Schwarber's clutch slam another thrilling moment with Phillies amid 'whirlwind' week

PHILADELPHIA -- For someone who didn't compete in the Home Run Derby, Kyle Schwarber has put on quite a show this week.

His home run heroics in Tuesday's All-Star Game swing-off earned him MVP honors. He showed off that MVP trophy to a rousing ovation prior to Friday night's second-half opener -- then proceeded to blast his 31st homer on his first swing of the night.

But none of that compared to what he did on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park.

With the Phillies trailing by one in the sixth, Schwarber sent the Philadelphia faithful into a postseason-like frenzy with a go-ahead grand slam en route to a 9-5 victory over the Angels. It was his eighth career grand slam and his fourth as a Phillie.

“It's been a crazy week,” Schwarber said. “Whirlwind.”

Saturday’s plate appearance began with "M-V-P" chants as Schwarber strode to the plate. It ended with him tipping his helmet from the top step of the first-base dugout for a curtain call.

“Just really enjoying a fanbase that cares about their team so much to want to win, and they're jumping up and down ready to explode -- and then they do,” he said. “You just take it in. Those are the things that you just really do enjoy -- those moments.”

Schwarber has had no shortage of “those moments” this season, especially over the past week.

"It was awesome,” said Bryce Harper, who added a two-run homer in the eighth. “What a moment for him.”

“It seems like there's a moment every other night. There's a lot of moments,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Thank God we got him, because he's really something.”

The Phillies have got him … for now.

With Schwarber set to become a free agent at the end of the season, it seems that every “moment” further emphasizes his importance to the team.

Schwarber’s grand slam made him just the fourth player in franchise history to hit 32 home runs within the team's first 98 games of a season. The only other Phillies to do so are Ryan Howard (2006), Mike Schmidt (1979) and Chuck Klein (1929).

Schwarber has accounted for 29.9 percent of the Phillies’ total home runs (32 of 107) this season. That’s the highest percentage by any player in the Majors.

“He's been huge. He really has,” Thomson said. “I don't know where we'd be without him.”

Neither does Harper -- and he hopes he won’t have to find out in the coming years.

"I think management knows that; I think [president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski] knows that as well,” Harper said. “They've got to make the best decision for our team. If he's in those plans -- obviously, he should be here.

“He's been great for us. He's our leader. … He's one of the best teammates I've ever had, ever been around.”

Not to mention, all those “moments.”

“He comes up in those moments and those opportunities,” Harper said, “and he comes through every single time.”

Harper has been coming through plenty in his own right. Hampered by right wrist inflammation for much of the first half, the two-time MVP is 12-for-24 (.500) over his past six games -- and 11 of those 12 hits have gone for extra bases (including a double and a homer on Saturday).

The 11 extra-base hits are Harper’s most in any six-game span of his career.

“You just always feel like he's going to do something dangerous, special -- whatever it is,” Schwarber said. “The way he's swinging the bat right now, that's prime Bryce.”

The Phillies know they need Harper to be, well, Harper to get where they want to go this season -- and Harper knows they also need Schwarber.

The latter has made his feelings for this team and this city clear. Schwarber has said he hopes to stay in Philadelphia. Thomson, Dombrowski and even managing partner John Middleton have each echoed the same thought.

So, is there any chance a deal gets done any time soon?

“To be honest with you, it's probably something you just wait until the end [of the season],” Schwarber said. “You just want to feel like you're pouring everything you have into your team, and you don't want to be distracted by anything else.”

With each moment that passes, however, it’s getting harder and harder to envision Schwarber playing anywhere else.

"I can't see him in any other uniform,” Harper said. “And I think he deserves to be here."