After weeks and weeks of total misery, baseball in South Philly felt special again, as the Phillies won four of six at home — including four in a row and a 3-1 series win over the Nationals.
Though it ended with a whimper of a 6-4 defeat, the Phillies still gave fans a shot in the arm and brought some momentum back to the ballpark, doing it with pizzazz and excitement. There were more than a few incredible achievements for Phillies players at home this week.
Here’s how we’d choose to rank the most memorable of these:
1. Schwarberfest Salami
For the second straight game against the Marlins to open the homestand (following their opening loss to Miami), the Phils fell behind, relenting three early runs to the Fish. Behind 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth, one swing of the bat from Kyle Schwarber turned things around.
The grand slam was Schwarber’s 121st homer as a Phillie. He has the most homers in team history through three seasons.
2. Mr. Wilson’s cycle
Remember that time Michael Lorenzen randomly threw a no-hitter? Or the time Eric Bruntlett randomly turned a solo triple play? Or when infielder Wilson Valdez earned an actual win on the mound? Yeah, it felt like that on Thursday.
In the opening game of the Nationals series, reserve outfielder and journeyman Weston Wilson hit a single, a double, a triple, and a home run in the same game — which is a cycle, and the first one hit at Citizens Bank Park since David Bell in 2004.
3. Best dramatic actor: Trea Turner
Another unforgettable moment came in Game 2 against Washington, after the Phillies and Carlos Estévez blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth.
Tied at two-apiece, the Phillies rallied to give Trea Turner an opportunity with the bases loaded to avoid extra innings. He blasted a “single” to deep center and earned himself a Gatorade bath from the daycare kids.
*It’s better in Spanish.
4. Sánchez goes the distance
Cristopher Sánchez is back to looking like an ace — and the timing couldn’t be better. On Saturday, he was the only Phillies pitcher who took the mound, posting a two-hit complete game (one of the two hits was a solo shot) for his second full outing of the season.
The defense was stellar behind him making almost every play, as he leaned on weakly hit balls with just four strikeouts in his ninth win of the season.
5. One at a time
The Phillies won Game 3 of their four-game set against the Nationals thanks in part to being extremely patient with their bats. With the score tied at 1-1 in the sixth inning — on the heels of a handful of missed opportunities to pull ahead at the plate, the Phillies used four RBI singles to take a 5-1 lead.
Philly is sneaky good at collecting base hits this year. They have the fourth most of all 30 teams this season, while failing to crack the top 7 in doubles, triples, or homers.
6. Back-to-back
The vibe was “eh” as the Phillies trailed 4-2 Sunday afternoon. And then with two swings, the Phillies tied it up. The daycare kids came to play:
It’s nice to see the two struggling lefties make an impact like that. The Phillies went on to see their bullpen blow yet another winning opportunity as Matt Strahm and Jeff Hoffman each relented runs in the loss.
7. Alec lives on base
Another noteworthy nugget from the finale against Washington is that Alec Bohm, playing first base in the finale, hit a single in the first inning to extend his career-best on-base streak to 35 games, the longest active streak in the majors. Chase Utley had a 35-game streak in 2006 and Odubel Herrera had a 41-gamer in 2018.
Bohm is a sneaky MVP candidate — though he doesn’t really have a chance of challenging Shohei Ohtani for the award at the end of the year. A look at some of his offensive numbers:
| Category | Stat | NL Rank |
| Offensive WAR | 3.8 | 9th |
| Batting average | .296 | 4th |
| Doubles | 43 | 1st |
| RBI | 85 | 3rd |
| Extra base hits | 58 | 3rd |
The Phillies were barely breathing a few days ago when they made it home from a 4-6 west coast trip, and a stretch of games that went all the way back to before the All-Star break with them only losing series.
The Phils desperately needed to take advantage of a lapse in a brutal schedule and they did, capturing a must-win homestand. They’ll hit the road again this week after a day off Monday, first to Atlanta to face the contending Braves and then to Kansas City to face the also contending Royals.
When they do return home next week, they’ll host the Astros in a 2022 World Series rematch and then the Braves again. They needed these wins against two NL East bottom feeders first.