MINNEAPOLIS — Trea Turner watched the replay before he left the ballpark here Saturday night.
“It looked a lot worse than it was,” he said.
Indeed, Turner left the game — and the Phillies hoping for the best — after fouling a pitch off his upper right leg in the eighth inning of a 9-1 rout of the Twins. He writhed on the ground and and got to his feet with assistance from head athletic trainer Paul Buchheit.
But by the time the game was over, Turner was walking through the clubhouse without even a trace of a limp.
Turner could have started Sunday, too, interim manager Don Mattingly said. But the Phillies weren’t pushing it with their star shortstop, whose legs make him one of the fastest players in the sport.
“I don’t like taking chances with his legs,” Mattingly said. “Because he [could] end up running differently, and then he’s got a hamstring or he’s got a hip or something going on. It’s just kind of a natural, easy decision with Trea, just because you want to be more cautious with him than some other guys.”
And so, Edmundo Sosa made a rare start at shortstop for the series finale against the Twins, with Turner available later in the game, according to Mattingly.
In rewatching the swing from Saturday night, Turner said he was bothered more by falling hard on his right ankle than actually fouling the pitch off his leg.
“I just couldn’t catch myself, couldn’t stop spinning and falling backwards,” Turner said. “I kind of like sat on my ankle. Watching a replay, I can see how the trainers and everyone’s like, ‘Oh no, that looked really bad.’”
Turner has turned around his season over the last two months. At his nadir, he was batting .216 with a .595 OPS on June 15. Since then, he was batting .292 with an .841 OPS and 10 homers in 49 games through Saturday night.
And after a rough stretch last month, his defense at shortstop has stabilized. Turner made four errors in four games — and six in 10 games — out of the All-Star break. But he has been error-free for 15 games.
Even as the Phillies displaced three-fourths of the infield after trading for second baseman Luis Arraez, they left Turner at shortstop. Infield coach Bobby Dickerson has expressed confidence that the 33-year-old can stay at the position beyond this season.
“He’s got to put a chip on his shoulders and say, ‘The way to quiet everybody is to make plays, to do my job and do it right and do it good,’” Dickerson said on The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast. “I always talk about shortstop as the quarterback position. … We’ve got to get back to him leading as a shortstop — make plays, play it calm, let everybody breathe. That’s the only way he stays there.”
Said Mattingly: “It seems like he’s cleaned stuff up and had better results. I think he’s just kind of stayed after it and kept working. I know he’s been doing a lot of hand [exercises], activation stuff, but just kind of continuing to work. And it has been better.”
Phillies outfielder Derek Hill takes photos at the Field of Dreams movie site Thursday in Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Hill gets a hand
Reserve outfielder Derek Hill kept playing Saturday night after getting hit on the right hand while attempting to bunt in the fifth inning. But after the game he went for X-rays, which came back negative.
“I think he’s good,” said Mattingly, who expected Hill to be available off the bench. “I’m sure he’s sore.”
Hill, who plays center field against left-handed starting pitchers, has brought energy — highlight-reel defense and a few clutch hits, too — since being acquired in a trade with the White Sox for two minor leaguers on June 11. In 40 games through Saturday, he was batting .250 (21-for-84) and slugging .452 with five homers.
With a righty on the mound Sunday for the Twins, Justin Crawford started in center field.
Backup catcher Rafael Marchan (knee) was scheduled to continue his triple-A assignment, but Lehigh Valley’s game got suspended by rain. The Phillies will gradually step up his workload behind the plate. “We’re trying to build him up to the nine-inning type of thing, and then we’ll kind of go from there,” Mattingly said. … The Phillies flew home after the game to begin a six-game homestand against the Marlins and Cardinals. Cristopher Sánchez (15-4, 2.54 ERA) is scheduled to start at 6:40 p.m. Monday night against Marlins righty Janson Junk (6-7, 4.41).
MINNEAPOLIS — At the end of July, two-thirds of the way through the season, the Phillies had the lowest on-base percentage of any team in the majors.
So, they staged an intervention.
Kind of.
“We were swinging ourselves out of innings, out of at-bats, and the numbers say there’s not a lot of strikes coming to a lot of us,” first baseman Alec Bohm said. “It was, let’s at least be looking for something, and if we’re going to go down, let’s go down with a plan and not just be up there free-swinging.
“That kind of landed with everybody, and I think we’re definitely responding in a good way.”
In fact, guess which team leads the majors in on-base percentage in August.
The Phillies took a .361 mark into Saturday night, and that was beforeTrea Turner, Bryce Harper, and Luis Arraez worked consecutive walks ahead of big hits from Bohm, Edmundo Sosa, and Bryson Stott’s three-run homer in a seven-run fifth inning to break open a 9-1 laugher over the Twins.
It would’ve been a full-blown knee-slapper if Turner hadn’t exited in the eighth inning after fouling a pitch off his right knee. Even so, he emerged with only a bruise and was walking without issue in the clubhouse after the game.
“I think it looked a lot worse than it was,” said Turner, who didn’t require imaging. “Definitely a little sore, but it kind of just hit me in the knee and I couldn’t catch myself, so I kind of landed awkwardly. But I’m all good.”
Trea Turner exited in the eighth inning after fouling a pitch off his right knee.Matt Krohn
Jesús Luzardo has been as good as any pitcher for three months. He yielded one run and worked into the seventh inning for the fifth start in a row. In 17 starts since May 11, he’s second among all pitchers in ERA (2.19) and innings (106⅔) and third in strikeouts (128).
Luzardo got help from Arraez’s one-hop relay throw — and a well-used replay challenge — to cut down Luke Keaschall at the plate to maintain a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning before the fifth-inning onslaught.
“It’s an easy challenge,” interim manager Don Mattingly said of getting the call on the field overturned. “It’s a run, so you’re going to look at it. But that was kind of a momentum-turner.”
Only because the offense delivered against Twins lefty starter Connor Prielipp, who walked Turner and Harper on nine pitches to load the bases with two out. Arraez walked to force in a run before Bohm’s single, a two-run single from Sosa, and Stott’s homer made it 8-0.
Bohm finished with five hits, a career-high. Harper, who has drawn 20 walks in 14 games this month, reached base three times.
It was a continuation of Thursday night in a cornfield in Iowa, where the Phillies routed the Twins at the Field of Dreams movie site. The bats remain inconsistent (they scored a total of one run in back-to-back games this week in St. Louis), but there’s greater adherence to a plan at the plate.
The Phillies lead all teams with 75 walks in August. But it isn’t simply more patience at the plate, according to Mattingly. It’s a better approach within at-bats.
Hitting coach Kevin Long preaches “selective-aggressiveness,” a combination of not chasing pitches out of the strike zone and working the count but also pouncing when there’s a pitch to handle. Long and his assistants talked about being more faithful to that philosophy when they met with the hitters a few weeks ago.
“The hitters group had conversations with the guys just about staying within an approach,” Mattingly said. “Since then, the at-bats have really changed as far as staying within game plans, up and down the order. And we didn’t really talk about walking. We talked about staying within an approach. You still want to be aggressive in the strike zone, but knowing what you want to do.”
Alec Bohm had a career-high five hits Saturday night in a 9-1 Phillies victory in Minnesota.Matt Krohn
Jim Leyland, who managed the Tigers under Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, always said the pennant races begin on Aug. 15.
In that case, the Phillies were right on time.
With a second consecutive victory over the Twins after back-to-back losses in St. Louis, the Phillies kept pace in what’s shaping up as a three-team — and perhaps even five-team — race for two wild-card spots. The Padres lost and the Diamondbacks won, leaving them both tied with the Phillies at 66-58, an 86-win pace.
After a relentless 30-day span in which they hosted the All-Star Game followed by the Dodgers and Yankees, traded for a three-time batting champion (Arraez), displaced three-fourths of the infield, and took a 10-hour detour to play at the Field of Dreams, the schedule features downhill sledding from here.
“It’s time to start going,” Stott said.
A more effective approach at the plate is one way to do that.
MINNEAPOLIS — Off the bat, Bryson Stott thought the ball was foul. But it bounced back into the infield, and once he charged and barehanded it, there wasn’t time to make a play in the first inning Thursday night in Iowa.
Welcome back to playing third base.
“It’s little things like that you don’t see at second,” Stott said Saturday before making his 11th consecutive start at third base since switching positions after the trade deadline. “But I’m just trying to catch it and throw it over there. I couldn’t care less how it looks.”
Actually, it has looked really good. It isn’t only the eye test, either. The metrics, from defensive runs saved to outs above average and fielding run value, suggest Stott is playing above-average defense at third base.
If you didn’t know he had only two games of experience at the position before this month — none since April 2022 — well, you wouldn’t know.
Stott has displayed the arm strength for third base. But as a former shortstop, he said reacclimating to a longer throw wasn’t a big concern even after spending the last 3½ seasons making the easier throw from second.
Instead, it was becoming familiar with the different way in which the ball comes off the bat to the hot corner compared to the middle of the infield.
Before this month, Bryson Stott had not played third base since 2022.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“It was more kind of the angles and playing the bunt, and then a guy swings and hits one down the line,” Stott said. “It’s a lot faster than at second. You always hear ‘a step and a dive’ at third, so there’s nothing really you can do when you’re that close and they hit it that hard.
“Once I kind of learned that, when they hit it 107 [mph] down the line and I’m off the line, it’s a really hard play. It’s not one that’s like, how’d you miss that? At second, if they hit it 4 feet to my left or 5 feet to my left and I don’t catch it, I’m going to be mad at myself no matter how hard they hit it.”
Interim manager Don Mattingly and infield coach Bobby Dickerson expressed confidence that Stott could handle the new position. But entering the weekend, Stott got positive marks in defensive runs saved (plus-1) and outs above average (plus-2) at third base.
Stott said it hasn’t been as easy as he’s made it look.
“Some of those weird slow-roller angles, where I’m moving left and throwing right and things like that, I’ve never had to really do before,” said Stott, who is second in baseball in FanGraphs’ wins above replacement (2.7) since June 4. “Bohm’s done a crazy job just picking those balls for me. I think he’s already picked three that I haven’t done on purpose.
“But it’s been good. Any time a ball’s hit in my direction, I want to catch it. I still get made at myself, even playing third, when I don’t.”
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran is back in Minnesota this weekend for the first time since getting traded by the Twins at the trade deadline last summer.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Duran gets closure
Jhoan Duran got traded to the Phillies 381 days ago.
At last, he returned to Minnesota.
“It’s really good, really good to be back,” the star closer said before receiving a pregame video tribute from the Twins. “A little sad, too, because I am being on this side. I remember when the schedule was out, I turned to my wife and said to her, ‘I want to go to Minnesota. I can’t wait for that.’”
Duran made his major-league debut for the Twins in April 2022 and became their full-time closer the next season. He picked up 74 saves for the Twins, 10th on the franchise’s all-time list.
In acquiring Duran last season, the Phillies made their biggest deadline trade in years, packing teenage catching prospect Eduardo Tait and righty Mick Abel. Tait, 19, has 20 homers for high-A Cedar Rapids; Abel has a 3.98 ERA in four games (three starts) for the Twins but likely will miss the rest of the season after arthroscopic elbow surgery in July.
Duran, meanwhile, may be having the best season ever for a Phillies closer. Entering the weekend, he had a 1.70 ERA and 59 strikeouts in 42⅓ innings, and was 25-for-27 in save opportunities.
Mattingly said the Phillies have discussed using Duran for more than three outs down the stretch.
“It’s something that we talked about just the other day,” Mattingly said, “that it’s kind of that time to have that conversation with him so he’s prepared for it. I think really all of [the relievers] at this point. I feel like, as long as we’re rested, you start thinking about [Jonathan] Bowlan at a one-[inning]-plus. You think about the same thing with [Orion Kerkering], any of the guys that have been throwing the ball well.”
Bryson Stott’s “Field of Dreams” cleats designed by Nxt Lvl Customs and Stadium Locker.Courtesy of Ryan Stevens
Extra bases
Stott donated his game-worn Field of Dreams cleats to the Hall of Fame. The custom-designed footwear pays tribute to Phillies legends Tug McGraw, Roy Halladay, Darren Daulton, Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, and Harry Kalas. … With the Phillies facing a non-opener lefty starter for the first time since Aug. 3, Edmundo Sosa got a rare start in left field. … Backup catcher Rafael Marchan (knee) is scheduled to play nine innings Sunday in triple A, according to Mattingly, who said Marchan is “doing better.” … Lefty reliever Tanner Banks (forearm) is lined up for another bullpen session Sunday before possibly moving to live batting practice. … Andrew Painter (2-8, 6.27 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale at 2:10 p.m. ET Sunday against Twins righty Dean Kremer (2-4, 5.25).
MINNEAPOLIS — John Middleton got up from his seat in the front row behind the visitor’s dugout at Wrigley Field when a Phillies fan approached.
“You’ve got to believe!” the fan said.
“Listen, I believe,” the owner replied. “But we’ve got to play better.”
Middleton retells the story every so often because he knows now that it has a happy ending. But nobody foresaw a World Series run in the Phillies’ future on Sept. 29, 2022. Not after a sweep by the Cubs left them clutching a half-game lead for the last National League wild card with six games remaining.
So if you’re down on the Phillies now, think about how you felt then. They hadn’t been to the postseason in a decade, a drought that weighed heavy and negated all benefit of the doubt. Things seemed bleak.
Four years later, they’ve been through some stuff. And because the guts of the roster hasn’t changed, Kyle Schwarber believes they can lean on those experiences to guide them through the season’s final six weeks.
But the Phillies also entered the weekend here against the Twins with four losses in seven games. They were 11-15 since the All-Star break, a skid that took them from two games behind the division-leading Braves to a tie with the Diamondbacks for the last NL wild card.
Everything feels like it’s headed in the wrong direction.
The Phillies won Thursday, 7-1, over the Twins in the third iteration of MLB’s Field of Dreams Game in Dyersville, Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
And for the first time since 2022, it might come down to the final week of the regular season.
“I think we know what’s at stake,” Schwarber said. “We all know the writing on the wall. We know that, for where we need to go, that we need to step up in a lot of different ways, in a lot of different areas. And I feel like our team is ready for that.”
But now, it’s a 39-game sprint to the finish. The Phillies started 9-19 and got their manager fired. They went on a 45-24 heater under Don Mattingly to climb back into the race. And the latest stumble has them in a five-team cluster for two wild-card spots.
The Braves, Brewers, and Dodgers lead the NL East, Central, and West, respectively. The Cubs are comfortably atop the wild-card standings, with a seven-game lead through Friday.
Behind them, the Padres are surging. The Phillies are trying to ward off challenges from the Diamondbacks, Marlins and Cardinals. It didn’t help that they lost two of three in St. Louis this week.
Kyle Schwarber (right) got the Phillies started with a leadoff home run in the Field of Dreams Game on Thursday night in Iowa.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Entering the weekend, the Phillies had an 87.9% chance to make the playoffs, based on Baseball Prospectus’ PECOTA projection model. Baseball Reference had them at 61.2%. Fangraphs split the difference, at 73.9%. A good week at home in back-to-back series against the Marlins and Cardinals would go a long way to boosting those odds.
“We know the road ahead that we’re going to have, and we know that everyone’s going to be pulling on that same rope every single day and trying to find different ways to execute and win ballgames,” Schwarber said. “It doesn’t have to be one area every single day. I feel like that all different areas are going to be coming together at a really good time.”
Said Bryson Stott: “We know we have to win games, especially now and coming down the stretch. We’re in a tight race right now.”
It feels like the right time, then, to look closer at the race for the last two wild-card spots. Let’s dive in, with all numbers through Friday’s games.
Fernando Tatis Jr. has been hot since the All-Star break for the surging Padres.Gregory Bull
Padres
Record: 66-57, second place in NL West, second in wild card (one-game lead).
Strength of remaining schedule: .496
Playoff odds: 59% Fangraphs; 58% Baseball Prospectus; 51.1% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Sept. 25-27 vs. the Diamondbacks.
The big question: Will A.J. Preller’s go-for-it trade deadline spur San Diego’s third consecutive playoff berth and fourth in five years?
Ten days before the deadline, officials from multiple teams were still guessing about Preller’s approach. But the Padres went 8-1 against the Marlins, Rockies, and Giants, and allowed Preller to be Preller. Not only did the hyperaggressive executive hold star closer Mason Miller and reliever Adrián Morejón, but he sacrificed two of the organization’s top four prospects for rental starters Robbie Ray and Casey Mize, who joined Michael King and soon-to-return Joe Musgrove in an experienced rotation. The Padres came into the weekend having won six games in a row and 16 of 20.
Outlook: Remember the team that went 0-6 in a span of 11 days against the Phillies in late May and early June? Well, these aren’t your father’s Padres. For one thing, their stars have shined. Entering the weekend, Fernando Tatis Jr. had seven homers and a 1.002 OPS since the All-Star break; Jackson Merrill was batting .343 with a 1.032 OPS. Imagine if Manny Machado ever figures it out this season.
Starting pitchers Cristopher Sánchez (left) and Jesús Luzardo (right) would make the Phillies a formidable postseason team in a short series. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Phillies
Record: 65-58, second place in NL East, tied for third in wild card.
Strength of remaining schedule: .506
Playoff odds: 73.9% Fangraphs; 87.9% Baseball Prospectus; 61.2% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Aug. 31-Sept. 2, at Diamondbacks.
The big question: Will they run out of major league-quality pitching?
In the playoffs, with short series and frequent days off, the Phillies are a dangerous opponent because of their Three Aces — Cristopher Sánchez, Zack Wheeler, and Jesús Luzardo — and stud closer Jhoan Duran. That’s enough pitching to scare even the Dodgers. But it takes a stockpile of arms to make the playoffs. Dave Dombrowski came up empty at the deadline for a starter (from among a bountiful supply of available starters) and a setup reliever. And so, it’s hardly catastrophizing to wonder if Mattingly has enough trustworthy pitching at his disposal to navigate the next six weeks.
Outlook: At various times, Bryce Harper has used four words that may as well serve as the Phillies’ rallying cry: “Just get us in.” Never mind the divisional-round disappointments of the last two Octobers. The Phillies are actually built for the postseason, with a Jenga-tower roster that’s top heavy with stars. But getting there requires layers of depth on the roster and in the farm system. One injury, especially in the pitching ranks, could cause the whole thing to unravel. Keep an eye, too, on Harper and Schwarber, who have dealt with a sore knee and lower back, respectively.
Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo leads a high-powered offense in Arizona.Sue Ogrocki
Diamondbacks
Record: 65-58, third place in NL West, tied for third in the wild card.
The Diamondbacks were close to adding righty Clay Holmes to their rotation, but the Mets reportedly backed out over health concerns about one of the prospects in the deal. Arizona’s lone deadline move was for lefty-hitting outfielder Lars Nootbaar, and general manager Mike Hazen didn’t hide his frustration. “In the end, I could have kept adding,” he said in a radio interview. “I could have kept putting more in to get the deals done and it just didn’t happen.”
Outlook: Unless these Phillies finally win it all, they will be haunted by the 2023 NL Championship Series, when they lost Game 6 and 7 at home. Three years later, the Diamondbacks present many of the same challenges, notably a pesky offense led by Corbin Carroll, Geraldo Perdomo, Ketel Marte, and Gabriel Moreno. They added Nolan Arenado this year, and he’s pushing 20 homers. But the lineup may have to carry them given the rotation depth behind Eduardo Rodríguez. Rookie lefty Brandyn Garcia recently took over as closer and has been dominant.
Eury Pérez is one anchor of the Marlins’ starting rotation, along with veteran Sandy Alcantara.Marta Lavandier
Marlins
Record: 62-61, third place in the NL East, fifth in wild card (three games back)
Strength of remaining schedule: .510
Playoff odds: 11.4% Fangraphs; 10.8% Baseball Prospectus; 17.1% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Sept. 14-16 at Diamondbacks
The big question: Can they reel off another hot streak?
Since June 17, the Marlins won 16 of 20 games, lost 12 in a row, won six out of seven, lost four straight, and won four straight before losing Thursday and Friday. If they were an amusement park ride, they would leave their patrons nauseous. It’s probably the sign of a young team that’s not quite ready for primetime. And the competition will harden, especially in September. The Marlins’ last 15 games are against the Dodgers, Diamondbacks, Padres, Cubs, and Braves. How’s that for a gauntlet?
Outlook: The 12-game losing streak turned the Marlins from potential deadline buyers to fence-sitters who leaned toward selling. If they get on a roll, it will be because of the starting pitching, led by Sandy Alcantara and Eury Pérez. Max Meyer, an All-Star and emerging ace, has been sidelined with a neck strain since July 19. It’s unclear whether he will return before the end of the season. The Marlins traded catcher Liam Hicks to the Rays but held on to Otto Lopez and Xavier Edwards, the most underrated middle infield in the sport.
Alec Burleson and the Cardinals won three series in a row after they were sellers at the trade deadline.Scott Kane
Cardinals
Record: 61-61, third place in the NL Central, sixth in wild card (3½ games back)
Strength of remaining schedule: .499
Playoff odds: 8.6% Fangraphs; 4.2% Baseball Prospectus; 15.8% Baseball Reference.
Key series: Aug. 21-23 at Phillies
The big question: Can an accidental contender keep contending?
Not only didn’t the Cardinals plan on contending this season, but at the trade deadline, president of baseball operations Chaim Bloom acted as if they weren’t. In addition to sending Nootbaar to the Diamondbacks, Bloom packaged starter Dustin May and reliever JoJo Romero to the rival Brewers for prospects. Yet the Cardinals won three series in a row since the deadline, taking two of three from the Yankees, Rockies, and Phillies. If they’re still in the race after next weekend’s series in Philadelphia, maybe they will actually have staying power in September.
Outlook: The Cardinals have balance in the top half of the lineup, with rookie sensation JJ Wetherholt and Alec Burleson from the left side of the plate and Home Run Derby champ Jordan Walker and Iván Herrera from the right. And they’re calling up outfield prospect Joshua Báez, who is bringing 34 homers from triple A to the majors this weekend. But an unexpected strength has been the young starting pitchers, chiefly Andre Pallante, Kyle Leahy, and Michael McGreevy. Never heard of them? If the Cardinals are able to hang in there, they will be big reasons why.
DYERSVILLE, Iowa — They wandered in from the corn, paused for a beat at the right field warning track, gazed around, and kept walking. Soon, 26 — 26! — Hall of Famers joined them on the field.
But that was the performative, made-for-Netflix part.
If only everybody could have seen them hours earlier, before the cameras rolled here Thursday night. A few hundred feet from a refurbished 8,000-seat stadium, the Phillies stood on the original Field of Dreams, the one that sits alongside the white farmhouse and tilted red barn and was the set of the 1989 Oscar-nominated film that brings people to this little Iowa town in the first place.
Andrew Painter and his parents walked the outfield made famous by Costner and Liotta. Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott took pictures in front of the house. Brandon Marsh maneuvered between the cornstalks. Don Mattingly had a catch with his 11-year-old son, Louie, near his older son, Preston, the Phillies’ general manager.
And for a few minutes, nobody talked about back-to-back losses this week in St. Louis. Or five losses in eight games. Or a 10-15 record since the All-Star break. Or a playoff spot that is slipping through their fingers.
For a few minutes, they all smiled. They … relaxed.
“I don’t think our guys have a problem relaxing, honestly,” Mattingly said. “But I do think guys like coming to these kind of games. They do break up the monotony. You know, this is a game you don’t really forget.”
But it was a game nonetheless. And before the end of a long day that started in St. Louis and ended on a plane to Minneapolis, Kyle Schwarber homered twice — including a leadoff shot into the corn, as if it had been ordered up by a Hollywood script — in an easy, breezy 7-1 victory over the Twins.
Schwarber played a prominent role in the pregame script. He took the microphone and joined Twins star Byron Buxton in announcing the arrival of the Hall of Famers, who also entered through the corn.
Then, Schwarber stood alongside Mattingly on the first-base line and kibitzed about the legends in their midst.
“Molly’s out there and I’m like, ‘This guy could really hit,’” Mattingly said of Paul Molitor. “And he knew Hawk [Andre Dawson] from Chicago a little bit, and I knew him from Miami. A lot of the guys, I played with. So, it was interesting to be able to talk about that.”
Schwarber went further, calling it “once in a lifetime.” And once the unscripted part of the event began, he hit Twins starter Taj Bradley’s third pitch out to right field.
While Schwarber looked authentic in the Phillies’ gray, red, and navy 1939 throwback uniforms, Aaron Nola threw it back to a time when the Phillies relied on him atop their rotation. He’s more of a supporting actor now, but the Phillies still need him down the stretch.
And in five solid innings, Nola gave up only a homer to Luke Keaschall. Don’t look now, but he has a 2.91 ERA in his last four starts and has allowed three runs or less in seven of his last eight.
Schwarber made it 5-1 in the fourth inning with a two-run shot off a leaping Keaschall’s glove in right field. Marsh homered in the seventh.
Kyle Schwarber celebrates his two-run homer — his second of the game — with Brandon Marsh in the fourth inning on Thursday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
It all came at the end of a 14-game stretch without a day off. There were times when the bullpen was fried and the lineup didn’t produce runs. The Phillies woke up Thursday in a tie with the Diamondbacks for the last National League wild-card spot.
There was a sense, then, that this Iowa excursion — a “pop-in and pop-out,” as Mattingly called it — couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Actually, it was quite the opposite.
“Maybe the boys needed a little shock like today,” Marsh said. “Really didn’t get to get our routines in. Not complaining, but it was just a quick day, a lot of stuff going on. Maybe the boys needed it.
“We haven’t been playing, like J.T. [Realmuto] said, our brand of baseball that we talk about here. Hopefully today, that’s a little spark for us to turn it on for this push.”
Indeed, sometimes the best way to break out of a rut is to change the routine of a six-month grind. So, the Phillies flew into nearby Dubuque a few hours before the game and took a bus to the Field of Dreams site. They took it all in. The entire front office met them here, too, with owner John Middleton sitting behind home plate.
Even Nola walked around the field with Zack Wheeler and pitching coach Caleb Cotham before studying the scouting report on the Twins.
“We were talking about just how the experience was from when we got here, having the opportunity to go over to the movie set, walk around, see it,” Schwarber said. “We all watched the movie as kids growing up, so it’s really cool to be able to see exactly where it was.
“It’s a unique thing to do, and it’s something that you’re going to bring up to your kids. I’m going to watch that movie together with my kids one day, and to be able to say, ‘Hey, dad got to play there,’ or, ‘Dad got to, you see that house out there in this movie,’ it’ll be really cool.”
Brandon Marsh watches his seventh-inning two-run home run on Thursday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Wait until Schwarber tells his kids about hitting two homers in front of more than two dozen Hall of Famers.
And maybe even giving the skidding Phillies a jump-start.
“It’s kind of a little pinch, right? A little reality pinch,” Schwarber said. “Overall, just an unbelievable experience. And obviously we’re happy we walked away with a win.”
Tony Gwynn Jr. is a former major league outfielder and son of late Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn. Over the last two years, he got to know new Phillies second baseman Luis Arraez, whose contact skills at the plate often draw comparisons to Gwynn. Tony Jr. joined Phillies Extra to discuss his father, Arraez, and the bonds that connect them. Watch here.
You can also subscribe to the podcast version of Phillies Extra on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
In trading for Luis Arráez at the deadline, the Phillies displaced three-fourths of their infield with less than 50 games left in the season.
It was unprecedented.
Kevin Stocker, the Phillies’ pennant-winning shortstop in 1993 and now a member of the radio broadcast team, joined The Inquirer’s Phillies Extra podcast, to share his thoughts on all the moving parts — Bryson Stott to third base, Alec Bohm to first, and Bryce Harper to right field — as well as the one player who stayed put: shortstop Trea Turner.
Watch the full interview below and subscribe to the Phillies Extra podcaston Spotify or Apple Podcasts.
Q: What was your reaction when you heard the Phillies were trading for Luis Arráez, and that they were going to uproot three-quarters of the infield with less than 50 games left in the season?
A: I was happy because it was Luis Arráez. I like the kind of player that he is offensively, and very confused, I guess, onto the limitations he kind of put on if he was only going to play second. I got so many feelings about uprooting three guys in the middle of the season. It’s not like it’s new. We’ve seen this before with other guys. I think the most recent maybe Mookie Betts has moved. I remember back in the day, Robin Yount moved out to center because of an injury, but never three guys at once. So I guess if we were to take each spot as it is, for example, Bryson Stott having to move from second to third. I don’t think it’s going to affect Bryson as much, other than the fact … the middle infield, shortstop, and second base are your main spots that handle most of the baseballs. To me, Bryson Stott is probably the best fielder, definitely on this team. I know he’s not an All-Star. … He’s the captain of the infield, and now you’re moving him out of there. That was my first concern.
… He’s constantly directing traffic, calling timeout. He’s helping the pitcher. You’re going to lose some of that by bumping him over to third base. However, defensively, I think he’ll be fine. He’s played that side of the infield, super strong arm. I don’t worry about him over there at all.
Now you bump Bohm over to first. Now I think Alec has done tremendous things at third as far as making strides. He’s worked his tail off. He’s become pretty comfortable. I wouldn’t say he’s the best third baseman, anything like that. But he’s solid over there. At first base, to me, he’s got a lot to learn. I love the fact that he’s 6-5. If I was a shortstop throwing over there, I would want the tall first baseman. Fred McGriff was over there for me, and I loved that. So it’s going to take him a little while, I think, to kind of get better at first base.
So that is a little bit interesting to me. It’s going to take him a while. I’m not sure how that’s going to go. I will say that in the same breath, I love that Harper’s going back to right field. … and here’s why. One, he’s a hitter first. When he’s on that field, he’s thinking about hitting. When he goes to first base to play defense, he’s still thinking about hitting. I’ve played with a lot of guys in my career, and all the hitters were the same. The guys in the outfield, I would look out in left field, and I might see a guy out there who’s a hitter, and he’s in between pitches. He’s working on a swing, and I’m like, ‘Hey, man, we got to play defense.’
The infield demands so much focus all the time, and at first base, Bryce was good. He’s very athletic, but I think there was a lot of balls over there that he wasn’t comfortable maybe helping Trea out or helping the infielders out. Not that he was bad. I don’t know that he’s having the greatest year this year, but a couple years ago he was fine. I just think in right field to me, he will be a better hitter, better player, and happier. That’s just me. I haven’t seen him play a lot of right field, and I also think it takes care of the right field problem that the Phillies had. So you get Luis Arraez and people are like, ‘Why didn’t we go get a right fielder?’ Well, the Phillies did. They bumped Bryce out there and now they have one.
Trea Turner’s 18 errors are second in baseball only to the Nationals’ CJ Abrams (19) going into Monday’s games.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Q: What’s your take on leaving Trea Turner at shortstop and moving everyone else around?
A: I never saw Trea play outfield. I saw him play a little bit at second base. That was with the Dodgers for a short period of time, and I don’t think he was comfortable over there. But a lot of people want Trea to go to the outfield. So this is what I would say with that in the outfield. I’ve watched Trea long enough to know now that he is not the most aggressive player defensively. And what I mean by that is, for example, if he’s going back on a popup over his head, it’s pretty ginger when he goes back there. Whereas Bryson Stott just goes … running back. Trea doesn’t play that way. He’s a little bit more cautious.
So now everybody wants him to go to center. You do not want a cautious center fielder. That’ll totally mess up the corners. Now you got [Brandon] Marsh, and you got Harp over here. I’ve talked to [infield coach] Bobby [Dickerson] about this a lot. He’s worked so hard at shortstop. He’s not having that great year that he had last year, a much better year. I just don’t know if he’s better anywhere else on the field. And if you asked me to disrupt three guys, Turner would be the last one I would want to disrupt right now because that would just create a lot more problems in his head. And he’s starting to hit.
The other thing about Trea, he is just like Harper. He is a hitter first, defense second. When I played, I was defense all the way. I think Stott is defense first, and then kind of mixes in the offense. So as a hitter-first guy, you’re going to get some years that are good. You’re going to get some years that he struggles, and it’s been a challenge there. But I just don’t think it would have been a wise move for me to move him. I just think that would have created more problems in his head.
Kevin Stocker, seen here sliding into third base past the Expos’ Doug Strange for a triple in 1997, played five seasons with the Phillies.George Widman / AP
Q: How was shortstop different for you when you were 24, 25, vs. when you were 30? How does it get harder as you get a little older?
A: Well, there’s a couple of things. The most direct thing that gets tougher, whether you’re 30 or 33, you start to, I don’t want to say lose a step, but I needed to go out and take ground balls at full speed on Sunday morning when I did not want anything to do with that. I didn’t want to go take ground balls or BP. When I was younger, I was so jazzed. I was like, ‘I’m going to go to the park, and I would go get Bowa and say, ‘Let’s go take ground balls.’ … As you get older, you start to lose that edge. You start having to go out. … you’re just not getting in the same work, and so then what happens is you’re not quite playing … I call it playing on the edge. That’s where you want to be. So that’s one thing.
And then you just don’t recover as quickly. You just don’t. Like that dive [Turner] had the other day, it was very jarring. When you lay out and you land on your chest, it is a huge jarring. … that stuff gets tougher to recover from the next day. You’re rolling out of bed, like I got hit by a truck. So the amount of work — that’s why I admire Edmundo Sosa, who has all these positions. He’s out there every day. He has to in order to keep the legs and the body moving.
But I do remember that last year. I think I was even in camp with the Rockies. It was right before I retired, and I went out and played a little bit of shortstop. And I’m like, I’m not moving as fast as the other guy that’s 25, 26 to my left and right. So that’s one of the things I think is just keeping the edge to go out there and make sure you get the right amount of work in. I really admire the fact that Trea, at his age at 33, and the amount of time he’s played, hasn’t really lost a step. I don’t think he has. Sprinting and running. I think he’s guarded as times, like he’s not running full speed all the time, but I don’t know if he has to.
It was a day for the old-timers, more than 60, from all eras in Phillies history. They stood along the third-base line, heard their names called, and waved to the crowd, a nod to bygone glory.
Then, for the next 3½ hours, the Phillies applied their modern touches.
There were Schwarbombs (two, actually), dominance from one of the Three Aces, and yes, because these are the 2026 Phillies, a melt-like-ice-cream eighth inning in which a reliever vaporized a three-run lead.
Let the record show that the Phillies capped a sultry Sunday with two runs in the 12th inning of a sweep-averting 7-6 victory over the Blue Jays. Bryson Stott punched a game-tying single through the right side before Derek Hill drove in J.T. Realmuto with a bases-loaded single under diving shortstop Andrés Giménez.
“I think you just look at the box score, you take the win, and you move on,” said Jesús Luzardo, who piled up 12 strikeouts in seven innings before the Jays blooped Orion Kerkering to death in the eighth. “Obviously a lot of ups and downs. At times you might be frustrated with it. I think the last three days have been a real grind, and we take the win and just move on.”
In other words, it was imperfect.
But it’s what these Phillies do.
When they support Luzardo, Zack Wheeler, or Cristopher Sánchez by bopping balls over the fence, they win more often than they lose. It’s a decent recipe for October, if they get there. (They came into Sunday tied for the last National League wild card, but only one game ahead of the Padres.)
Also, assuming the bullpen doesn’t mess it up. The scar tissue from the last few Octobers remains, even if the cast of characters is largely different.
Now, almost three-quarters of the way into a 14-game stretch without a day off, the bullpen is on fumes. José Alvarado was unavailable Sunday after giving up two runs in the eighth inning the night before. Jonathan Bowlan, the most effective setup option, was down, too, interim manager Don Mattingly said.
And the bullpen is about to get even thinner. Caleb Kilian, acquired from the Giants at the trade deadline, tweaked a muscle in his left side on his second-to-last pitch of the 12th inning and will be evaluated Monday.
“I was kind of lobbying to go even farther,” said Luzardo, who has a 2.25 ERA and 119 strikeouts in 100 innings over his last 16 starts. “Our bullpen’s been grinding. They’ve been great for us all year. Obviously tough stretch. We haven’t really had an off-day lately. Just trying to take that load off them doing what we can as starters.”
So, never mind that Kerkering allowed seven runs in his previous nine appearances. He was the choice to inherit a 5-2 lead built on Kyle Schwarber’s first homers since July 18, a span of 78 plate appearances.
This time, Kerkering got two quick outs before allowing back-to-back singles, Ernie Clement’s RBI double off the left-field wall, and a two-run single from Giménez.
The exit velocities on those hits: 70.1, 70.6, 87, and 64 mph.
“It’s crazy what’s going on [in that inning],” Mattingly said. “But we hang in there. It’s nice for our club.”
Kyle Schwarber rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the third inning against the Blue Jays on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
Once the game lurched into extra innings, both teams had chances to win.
In the 10th, Alec Bohm was booed after popping up to the catcher with a runner on third base and one out. In the 11th, pinch-running Garrett Stubbs tagged up on a fly ball and got thrown out at the plate by Jays right fielder Nathan Lukes. The Phillies challenged, contending that catcher Alejandro Kirk blocked the plate, but the call stood.
After the Jays took the lead in the 12th, Realmuto set up the winning rally with his first bunt attempt in … checks notes … 11 years. But he got it down perfectly and reached on a single to move autorunner Luis Arraez to third base.
“I love that bunt,” Mattingly said. “Talking to [bench coach] Dusty [Wathan], when [Realmuto] hit outside, he would bunt first all the time. And he’s like, he felt like he was one of our better bunters. To not do it there felt uncomfortable.”
Stott singled in Arraez, and after the Jays loaded the bases with one out to set up a double play, Hill came through.
“I think we always need a win like this,” said Hill, who raised his arms and got sprayed with water after rounding first base. “It don’t matter if you’ve lost 10 in a row or won 10 in a row. I think this galvanizes the team. These gritty wins, they go a long way at the end.”
Maybe. We’ll see.
For now, the Phillies (63-56) packed up the harder-than-it-needed-to-be victory — and a 4-3 homestand — and headed out on a weeklong road trip to St. Louis and Minnesota, with a Thursday detour to the Field of Dreams Game against the Twins in Dyersville, Iowa.
Phillies alums line up on the field during the Alumni Weekend festivities at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
“It’s just trying to find a way to win a game at the end of the day,” Schwarber said. “I feel like that was kind of an example today. To keep fighting and find a way to finally get that job done, that’s what it’s about.”
And so, especially on days like this, when the ghosts of 1980 and 2008 are standing there in plain sight, the question is unavoidable: Years from now, will this vintage of Phillies be remembered as champions or close-but-no-cigars for former tobacco magnate owner John Middleton?
Let’s revisit that question in a few years, shall we?
All along, the Phillies figured they acquired their eighth-inning reliever in the offseason.
Maybe they really did.
It was supposed to be free agent Brad Keller. But after signing a two-year, $22 million contract, he had Tommy John elbow surgery on July 29 and will miss the rest of this season and most of next year.
Jonathan Bowlan, a lower-profile addition in December from the Kansas City Royals for lefty Matt Strahm, stepped into Keller’s role and has thrived. And after the Phillies didn’t land a setup reliever at the trade deadline, it might be Bowlan’s job to keep.
“I guess I don’t really look at it as that,” Bowlan said Sunday. “I mean, I’m a simple-minded person, pitcher, whatever you want to call it. I’m just trying to do my job to the best of my ability, no matter what the situation. That’s just kind of my mindset.”
Bowlan, a 29-year-old righty, has been effective with that uncomplicated approach — and a few tweaks to his repertoire since joining the Phillies.
After the trade, Bowlan got a call from pitching coach Caleb Cotham, who had two suggestions: throw more changeups, especially to left-handed hitters, and pick up a sweeper, the slider variant adopted by so many of Cotham’s Phillies pupils, notably Jesús Luzardo.
Bowlan said he began experimenting with the sweeper two weeks before spring training and was “a quick learner when it came to that pitch.” It has replaced his curveball as his primary offspeed pitch to right-handed hitters.
Phillies reliever Jonathan Bowlan has a 2.81 ERA in 44 appearances this season.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
But Bowlan needed help with lefties, who batted .288 and slugged .575 against him last season. Cotham didn’t alter his grip on the changeup. He just wanted him to throw it more often.
“The shapes have always been there for the changeup,” Bowlan said. “It’s just the consistency of throwing that’s been the biggest thing.”
He’s throwing his changeup nearly twice as often, which makes his fastball appear harder. But his heater has picked up actual speed, too, by almost 2 miles per hour. Last year, Bowlan’s fastball averaged 95.5 mph; this year, it’s up to a 97.2 mph.
Bowlan believes the changeup and sweeper have had an effect.
“Yes, for sure, that makes it play up a little more,” he said. “I would say 100%. Without having those other pitches, I mean, I can throw them to lefties or righties, both of them, and so that’s in the back of their mind as well. The ride [on the fastball] has always been there, so it probably helps even more since I have added that sweeper.”
Add it up, and Bowlan has a 2.81 ERA, 52 strikeouts, and only 10 walks in 41⅔ innings over 44 appearances. Eight of his last 15 have come in the eighth inning.
The late innings have been problematic for the Phillies in the postseason. They have star closer Jhoan Duran now, which surely helps. But carrying a lead from the starter to Duran was a problem for Strahm, David Robertson, and Orion Kerkering last season against the Dodgers. Jeff Hoffman struggled previously in 2024 and Craig Kimbrel in 2023.
“It’s nice to be in those situations,” said Bowlan, who has a 1.48 ERA in 27 appearances since the beginning of June. “I love those situations. The energy is different, especially here in Philly with these fans and all the support.
“And that’s just something that, maybe one day I will be that full-on leverage guy. But as of right now, I’m more of just, go out and attack these hitters and execute pitches, and if it falls into that leverage situation, then sure. But I do not look at it as like a leverage situation because I feel like that could complicate things or maybe speed things up for a little bit and make it a lot harder than it needs to be.”
But there is one new wrinkle to Bowlan’s view of his job when it comes in the eighth inning.
“You have that mindset of, I need to get the ball to Duran, whatever it takes,” Bowlan said. “That might be the minor switch in mindset. But that’s it. Nothing else. It’s not like, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to screw this up,’ you know? I’ve been through that. I’ve done that in the past. I’m over that. That’s not the mindset to have in those situations.”
Phillies first baseman Alec Bohm draws a walk against the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026 in Philadelphia.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Eighth wonder
Alec Bohm batted eighth for the first time since May 12 when he was in the midst of a deep early-season slump. This time, though, interim manager Don Mattingly said it had more to do with creating a better late-game matchup against the Jays.
“The biggest thing was splitting him and J.T. [Realmuto] a little further apart just to kind of mix the righties up,” said Mattingly, who elevated Realmuto to the No. 5 spot. “This just spreads it out a little bit. And J.T., for me, has been swinging the bat a little better.”
Bohm, who entered Sunday batting .224 with a .641 OPS, the worst totals of his career, had two hits, including an RBI single in the sixth inning.
Aaron Nola is on track to start Thursday night against the Minnesota Twins in the Field of Dreams Game in Iowa. Nola bruised his right knee on a comebacker to the mound in the sixth inning Saturday night. … At the end of a taxing week for the bullpen, the Phillies recalled righty Alan Rangel from triple A and optioned righty Chase Shugart, who threw 39 pitches Saturday night. … In recognition of their strikeout milestones Saturday night, Max Scherzer (now fourth all-time) and Nola (2,000 career) were invited to take photos with Steve Carlton (fourth all-time) as part of the pregame Alumni Weekend festivities. … After exiting his last start after four innings with a tight left hamstring, Andrew Painter (1-8, 6.48 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday night in St. Louis against Cardinals righty Hunter Dobbins (2-2, 3.60).
Chase Utley, famous for his pregame routine and laser-focused preparation, was just getting warmed up. So, he led with an apology.
“Zack,” he said. “Sorry, dude. I’ll pick this up.”
Out in the bullpen, Zack Wheeler kept on throwing. Rain shortened his last start to two innings and delayed this one by two hours. Normalcy was gone long before Utley gave his Phillies Wall of Fame speech Friday night.
Besides, things only got stranger once the game finally started. The Blue Jays accused Wheeler of taking his right foot off the rubber, leading to the ejection of their hitting coach and a two-word obscenity from Wheeler in the fourth inning of a 5-4 Phillies loss that went down to the final batter after the clock struck midnight.
“I’ve been pitching over there [on the first-base side of the rubber] forever, and I’m going to keep doing it, you know?” Wheeler said. “They’ve lost a lot of games over there, so they’re probably trying to pick some things up to complain about.”
Zing!
OK, let’s get this out of the way: The Phillies drew 10 walks — 10! — and lost after leaving the bases loaded twice in the last three innings. They had the tying run on third base — and reliever Tyler Rogers on the ropes — in the ninth after Luis Arraez’s 10-pitch walk. But Alec Bohm hit a first-pitch grounder for a force out at home before Brandon Marsh was thrown out by a half-step on a grounder to end the game.
The Phillies finished 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11. Kyle Schwarber, Trea Turner, and Bryce Harper struck out in succession with two runners on base in the fifth inning.
Brandon Marsh was thrown out by a half-step to end the game in the Phillies’ 5-4 loss Friday night.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“Yeah, just got to be better,” Harper said after the Phillies (62-55) slipped back into a tie for the final National League wild card. “I ain’t got much for you. It’s got to be better in those situations and get those guys in.”
Hey, it happens. Unlike, say, a team asking the home plate umpire to watch for a pitcher taking his foot off the rubber during his delivery.
But MLB contacted the Phillies a few weeks ago, interim manager Don Mattingly said, after Wheeler started a nationally televised Sunday night game on NBC. A camera angle appeared to show that Wheeler’s right foot disengaged from the rubber.
The Phillies disagreed and provided an overhead view that shows Wheeler’s foot does, in fact, stay on the rubber, albeit at the edge. Wheeler said his delivery has been the same for years. To his knowledge, nobody ever complained.
“Not until this year,” he said.
Or, more specifically, Friday night.
Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins was ejected for arguing that Zack Wheeler's foot was coming off the rubber. pic.twitter.com/YqBUigXT2j
Early in the game, Blue Jays manager John Schneider asked plate umpire John Tumpane between innings to look for the placement of Wheeler’s foot. Tumpane, in turn, spoke with Wheeler.
“John told me to make sure I stay on the rubber,” Wheeler said. “He kind of just said that MLB has me on a list.”
The Blue Jays pressed the issue again in the fourth inning, with Tumpane ejecting hitting coach David Popkins, who drew the ire of Wheeler.
“We were just getting information that his foot was off the rubber on the first base side, from video angles with that little step back from the windup,” Schneider said. “It’s hard to see in real time, but there was just an example of our hitting coach kind of protecting the players and me doing the same.”
It was all part of a bizarre start for Wheeler, who walked five batters, more than in any start since April 7, 2019, and threw 116 pitches, his highest total since May 6, 2021.
The Blue Jays led, 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2, and knocked out Wheeler with one out in the sixth inning after losing a 15-pitch duel with Nathan Lukes, who singled to load the bases. Lefty reliever Tim Mayza gave up a sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
“He did that to me last year,” Wheeler said of Lukes. “When we played there, he had a really long at-bat also. I figured I’d have one of those tonight with him. It just happened to be the last one. I was just trying to throw everything at him, but he put a good at-bat together.”
Wheeler threw only 32 pitches last Sunday in Baltimore before a rain delay forced him from the game. Surely, though, there was a toll from throwing more pitches than he had in five years.
“Tired,” Wheeler said. “I’m not going to lie, you know? It was hot and humid, and the air was just still. I still had juice in me there at the end, but, yeah, I was a little tired.”
Trailing, 5-2, in the ninth inning, the Phillies loaded the bases against Rogers on back-to-back walks and a catcher’s interference call that enabled Schwarber to reach. Bryson Stott scored from third when Turner hit into a fielder’s choice, and Harper punched an RBI single through the right side to cut the margin to 5-4.
Arraez’s drawn-out walk reloaded the bases, and Rogers had thrown 31 pitches when Bohm swung at a first-pitch sinker.
“I like it if he gets a hit and gets the ball in the air,” Mattingly said. “Obviously he’s not trying to hit a ground ball there. What you’re trying to do [is] you’re trying to get [Rogers] up a little bit. Obviously, we didn’t do that.”
