Categories: 2024 Postgame Recaps

Kyle Schwarber homers twice, Zack Wheeler wins 8th straight decision as Phillies beat Red Sox

Kyle Schwarber hit two home runs on Tuesday. (Zac BonDurant/Icon Sportswire)

Final Score: Phillies 4, Red Sox 1

Entering Tuesday, Kyle Schwarber hadn’t homered in June. Zack Wheeler had won seven straight decisions, tying a career-high. Both were key figures in the Phillies’ 4-1 win over the Red Sox in Boston.

Schwarber ambushed the first pitch of the game, leading the contest off with his 12th home run of the season. Four innings later, he hit his second leadoff homer of the night, this time on the second pitch of his fifth-inning at-bat. Both pitches the left-handed slugger sent into the seats were center-cut. The first was a 91.5 mph fastball. The second was a 81.7 mph splitter. Each homer came against Boston starter Kutter Crawford.

Schwarber’s two RBIs would’ve been enough for Wheeler, but the Phillies scored two other runs in the fourth inning, both of which were unearned.

Wheeler, toeing the Fenway Park rubber for the first time in his career, got into and out of first-inning trouble by allowing only one run. After that, he settled in. Wheeler allowed just that one run and didn’t surrender any hits after the second inning. He retired the final 10 batters he faced. The veteran right-hander finished his night with seven innings pitched, allowing one run on three hits with four strikeouts and one walk.

After starting the season with an 0-3 record through four starts, Wheeler is now 8-3 on the year. His eighth straight decision with a win on Tuesday marked a new career-high. Per the Phillies, Wheeler and Ranger Suárez, who started his season with nine straight decisions with a win, are the first set of Phillies teammates to win at least eight consecutive decisions in the same season since Jim Lonborg and Larry Christenson accomplished the feat back in 1977.

Pitcher wins aren’t highly regarded anymore, but they are a sign of a guy who pitches deeper into games and keeps his respective club in those games. Wheeler did just that, and more, on Tuesday, joining Schwarber in leading their club to its NL-leading 46th win of the year.

Highlights

Schwarber’s first homer traveled 444 feet.

Boston’s lone run against Wheeler came in the bottom of the first. The Red Sox started the frame with a single and a double, putting runners on second and third with no outs. Three-hole hitter Rob Refsnyder drove in a run with a sacrifice fly to right field, tying the game. Wheeler then induced a pop out and groundout to get out of the inning, stranding a runner at third.
The Phillies retook the lead in the top of the fourth. With two outs and runners on second and third, David Dahl pulled a ground ball to the right side of the infield. After a bit of an errant throw by second baseman Emmanuel Valdez, first baseman Dominic Smith couldn’t complete the putout, allowing Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott to score on the play.

Schwarber’s second homer didn’t go quite as far as his first but still traveled a far distance of 427 feet.

Notes

With their win, coupled with a Braves loss on Tuesday, the Phillies now lead Atlanta in the NL East by 10 games.
Schwarber’s multi-homer game was his 13th since joining the Phillies in 2022. According to Baseball Reference, only Aaron Judge has more during that span.
Matt Strahm struck out the side in the bottom of the eighth inning, extending his streak of innings without allowing an earned run to 26 2/3.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Phillies placed J.T. Realmuto on the 10-day injured list with right knee pain

. The three-time All-Star is set to undergo knee surgery on Wednesday in Philadelphia. For the time being, Garrett Stubbs and Rafael Marchán — recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to replace Realmuto on the roster — will be the Phillies’ two active catchers.
While the timetable for a return was originally unknown, president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski provided a projected timeline for Realmuto’s recovery pre-game.
It was Stubbs who started behind the dish on Tuesday. Offensively, he went 1-for-4 with a stolen base. Defensively, he made a perfect throw to finish off a strike-him-out-throw-him-out double play to end the bottom of the second inning and was charged with a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth.