Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies will be coming off a wild night as they attempt to complete a three-game sweep of the Athletics on Sunday afternoon at West Sacramento, Calif.
The Phillies fought for a 9-6, 11-inning victory over the A’s on Saturday night to increase their season-best winning streak to nine games. It’s their best stretch since winning 11 straight in September 2010.
Schwarber lined a tiebreaking two-run double in the 11th and scored an insurance run later in the frame. Earlier, he hit his 18th homer of the campaign to tie Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees for the major league lead.
Schwarber’s approach with the game on the line was simple.
“Just go up there and compete,” Schwarber said after his three-RBI night helped his team improve its major league-best record to 34-18. “You’ve been in so many different situations before and you just have to make sure you keep your cool.”
The Athletics won’t be so chill when they report to the ballpark after dropping their 11th straight game to match their longest skid of this century. They also lost 11 in a row in 2023 as the Oakland A’s.
“This thing is going to turn around at some point,” Athletics closer Mason Miller said. “We’re going to be ready to get the ball rolling the other way when it does.”
The A’s took a 6-5 lead in the eighth inning on Brent Rooker’s homer. They were two outs away from their first win since May 13 when Philadelphia’s Max Kepler hit a tying homer off Miller.
The Phillies escaped more danger in the 10th inning when the Athletics loaded the bases with none out.
Rooker hit a broken-bat fly to shallow center and Brandon Marsh threw out pinch-runner Logan Davidson at the plate. The bases were loaded again with two outs and Shea Langeliers flew out to left.
“To make that accurate throw there in that situation, that was the biggest thing,” Schwarber said of Marsh’s defensive excellence. “He came up firing and made sure he was accurate and gave J.T. (Realmuto) a chance. That was a heck of a tag. That was a very big momentum play for us.”
The Phillies have won 13 of their past 14 road games entering the finale of a seven-game road trip.
Rooker’s homer was a reminder of the way he worked over Phillies’ pitching last season in Philadelphia. Rooker went 7-for-12 with three homers and seven RBIs in that three-game series.
Lawrence Butler had four homers and eight RBIs in that same series as the Athletics took two of three. He had two doubles in four at-bats on Saturday.
Nick Kurtz exited after hurting his left hip flexor in the 10th inning. Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said he will have more details on Sunday.
Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo (5-0, 1.95 ERA) is aiming to win his third straight outing on Sunday.
Luzardo allowed one run in both of his last two efforts. He gave up five hits over seven innings while beating the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on May 14 and then dominated the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday when he allowed two hits and struck out 10 in six innings of the Phillies’ 7-4 victory.
Luzardo pitched for the Athletics from 2019-21. He faced his former teammates in 2022 as a member of the Miami Marlins and received a no-decision while giving up two runs and three hits over seven innings in a 3-2 Oakland victory.
Athletics right-hander Gunnar Hoglund (1-2, 5.06) is making his fifth big league start and will attempt to end a two-game losing streak in which he has served up five homers.
The 25-year-old’s latest setback came against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday when he allowed five runs and six hits over 4 2/3 innings in a 7-5 loss.
–Field Level Media
