One of the early-season storylines of the Philadelphia Phillies has been their inability to keep the throttle on at the plate. On Monday night, they welcomed in the Chicago Cubs and some warmer weather. Both seemed to heat up the Phillies' bats.
Kyle Schwarber got things started early when he hit his fifth home run of the season, just clearing the centerfield wall. Spoiler alert: this would not be his only highlight of the night.
In a rare occurrence, the Phillies scored in back-to-back innings. Brandon Marsh led off with a single after falling to an 0-2 count. With two outs, he'd steal second, leading to a JT Realmuto blooped RBI single. It was the first time that they scored in back-to-back frames since April 3 in Colorado.
As Billy Mays said many times, "BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE". In the third inning, Trea Turner led off with a single. He was quickly driven home on Schwarber's sixth homer and second of the night. The offense took a well-deserved rest in the fourth inning but returned in the fifth.
Schwarber was walked on four pitches to begin with.
Bryce Harper and Adolis García both singled to load the bases with no outs. Brandon Marsh doubled to score two. Alec Bohm had a sac fly. Bryson Stott and Realmuto had RBI singles. All told, it was a five-run inning for the Phillies.
The runs kept coming in the sixth. Schwarber and Harper got on base for García, who doubled the prior run home. Bohm grounded out to score Harper. Realmuto hit his third RBI single of the night, giving the Phillies an even dozen runs.
For good measure, they subbed out Turner, Harper and Garcia for Edmundo Sosa, Otto Kemp and Dylan Moore in the seventh and still scored. This time it was unearned because of a throwing error. The dozen runs were upgraded to a baker's dozen.
On the pitching side, Cristopher Sánchez scrapped together a quality start while not having his best stuff. He went six innings, allowing six hits, two earned runs and walking three. He struck out eight and generated 16 swing and misses.
The eighth inning was a disaster, but ultimately did not affect the outcome of the game. The Phillies get back to a .500 record, winning 13-7.
