PHILADELPHIA— After a playoff-like series with the Detroit Tigers, the Philadelphia Phillies welcomed the Baltimore Orioles to town.
Baltimore was expected to be a World Series contender heading into 2025 but a cold start has led to a lost season for the Orioles. After selling at the trade deadline, the O’s are looking to finish their season as strong as they can. For the Phillies, they were getting an opponent who was more than capable of matching their best.
Jesus Luzardo would take the mound for the Phillies on Monday night, looking to build off his excellent start against the Chicago White Sox. While it wasn’t a shut-out, Luzardo gave the Phillies a chance to win a ballgame.
Home Run Derby
When summer hits, Citizens Bank Park becomes a very hitter friendly park. The ball loves to carry, and both teams took advantage of the summer weather.
In the bottom of the first inning, Bryce Harper got the scoring started. A solo blast was Harper’s 17th home run of the season. The Phillies took an early lead and the ballpark was buzzing.
The good feeling would not last long however, as the Orioles swung back. In the top of the second inning, Tyler O’Neill got all of a pitch from Luzardo, hitting it deep into the left field seats. O’Neill’s long ball gave the O’s a 2-1 lead, but there was still plenty of ballgame left.
In the top of the third, Baltimore added on. A solo blast by third baseman Jordan Westburg would become the third home run of the evening. His shot extended the Orioles lead to 3-1.
The Phillies did not wait long to even the score. In the bottom of the third inning, the red hot Kyle Schwarber dug in for his second at-bat. Schwarber got all of Cade Povich’s pitch, nearly putting the ball in the third deck of right field. This tied the game up at 3 a piece.
With the game still tied at 3-3, the Phillies looked to add in the sixth. Taking advantage of what appeared to be a miscall on a J.T. Realmuto infield single, the Phillies rallied with two-outs.
With two runners on, Harrison Bader came to the plate looking for his first hit with the Phillies. Bader was patient, working a 3-1 count. The next pitch, he did not miss. Bader would hit the fifth home run of the game, giving the Phillies a 6-3 lead.
Still with two outs, the Phillies kept swinging away. Loading up the bases with two singles and a walk by Trea Turner, Schwarber would get another chance to do some damage. With a 1-0 count, the All-Star game MVP did not miss.
Schwarber’s second home run of the night was done in grand fashion. His grand slam made it 11-3 for the Phillies, blowing the game out of reach. This was his 40th home run of the season and Schwarber only trails Cal Raleigh (42) of the Seattle Mariners. The home run was the sixth of the ballgame.
In the bottom of the eighth, the seventh home run of the game would find the seats. This time, Edmundo Sosa would get all of one. Landing in the Phillies bullpen, Sosa’s fifth home run of the season was a moonshot. The next batter was Weston Wilson. Wilson would match Sosa, hitting the eighth long ball of the evening. Wilson’s blast to left was the final home run of the game.
Phillies Notes & Quotes
Tonight’s game was Luzardo’s 10th win of the season. This matches a career high for the left-hander, who went 10-10 in 2023 for the Miami Marlins.
The eight runs the Phillies scored in the sixth inning was the most they have scored in a single inning all season.
Schwarber’s 40th home run was hit in his 112th game of the season. This matches the exact pace that Ryan Howard was on in 2006, when he set the franchise record with 58 home runs. That season, Howard won the National League MVP. It was the first time in 20 years the club had won the award (Mike Schmidt, 1986). Harper is the last Phillie to win the award, doing so in 2021.
Schwarber would finish his evening with three hits and six runs batted in.
On NBC Sports Philadelphia post-game show, Tom McCarthy asked Bader what it was like to hit his first home run at Citizens Bank Park as a member of the Phillies. Bader replied “It felt great no doubt about it, I’m here for one reason and that’s to help this team win.”
”It was huge, it sort of opened it up for us,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson on Bader’s blast.
Thomson was asked by Destiny Lugardo of Phillies Nation about Schwarber and the love the fanbase has for him. Thomson spoke and said “He’s very humble, a great person, does a lot for the community, a lot for his organization, he’s a great player, great hitter, I can understand why everyone loves him, because I do too.”
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
