On Saturday against the Diamondbacks, Kyle Schwarber took the field alone.
The rest of the Phillies fielders — with the exception of starting pitcher Zack Wheeler and catcher Rafael Marchan — let him leave the dugout first to mark a rare start in left field. His second of the season, to be exact.
Alec Bohm took over as designated hitter while Edmundo Sosa slotted in at third. Thanks to Wheeler, Schwarber wasn’t tested much in the field, but the rare opportunity to play some defense didn’t seem to affect his approach at the plate. Schwarber finished 2-for-3 with two doubles in the Phillies’ 12-1 victory over Arizona. He reached base four times and scored three runs to help the Phillies end a two-game slide at home.
It also marked the Phillies’ first win over the Diamondbacks at Citizens Bank Park since Game 2 of the 2023 NLCS.
Schwarber wasn’t the only one to mash. Bryce Harper and Bohm clubbed back-to-back homers in the third inning. And for the second day in a row, Nick Castellanos went deep to left field, this time launching a two-run shot in the fifth. He followed it up with an RBI single in the sixth that put the Phillies up by nine.
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In addition to collecting his 18th home run of the season, Harper was 4-for-5 with three RBIs.
David Dahl twisted the knife with a two-run shot of his own off of Diamondbacks catcher Tucker Barnhart, who had taken the mound in the eighth.
The Phillies offense collectively recorded 14 hits and drew five walks. They provided plenty of run support for a stellar outing by Wheeler. In his previous start, the right-hander had allowed a career-high four homers to Baltimore and only lasted 4⅓ innings. But Saturday was a very different story, with Wheeler facing the minimum through the first four innings.
Wheeler reached 97 mph with his four-seam fastball and generated four whiffs with the pitch.
Joc Pederson tried to bunt in the fourth inning to break up what was then a bid for a perfect game, but sent a foul ball. Wheeler responded by striking Pederson out. He didn’t allow a baserunner until the fifth, when Wheeler hit Christian Walker with a pitch to lead off the inning.
His no-hitter ended in the next at bat, when Jake McCarthy laced a base hit into left field. The Diamondbacks scratched across one run, but Wheeler was able to limit any further damage. He finished his night striking out eight and walking zero over seven innings. The two hits and one run he allowed all came in the fifth.
Gregory Soto and José Ruiz shut the door in relief, pitching a scoreless eighth and ninth inning, respectively. The final out of the game was a flyout to Schwarber, who called off Turner in shallow left to make his only put out of the game.
Sosa took a pitch to the elbow in the fifth inning and finished the inning, but was later removed for Whit Merrifield with a left elbow contusion. The X-Rays taken were negative and the Phillies called him day-to-day.
