Schwarber lifts Phillies to 6-4 comeback win over Machado and Padres
Kyle Schwarber hits an RBI single against the San Diego Padres during the eighth inning of game one of a double header at Citizens Bank Park on July 15, 2023 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Phillies defeated the Padres 6-4. (Photo by Rich Schultz/ ((Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images))
PHILADELPHIA - Kyle Schwarber hit a tying home run in the seventh inning and then drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 6-4 victory over Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of a doubleheader on Saturday.
Machado had put San Diego in front 5-4 with his 300th career home run, a solo shot in the eighth.
Bryce Harper tied it in the eighth with a pinch-hit RBI infield single to help the Phillies snap a three-game losing streak.
Trent Grisham also homered for the Padres, who were going for their season-best fourth win in a row.
Philadelphia right-hander Taijuan Walker (10-3, 4.02 ERA) is scheduled to face Padres lefty Ryan Weathers (1-5, 6.08) in the nightcap.
Machado’s homer off Matt Strahm (6-3) to lead off the eighth put the Padres up 4-3. The 31-year-old slugger has been red hot this month, recording his majors-leading eighth home run in July and his 17th on the season. He has gone deep in three straight games, with four homers over that stretch, and has six in his last six games.
The Phillies went ahead in the bottom of the frame against Tim Hill (1-3). Bryson Stott reached on third baseman Rougned Odor’s fielding error to start the inning, went to third on Brandon Marsh’s single to right and scored on Harper’s slowly hit grounder to short.
Schwarber followed with a single to center, scoring Marsh, to make it 5-4 before Trea Turner’s RBI single added another run.
Craig Kimbrel, in his first appearance since earning the save in the National League’s 3-2 All-Star game victory over American League on Tuesday night, finished it in the ninth for his 15th save in as many tries. Kimbrel got Machado to pop out to short right field with runners on first and second to end the game.
After the Phillies tied it at 3 in the seventh on Schwarber’s 440-foot dinger into the Philadelphia bullpen in center field off Nick Martinez, Machado led off the eighth by crushing a 2-2, 94-mph fastball from Strahm into the second deck in left field.
Grisham staked the Padres to a 3-0 lead with a three-run shot to right-center off Phillies starter Ranger Suárez in the second. Philadelphia probably should’ve been out of the inning a batter earlier, but shortstop Turner tried a behind-the-back flip to second base rather than throwing to first for the final out on Matthew Batten’s slowly hit grounder. An unexpecting Edmundo Sosa wasn’t able to hold onto the ball to force out Gary Sánchez.
Padres starter Blake Snell, in the final year of a five-year, $50 million deal, continued his stellar season. The lefty lowered his ERA to 2.71 while striking out seven, walking three and surrendering three hits in five scoreless innings. Snell was lifted after 82 pitches on a muggy, 90-degree afternoon.
The Phillies got within a run on Marsh’s opposite-field, two-run double off Steven Wilson in the sixth.
HARPER UPDATE
Phillies slugger Harper was not in the starting lineup for the opener. The two-time NL MVP is in the midst of a career-worst homerless drought. Harper has not gone deep since May 25, a span of 165 plate appearances.
He was sidelined in the final game before the All-Star break after being hit by a pitch on his right elbow, on which he had Tommy John surgery in the offseason. Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said before Friday’s game that Harper could be back in the field for the first time since April 2022, playing first base instead of his customary outfield position, but then said afterward that Harper would not play first against San Diego.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Padres: Fernando Tatis Jr. was drilled on the buttocks by a 98-mph fastball from Yunior Marte in the seventh but stayed in the game.
UP NEXT
The teams wrap up their four-game series on Sunday, when Padres RHP Seth Lugo (3-4, 3.39) opposes Phillies ace RHP Zack Wheeler (7-4, 4.05).