WASHINGTON -- Kyle Schwarber has been giving left-handed relievers fits all season. Entering Friday’s game, the slugger had slashed .305/.418/.732 with 10 home runs and a 1.150 OPS in 98 plate appearances against southpaw relief pitchers.
“I try to focus on the mentality of it just being an at-bat rather facing a lefty or righty. There are different things between the two that you work on in the cage,” Schwarber said. “I was able to make an adjustment in that third at-bat when I flew out to left which led to getting synced up in that fourth at-bat and putting a good swing on it.”
Schwarber’s good swing in his fourth at-bat resulted in a go-ahead three-run homer that traveled a tape-measure 456 feet off lefty reliever Konnor Pilkington into the second deck in right-center at Nationals Park that sparked a four-run seventh inning and a 6-2 win. Philadelphia’s victory ended its three-game losing skid.
“[Pilkington] is a big fastball, slider and curveball guy, so the first pitch was away," Schwarber said. "It was my first time facing him so I had kind of an idea of where the heater would be. Then, he hung a slider and I was able to stay through it and get it out of there.”
The homer was Schwarber’s 43rd of the season. He’s now gone deep in 14 straight series.
“I think there's a lot of teams now that just stay away from bringing a lefty on him,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “Just because he has so much success against them, and I guess it depends on the lefty too. He's had really good at-bats and that was a big home run to give us a lead.”
The longball proved to be contagious in the next at-bat as Bryce Harper sent a 1-2 slider to dead center to extend the lead to 6-2. It was the sixth time that the Phillies hit back-to-back homers in a game this season.
“I'm left-handed, I'm going to face lefties. At the end of the day, I made two poor pitches and they capitalized on it,” Pilkington said. “It's the big leagues, and you make a mistake and the hitters do a really good job of exposing that. I threw two sliders that were in the zone a little too much."
With Friday marking the start of MLB Players' Weekend, Harper swung a custom bat with flames wrapped around the barrel. The first baseman has close ties to the bat designer.
“My 5-year-old son Krew designed the bat for me,” Harper said.
Zack Wheeler delivered five innings of two-run ball on four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. He’s now allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his last five starts.
“His velocity was better but there was just a little bit of inconsistency with his release point,” Thomson said. “He's yanking a few pitches, so he's still a little rusty, but I thought it was better. We're gaining some ground, he felt good.”
In the ninth inning, Phillies reliever Jhoan Duran was struck by a 94.1 mph line drive off his right ankle by Paul DeJong. After Duran ran to retrieve the ball and the play was dead, Phillies medical staff met with Duran on the field and he was carted off with a lower leg/ankle injury. X-rays on Duran were negative, and he’ll be evaluated further Saturday, according to the team.
“You just hope for the best. It’s unfortunate but it’s baseball and it could’ve happened to anyone,” Schwarber said. “You’re just holding your breath and waiting to see what the results are going to be. Hopefully, everything’s going to be alright and it’s nothing super serious.”