BOSTON — It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when June Kyle Schwarber will show up. Last year, it was June 4. In 2022, it was June 1. In 2021, it was June 12.
This year — barring an unexpected cold streak — it will be remembered as June 11, in a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. The left-handed hitter stepped up to the plate in the top of the first inning at Fenway Park, and he torched the first pitch he saw, a fastball down the middle, 444 feet to right center field.
He didn’t stop there. In the fifth, Schwarber torched the second pitch he saw, a splitter down the middle, almost as far (427 feet) and to nearly the same spot (right center field).
» READ MORE: J.T. Realmuto is the Phillies’ most irreplaceable player. So how exactly do they replace him?
They were Schwarber’s first home runs of the month. He is known for hitting a barrage of long shots over the course of the summer, but no month compares to June. Over his 10-year-career, he’s hit .248/.347/.571 in June entering Tuesday night’s game, with a .917 OPS with 55 home runs.
What’s different, this year, is Schwarber hasn’t gotten off to as slow of a start as he has in years past. Schwarber has hit .243/.367/.419 from March 29 to May 31. Entering the night, he was hitting lefties (.320) better than he is righties (.170).
The Phillies are hopeful that he was be able to even his splits up this month. If nothing else, Tuesday was a promising start.
Wheeler duels — even on long rest
Zack Wheeler doesn’t like to pitch one day of extra rest, let alone a week off, but with the off days built around the London series, that’s what happened on Tuesday. Nevertheless, the Phillies’ starter gave his team another quality start, allowing just one earned run on three hits and one walk over seven innings with four strikeouts.
He probably could’ve pitched deeper, too. Wheeler was only at 88 pitches when he exited the game. He threw 59 strikes.
Matt Strahm struck out the side in the eighth, and José Alvarado pitched the ninth. He induced a groundout, and then allowed a single to David Hamilton. Hamilton advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Garrett Stubbs, who tried to tag Hamilton out at second, after Alvarado threw a wild pitch, but fired it to center field, instead.
» READ MORE: Phillies prospect update: Aidan Miller, George Klassen continue to ‘check the boxes,’ earn promotions
He induced a Rob Refsnyder pop out, and struck out Rafael Devers to end the game. It was a good bounce back outing for Alvarado, who was charged with a blown save in the Phillies’ June 9 loss against the Mets in London.
