The Phillies’ offensive surge continued Tuesday night as they pounced on the Diamondbacks early and kept at it in a 15-3 win.
The Phils scored four times before their ace, Zack Wheeler, took the mound in the bottom of the first inning. Kyle Schwarber opened the game with a 450-foot home run to right field, his 18th of the season and fifth in 12 June games.
Trea Turner walked and scored on a Nick Castellanos double, and the Phillies took advantage of a bad Diamondbacks defense to score two more runs in the first. What should have been a JT Realmuto groundout to third base was instead a two-base error that scored Castellanos, and Realmuto came around to score himself two batters later.
The Phillies plated two more in the third against hittable D-backs right-hander Zach Davies after Bryce Harper and Realmuto reached base and executed a double steal. Realmuto scored on a “sacrifice fly” to shallow left field when Corbin Carroll lost count of how many outs there were. Carroll lost his hat making the routine catch and Realmuto held at third, but when he nonchalantly went back to grab the cap, Realmuto alertly broke for home.
Bryson Stott, who is hot and serving as a pest in the five- or six-spot in the Phillies’ lineup, had another big game with three hits and a homer. He’s hitting .300 on the season with a .761 OPS.
The Phillies stole four bases, with Turner swiping two. Turner, Schwarber, Castellanos, Realmuto and Stott are all hot right now, and as a result, the Phils have scored 30 runs in their last 26 innings.
Realmuto hit for the cycle Monday night, then doubled and tripled again Tuesday. He’s driven in four and scored six times in the two games at Chase Field.
Castellanos doubled twice and drove in three runs. He’s up to 23 doubles on the season, second in the majors to Freddie Freeman’s 24.
Wheeler mostly cruised, barely allowing a ball past the infield. He allowed four hits and a run over six innings, striking out seven. The only run scored four pitches before he recorded his final out. Three of Wheeler’s last four starts have been excellent.
The Phillies are 33-34. They have two more games left in Arizona Wednesday and Thursday, then three in Oakland against an Athletics team that had the worst record in the majors until this week. The A’s were 12-50 a week ago but have won seven in a row, including the last two over the MLB-best Tampa Bay Rays.
Ranger Suarez starts for the Phillies Wednesday night opposite veteran right-hander Merrill Kelly. Suarez has hit his stride over his last three starts, allowing four runs in 19⅔ innings. Kelly is 8-3 with a 2.92 ERA. He hasn’t faced the Phillies since 2019.