On Pattison's countdown of the 15 best Phillies games of 2024 continues with a wild comeback victory over the Blue Jays.
15) April 16, 2024 - Ranger Suarez throws a complete game shutout
14) September 14, 2024 - The Cal Stevenson game
13) May 18, 2024 - Kody Clemens ninth-inning home run
12) July 9, 2024 - Phillies clobber Dodgers, 10-1, in first game of series sweep
11) June 18, 2024 - Nick Castellanos walk-off double against Padres
10) June 24, 2024 - Phillies turn 1-3-5 triple play
9) April 30, 2024 - Castellanos and Rojas hit ninth-inning bombs against Angels
8) June 3, 2024 - Rhys Hoskins returns to Philly as a Brewer
7) October 6, 2024 - Nick Castellanos NLDS walk-off single
6) September 3, 2024 - Kyle Schwarber hits three home runs in wild comeback win over Toronto
Phillies / Blue Jays games always serve as a painful reminder of the 1993 World Series for fans of a certain age.
This particular Toronto game, with a 10-9 final score and 34 combined hits, really felt straight out of '93. And fittingly, the player of the game was the 1993-iest member of the 2024 Phils: Kyle Schwarber.
On the road again#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/mv58gkPg4l
Schwarber set the tone for the evening with his 12th leadoff home run of the season.
most leadoff HR in a season, Phillies history:
2024 Kyle Schwarber: 12
2023 Kyle Schwarber: 11
2007 Jimmy Rollins: 9
2022 Kyle Schwarber: 7
MLB single-season record: 2003 Alfonso Soriano, 13 https://t.co/kdNLWY58bS
But the Phillies couldn't have a wild comeback without first falling behind.
Thank you for your service, Tyler Phillips: 0.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, 2 HR.
This was Phillips' final big-league game of the year. After throwing a complete game shutout on July 27 against Cleveland, the rookie righthander allowed 23 runs (all earned) in 11.2 innings over four more starts.
Barger BLAST 🚀
It's a SIX-run first! pic.twitter.com/iepHvNOVTl
The Phils started chipping away at the five-run deficit with a couple runs in the third. And in the sixth, Schwarber struck again.
2nd Schwarbomb of the night, 30th of the season.
Phillies are chipping away… pic.twitter.com/5UcmBmvMkk
The score remained 6-4 Jays until Taijuan Walker served up a deflating two-run home run to Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. in the bottom of the sixth. But the Fightins were undeterred, and scored three in the seventh to cut the Jays' lead to 8-7. They even played some small ball.
Let’s give some love to a bases-loaded walk. Good baseball, more of this please. pic.twitter.com/MmlCexrHIr
But big ball was the theme of the day. And Schwarber is the king of it. In the ninth:
¡SCHWARBERBOMB NUMERO TRES!
¡CAMPANAZOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!@Philliesbeisbol @OscarBudejen @ElGringoMalo365 @Angelibo0507 pic.twitter.com/WbeKLNGhhC
Doing something for the first time since Mike Schmidt in 1976 is the Phillies equivalent of the "first time since Tungston Arm O'Doyle."
Phillies had gone 48 years without someone having 3 HR, 4 hits and 6 RBIs in a game.
That is, until Kyle Schwarber did it twice in the last month.
5 hits, 3 HR, 6 RBI tonight
4 hits, 3 HR, 7 RBI on Aug. 7
Before that ...
Michael Jack Schmidt, 5 hits, 4 HR, 8 RBI on 4/17/76
Want more Phillies history? Schwarber's three-HR game even landed on the 18th anniversary of Ryan Howard's iconic three-HR game from 2006.
9-3-2006- Ryan Howard adds to his unreal 2006 campaign with a 3 homer game for the ages @2008Philz pic.twitter.com/EnyKh1lPtf
The Phils improved to 82-56 with the win and led the division by seven games. Life was good.
THE FIGHTINS pic.twitter.com/KD1rizhq8Y
For an encore, Schwarber led off the next day's victory with a home run. That one, his 13th of the year, tied Alfonso Soriano's MLB record for leadoff HRs in a season. (Schwarber would finish the season with 15.)
This is getting ridiculous#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/thp089TvUI
The Phillies left Toronto after a quick two-game sweep. It didn't erase the pain of 1993 and nothing ever will. But for a couple days in September, the memories didn't hurt quite as bad.
