Schwarber's monster 3-HR night leads the way in LA

LOS ANGELES -- This is the season Kyle Schwarber envisioned for himself.

But it might be better.

He went 4-for-4 with three home runs and seven RBIs in Wednesday night’s 9-4 victory over the Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. He hit his 42nd career leadoff home run in the first inning, a two-run double in the fifth, a three-run homer in the sixth and a solo homer in the ninth. Schwarber’s career-best night helped the Phillies win their first series since they swept Los Angeles at Citizens Bank Park on July 9-11.

The Phils have won three of their last four games, an encouraging sign that they might be reaching the other side following a 3-14 stretch that ran through Saturday.

"I’m sure it’ll be in the memory, but I think the biggest thing is getting a series win against a quality opponent, heading into another big series in Arizona,” Schwarber said about his monster night. “Keeping the momentum on our side is going to be big."

Schwarber’s three homers and seven RBIs on Wednesday both tied career highs. He hit three homers for the Nationals in a game against the Mets on June 20, 2021. He had seven RBIs for the Cubs in a game against the Brewers on July 28, 2019. They are the most RBIs by a Phillies player since Carlos Ruiz had seven against the Braves in an 11-inning game on May 2, 2012. They are the most RBIs by a Phillies player in a nine-inning game since Jayson Werth had eight against the Blue Jays on May 16, 2008.

"He was a one-man wrecking crew,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

"Really, really special,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “This guy can really hit.”

The Dodgers took a 4-1 lead in the second inning after a few balls eluded Phillies defenders. But rookie Tyler Phillips settled; Johan Rojas made his presence felt offensively and defensively after replacing Austin Hays, who left the game with left hamstring tightness, while the bullpen tossed four scoreless innings.

There was a controversial obstruction call at third base in the sixth inning that benefitted the Phillies, who won three replay challenges on the night. Roberts was ejected after arguing the call, before the Phillies tacked on more runs to expand their lead.

Nick Castellanos got upset at a 97.3 mph fastball that almost hit him in the face in the eighth inning. It struck his right hand instead, which was wrapped up postgame.

"That’s a big miss,” Castellanos shouted at Dodgers reliever Michael Grove.

Matt Strahm hit Gavin Lux with a pitch in the bottom of the inning, but nothing developed from that point -- just a little extra juice between teams that could meet again in the postseason.

"You’ve just got to remember the at-bats, remember the way they attack you, put it away if we face them again down the road,” Schwarber said.

Schwarber is batting .261 with 27 home runs, 73 RBIs and a .894 OPS this season. Before the game, Thomson talked about the slugger's campaign.

He hit 47 homers last year, but he also batted .197 and struck out 215 times -- the most of any of his seasons in the Majors.

The batting average and strikeouts bothered Schwarber, so he worked on it.

"Just the fact that he wanted to cut down on his strikeouts this year, I think cleared up all of that,” Thomson said. "Because now he’s staying on the ball, he’s cut down his swing with two strikes so there’s a little bit of a two-strike approach there. The average goes up because he’s putting the ball in play more. The on-base goes up because he’s getting more hits. It all works hand in hand, but the fact that he’s done this at this part of his career is really smart. It shows me how much he cares and how much he can adjust.”

Schwarber and the Phillies mentioned a couple things in Spring Training. They hoped Schwarber could pull the ball less and be more aggressive early in counts. Schwarber pulled the ball a career-high 52.5 percent of the time last season. He has cut the number to 49.6 percent this year.

Schwarber hit with two strikes in an MLB-high 433 of his 720 plate appearances last year. He batted .104 with a .503 OPS with two strikes. He batted .352 with a 1.324 OPS without two strikes.

He is tied for 20th in baseball in plate appearances with two strikes this year. He is batting .157 with a .557 OPS with two strikes. He is batting .394 with a 1.317 OPS without two strikes.

"There’s things that you want to accomplish, but to do that you have to work,” Schwarber said. “That’s the name of the game."