PHILADELPHIA — There won’t be a moment when everyone knows the Philadelphia Phillies are back because this sport doesn’t work like that. If they return to form, it’ll take more than a good week — and more than a solid 3-2 win in 10 innings against the Houston Astros. The little things will accumulate until the ball is rolling downhill again.
No one knows when. Kyle Schwarber made the last out of the ninth inning Monday night, which meant he would start the 10th inning on second base. “Hey,” Schwarber told some Phillies coaches, “I’m good.” But they debated during the top of the 10th whether Schwarber or someone else — either the backup catcher or a 25-year-old infielder built like a linebacker called up earlier in the day — should run.
“Hey,” manager Rob Thomson said to Schwarber, “you’re running.”
So, Schwarber ran hard when Bryce Harper smacked a first-pitch Josh Hader fastball into right field. Harper later admitted he was not happy about the swing. Schwarber, the burly designated hitter, was not the ideal person to stand on second base as the winning run with a hard-hit grounder to right field. Nothing about it was pretty.
But Harper put it in play. And Schwarber went from second base to home plate in 7.12 seconds — the second-fastest time of his entire big-league career. Technically, it was the fastest because the only quicker time was when Schwarber was running on the pitch. This was different, a big man moving with a big run.
“I felt like I wasn’t going to stop, I’ll tell you that,” Schwarber said. “I wasn’t going to stop until I slid into home plate.”
Harp sends the people home happy! pic.twitter.com/DcwlnV0oNw
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 27, 2024
So, the Phillies did something. Harper did something. His night started with another 4-6-3 double play — the 16th double play he’s grounded into this season. That is a career-high. But he walked in the third inning. He drove a double to the left-center gap in the sixth inning and later scored the tying run. He walked in the seventh inning against a lefty reliever. And he won it in the 10th.
Harper hasn’t had many moments this season. Maybe this was one.
“Those are all signs that are going to be great going forward,” Schwarber said. “It’s good for us. Right? He’s a big cog in the lineup. It’s good to see him get the results, obviously, but I think the work has always been there.”
“I don’t think he gets down on himself too much,” starter Zack Wheeler said. “I’m sure it’s pretty hard, too, when you’re that good and you expect that much out of yourself. He’s a competitor, and it’s fun to watch. So, hopefully, that starts something for him and he can continue off of that.”
But Harper has high standards, and he’s worn the frustration in visible ways over the last six weeks. It came through in the disdain he had for the game-winning swing. “Just another rollover,” Harper said. Maybe so, but he hit it hard.
“I just need to stay through the baseball,” Harper said. “If I’m staying to left-center and staying through the ball, my swing is better. Just have to do that.”
It had been 18 days since Harper was on base four times in a game. He hadn’t drawn a walk in 10 days. He had been hitting .213/.262/.390 since the All-Star break. Teams attacked him with a steady barrage of off-speed pitches below the strike zone.
That’s been the plan for every team against the Phillies. Astros starter Ronel Blanco threw only 35 percent fastballs. “That was part of the plan of attack — to throw a lot of sliders against them,” Blanco said through a team interpreter. “Then we saw it was working, so we just continued using it.” This is the reality for the Phillies until they force teams to adjust.
They have been waiting for Harper to look like Harper.
“Even in the last couple of days, I thought he was right on pitches,” Thomson said. “Just had nothing to show for it. Fouling a lot of balls off. So I think his balance is pretty good. I’m not sure if he thinks that. But I do. It looks like his bat path and bat speed is there.”
Harper liked most of his at-bats before the last one. Even on the double play, he ran a full count. He swung at strikes and took balls. He saw 24 pitches in four plate appearances, then needed only one to win it against Hader, who famously did not face Harper in Game 5 of the 2022 National League Championship Series. Harper took the swing of his life that day, and it resulted in a ball hit to left-center field.
The sixth-inning double to left-center Monday night wasn’t that. But it was something. He’s had only two hits to left-center since mid-July.
“I thought I had some good at-bats,” Harper said.
That’s about as much praise Harper will bestow upon himself. It’s going to take more days and more at-bats to feel better about this whole thing. This is an important week, but every week is important now because October is almost here.
The little things might have taken a back seat earlier this summer when the Phillies put everything on cruise control after building so much goodwill. Now, it’s time to find another gear.
Like Schwarber.
“Man,” Schwarber told someone, “I haven’t scored a winning run in a while. I didn’t even know what to do when I crossed home plate.”
What did he do?
“I just slid,” Schwarber said. “I got up, and I ran over to Harp.”
This game’s easy.
(Photo: Heather Barry / Getty Images)
