walked twice to set a new career high in base on balls at 87 and Stott homered for the 11th time this season to set a new career high in that category.
It was another great night for the Phillies leadoff man, who got on base in all four of his plate appearances. During his fifth time up, Schwarber hit a ball off his back foot and was in considerable pain. Schwarber limped back to the dugout with the help of an athletic trainer and was lifted from the game.
We’ll know more after the game, but the possibility of an extended absence for Schwarber is a brutal development for the Phillies. Whether you like him in the leadoff spot or not, he’s the anchor of the Phillies’ order and the team leader in home runs. Over his last 15 games, Schwarber has a .936 OPS with four home runs and a staggering 21 walks.
After the game, Rob Thomson said Schwarber is dealing with a contusion and that he is sore.
In a rather hilarious development, Twins outfielder Jordan Luplow had some fun on the mound in the eighth. Why not. Real Twins pitchers didn’t have a whole lot of it the seven innings prior.
After hitting Edmundo Sosa, Luplow imitated Craig Kimbrel’s infamous pre-pitch setup against Johan Rojas to the amusement of the 33,000 fans left in the ballpark. He then delivered a 47.5 mph inside slider to the young center fielder. The homerless Rojas crushed it for his first big league dinger.
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