LOS ANGELES — Sometimes one good swing is all it takes to end a slump — or, perhaps, turn around an entire series.
Especially when it’s a swing like the one Kyle Schwarber delivered in the fourth inning of the Phillies’ 8-2 victory in a must-win Game 3 of the National League Division Series on Wednesday night at Dodger Stadium.
With Schwarber hitless for the series — and the Phillies hitless on the night — the slugger unleashed a vintage 455-foot blast. The ball left his bat at a scorching 117.2 mph on its way sailing entirely over the right-field seats at Dodger Stadium.
“It’s ridiculous how far that ball went,” said Phillies shortstop Trea Turner.
Schwarber, meanwhile, had no idea how far it went.
“I mean, when I hit it, I knew it’s a home run,” he said. “But I didn’t even see where it landed. I was looking in the dugout trying to get the guys going.”
Bryce Harper and Alec Bohm followed with back-to-back singles, with Harper going first to third on Bohm’s knock — and then scoring when the throw from center field skipped away and into the third-base dugout. Bohm later scored on Brandon Marsh’s sacrifice fly to cap off a three-run inning that turned a 1-0 deficit into a 3-1 lead.
“I just think the vibes, the energy — it’s something to build off,” Turner said. “Sometimes it’s hard to create your own momentum, and you’ve got to build off things like that. No better way than the ball leaving the stadium.”
Added Harper: “Big swing. Obviously, he hit a far one in San Diego a couple years ago, so that was kind of a little throwback for me seeing him hit a ball like that. It’s pretty cool to be able to watch him do that.”
That “far one” in San Diego a couple of years ago was a 488-foot, 119.7 mph blast off Yu Darvish in Game 1 of the 2022 NLCS — the farthest and hardest home run Schwarber has hit in the big leagues.
Needless to say, majestic postseason homers are certainly nothing new for Schwarber.
He now has five career postseason home runs that traveled at least 450 feet. That’s not only the most in the Majors since Statcast began tracking in 2015, but only one other player has even hit more than one such homer — and that’s Freddie Freeman … with two.
Schwarber’s homer snapped an 0-for-22 slump dating back to the regular season that included starting the NLDS 0-for-8 with five strikeouts. It also marked the Phillies’ first home run of the NLDS.
“I think I said yesterday we were missing the slug, missing the homers,” Turner said. “And no better person to do it than him. … It starts with him.”
Schwarber added a second home run off Clayton Kershaw as part of a five-run eighth inning that blew the game open. Schwarber’s two homers raised his career postseason total to 23, moving him ahead of Yankees legend Bernie Williams for third most all time. Only Manny Ramirez (29) and Jose Altuve (27) have more.
“I’ve been very fortunate being in a lot of postseason games in my career, and it’s just the best form of baseball,” Schwarber said. “But I sincerely believe that it doesn’t matter — you could be hitting .100 or be hitting .500. Did you win the game at the end of the day? That’s all that matters.”
That was truly all that mattered for a Phillies team that was facing elimination. They managed to extend their season on a night when they finished with eight runs and 12 hits. They had just six runs off 13 hits in the first two games combined.
And it all started with Schwarber.
“I think the Schwarber home run just sort of woke everybody up,” said manager Rob Thomson. “And it got a lot of energy going in the dugout.”
That’s where all of Schwarber’s attention was as he began his home run trot down the first-base line. It wasn’t until he joined the celebration in the dugout that someone mentioned to him where the ball landed.
Eventually, Schwarber watched it for himself.
“Hits are great, homers are great, walks are great,” Schwarber said. “Anything positive for our offense is going to be great.”
But nearly hitting a ball completely out of Dodger Stadium?
“Yeah, it was a cool moment,” he said.
