PHILADELPHIA (AP) 鈥� All Philadelphia slugger Kyle Schwarber could do was smile as he surveyed the situation while heading to the plate Sunday in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tied game with the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Phillies had pieced together an unlikely rally from a four-run deficit in the home half of the ninth and Schwarber was stepping in against St. Louis Cardinals closer Riley O鈥橞rien.
It was at that point that Schwarber shot a grinning glance at teammate Trea Turner.
鈥淚鈥檓 just there chuckling, laughing and smiling with Trea (about) how we got to that point,鈥� Schwarber said.
Schwarber then did his part.
鈥淭hen when the ball came off the bat, I stood there and watched. It was a little bit of a shock that we were able to do that in that fashion,鈥� Schwarber said. 鈥淏ut that鈥檚 why you keep playing. That鈥檚 why you play all the outs. Never give up, and keep fighting until the end.鈥�
The slugger fought to a 2-2 count, then took a swing that even he couldn鈥檛 downplay.
鈥淚t was awesome,鈥� he said with a shrug. 鈥淛ust a little bit of disbelief.鈥�
The shot over the Citizens Bank Park 鈥渂atter鈥檚 eye鈥� traveled an estimated 459 feet, good for his major league-leading 39th home run, and a rather incredible , their ninth straight.
It was the Phillies鈥� first walk-off win by home run since Schwarber accomplished the feat on July 9, 2023, against the Dodgers.
And, it was the most resounding blow during an August rebirth. In a few weeks鈥� time they鈥檝e gone from falling behind in the wild-card race to erasing much of what seemed like an insurmountable Atlanta lead in the NL East. Pending the Braves鈥� game with Milwaukee Sunday night, the Phillies were 2 1/2 games back in the division.
To that end, there is no disbelief on Schwarber鈥檚 part. He pointed out that he and four teammates all had two strikes on them during their two-out at-bats in the ninth.
鈥淚 feel like it鈥檚 a lot of really good baseball, complete baseball,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like we鈥檙e out there just hitting homers and relying on that. I feel like there鈥檚 a lot of things we鈥檙e doing really well.鈥�
Harper, who has reached base safely in 25 straight games, had led off the ninth with a double, but two quick outs later the fans started packing up. But J.T. Realmuto singled, Justin Crawford walked, and utility man Edmundo Sosa hit a three-run double. Then came a game-tying single by seldom-used Bryan De La Cruz, followed by the winning stroke by Schwarber.
All of that off O鈥橞rien, who had stayed in the game even after mound visit by manager Oli Marmot as Schwarber waited to hit.
鈥淲e鈥檙e a winning team,鈥� Sosa said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e the Phillies. I can say we鈥檙e really surprised, but when we鈥檙e late in the game we never stop fighting.鈥�
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