Kyle Schwarber’s two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning helped lift the Phillies to a 3-1 win over the Red Sox on Thursday at Fenway Park. Schwarber’s homer was his MLB-leading 18th of the season and sixth in his last seven games.

After a Trea Turner leadoff single, Schwarber found himself in a 3-1 count against left-handed reliever Tyler Samaniego, who hadn’t allowed a run this year. The Phillies designated hitter did not miss the 3-1 pitch, a cutter, from Samaniego and pulled it beyond the right-field wall for the lead.

Schwarber broke a lengthy scoreless drought for the Phillies. They hadn’t scored since the top of the third inning of Wednesday’s game; they’d scored just three runs in the first two games of the series before Schwarber went yard.

Turner’s single was his first hit of the night but was not his first important moment. With Jesús Luzardo in jams in the fifth and sixth innings, Turner used his glove to help out his starting pitcher.

Luzardo hit a batter and walked the next with two outs in the bottom of the fifth inning to bring up the top of the Red Sox batting order. He got leadoff hitter Jarren Duran to fly a ball into shallow left field, and it was tracked down by Turner to end the inning.

An inning later, with one out and Andrew Monasterio on third base, Willson Contreras sharply grounded a 3-2 changeup from Luzardo to the left side of the infield. Turner dove to his right, gloved the ball, looked at a halted Monasterio and threw the ball to first base for the second out of the inning. A routine groundout to Turner off the bat of Ceddanne Rafaela ended the sixth.

Luzardo’s night was done after that. It was a nice bounce-back performance — six scoreless innings — after his last start: three innings and six runs against the Rockies.

A successful challenge by interim manager Don Mattingly netted the Phillies their third run in the eighth. Bryson Stott was originally called out at first base after hitting a ground ball with two outs and the bases loaded. The review showed Stott beat the throw from third baseman Caleb Durbin, who held on to the ball for a split second before throwing to first because nobody was covering the bag at second base. Durbin had drifted toward where the shortstop usually plays to field the grounder by Stott. Throwing to second would’ve been the simpler play.

José Alvarado allowed a run in the bottom of the eighth, but Jhoan Duran pitched a scoreless, three-strikeout ninth to secure the win. It also secured Duran’s second save of the series.

The Phillies (21-23) have won all five series under Mattingly. They’ll now head to Pittsburgh for a three-game series this weekend against the Pirates.

Rookie starter Andrew Painter had a nice bounce back start against the Red Sox, but the Phillies were unable to win another low-scoring game at Fenway Park. They dropped the second game of the series to Boston by a final score of 3-1. 

Across five innings, Painter allowed just one run on four hits, walking none and striking out four. He threw 62 pitches, 46 of them for strikes. It was an encouraging start for the 23-year-old right-hander, who bounced back well from his previous start in which he allowed eight runs against the Athletics.

The Red Sox struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Shortstop Trevor Story hit a fastball from Painter over the Green Monster in left to put the Sox up, 1-0.  

In the top of the third, Justin Crawford tied things back up for the Phillies with a solo home run to straightaway center field. It was Crawford’s second home run of the season, and the only hit the Phillies would have through the game’s first five innings.

Red Sox starter Sonny Gray shut the Phillies lineup for six innings. Gray allowed just the one run on two hits, walking one and striking out six.

Painter, meanwhile, still struggled to miss bats with his fastball, but he limited the damage early and improved as the game went on. His slider in particular was a weapon against righties, getting three of his four strikeouts on the pitch. He retired the last seven batters he faced, including striking out the side in the fifth to end his night. 

The 1-1 tie held until the sixth inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Orion Kerkering entered in relief of Tanner Barks to face the right-handed hitting Ceddanne Rafaela, pinch-hitting for Masataka Yoshida. Rafaela turned on a 1-2 fastball from Kerkering, sending into the Green Monster bleachers for a go-ahead, two-run homer.

The Phillies were unable to come back from this 3-1 deficit. With the exception of a two-out Alec Bohm single in the seventh, Phillies hitters did not record a hit against the Boston bullpen. They made things interesting in the ninth, as Kyle Schwarber and the pinch-hitting Trea Turner worked walks against Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman, before completing a successful double steal to put the tying runs in scoring position with two outs. But Chapman then struck out Bohm, sealing the 3-1 loss.

The Phillies have scored just three runs through the first two games of this series. The Red Sox have scored four. The two teams will play the series rubber match Thursday night at Fenway.

Ranger Suárez gets the ball for Boston against his former team Thursday, while Jesús Luzardo starts for Philadelphia. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m. ET.

The Phillies’ bullpen entered Tuesday night extremely well-rested from an off day on Monday following a blowout on Sunday. From the jump, Zack Wheeler seemed intent on giving the group another night off.

Wheeler fired 7 1/3 innings of one-run ball to lead the Phillies to a 2-1 win over the Red Sox. He pitched into the eighth inning for the first time this year, even after a high-stress 26-pitch seventh.

That was possible because of what Wheeler did about an hour and a half before. Wheeler threw 16 pitches across the first three innings of the game. It was the fewest pitches a starter has thrown across a game’s first three innings since at least the turn of the century.

Further aided by an eight-toss fifth inning, Wheeler threw 87 pitches in total, allowing six hits, a run and no walks while striking out four. He has looked every bit like himself since returning from thoracic outlet syndrome, but Tuesday was arguably his best work yet.

The historic Fenway Park was the site of a little history for Kyle Schwarber, too. His first-inning solo homer, a 386-footer that just barely found its way into the bullpen beyond right field, gave him a five-game home run streak, tying seven players for the longest in Phillies history.

Brandon Marsh, MLB’s batting average leader, added to that figure (and his historically high BABIP) with a second-inning leadoff single, with Bryson Stott later doubling him home.

Wheeler induced double plays in the second and third innings and retired the Sox in order in the first, fifth and sixth. The seventh was where his night turned from ridiculously economical to just very economical. Ceddanne Rafaela blooped an RBI single to right with two outs, moving the tying run to third base. But a nice play by Trea Turner on a sharp Marcelo Mayer grounder kept him there.

The Red Sox again put the tying run 90 feet away in the eighth but again couldn’t cash in, this time against a seemingly revitalized José Alvarado. After working through a one-on, one-out situation on Tuesday, he’s allowed one hit and no runs on six strikeouts in his last 3 1/3 innings.

Jhoan Duran earned the save in his first high-leverage situation since returning from the injured list. Like the previous two innings, it wasn’t easy: The Red Sox put the tying run on second and the winning run at first with one out. But Duran struck out Rafaela and retired Mayer to end it.

It’s the Phillies’ 11th win in 14 games, their ninth win in 13 one-run games this year and Don Mattingly’s 900th win as a manager.

Outfielder Dylan Carlson is signing a minor league deal with the Phillies, per the club’s transaction log. He will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Carlson, a switch-hitting corner outfielder, was released by the Chicago Cubs on May 4. His best season was in 2021 with the St. Louis Cardinals, when he finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting. That season, he batted .266 with a .780 OPS.

He has struggled since leaving St. Louis. He was traded to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2024 deadline and spent some time in the majors with the Baltimore Orioles in 2025. He made the Cubs Opening Day roster this year.

Outfield depth is thin in the Phillies organization. Óscar Mercado was recently released, opening a spot for Carlson on the IronPigs’ roster. Infielder Christian Cairo has spent some time in left field. He is on the 40-man roster and could be a potential big league call-up. Steward Berroa, another switch-hitting outfielder, could be the next man up if there is an injury in center field. He is also on the 40-man roster and has played exclusively in center field during his time with the IronPigs.

Lehigh Valley announced a slew of roster moves today, including the signing of Carlson, Mercado’s release and right-handed pitcher Jean Cabrera’s demotion to Double-A Reading. IronPigs infielder Keaton Anthony is also beginning a rehab assignment on Tuesday with Clearwater. Anthony broke a bone in his foot during a Grapefruit League game in March.

PHILADELPHIA – Slowing down has helped Orion Kerkering get off to a fast start this season.

The Phillies bullpen isn’t getting the credit, but they have been a big part of the club’s 10-3 turnaround under interim manager Don Mattingly. The unit has shouldered a big burden with some starters in the rotation struggling to go deep into games. 

The bullpen has kept the Phillies in games. After Jesús Luzardo failed to get any of the first seven batters he faced in the third inning on Friday out, the bullpen came in and allowed only two hits from innings three through 10. 

Two scoreless innings each from Jonathan Bowlan and Tim Mayza paved the way for a five-run bottom of the eighth inning for the Phillies that forced extra innings. Kerkering came in to pitch with the ghost runner on second. He worked around a single and struck out Willi Castro on a well-executed sweeper in the zone. Kerkering was fired up after leaving the mound.

The next day, Kerkering finished off another strong collective effort from the bullpen after a short Aaron Nola start on Saturday. Mayza, Tanner Banks, Chase Shugart and Kerkering combined for 4 1/3 innings of no-hit ball and seven strikeouts in a 9-3 win over the Rockies. 

Kerkering’s run of clean outings stretches beyond the managerial change. After allowing two runs in his first game back from a hamstring strain, Kerkering has allowed only one earned run in his last 15 games. His last 11 appearances have been scoreless. 

The way he has done it is interesting. He’s not missing a ton of bats, but he has continued to limit hard contact at an elite rate. His hard hit rate of 18.5% is second in baseball behind Padres star closer Mason Miller’s 16%. He’s carrying only a 17.7% strikeout rate, but opposing batters are hitting .182 against him. 

Kerkering made mechanical adjustments heading into the Braves series against Atlanta in April, he said recently. Chief among them: Not rushing his pitching motion. It’s hard not to get sped up, especially when you’re a fast worker like Kerkering. But he believes he has found the right pace.  

“Just seeing that I was rushing a little bit last year and kind of learning those mechanics off,” Kerkering said. “Not tipping as much either, I think that helps too. So I think just mechanically, fixing a lot of it.” 

Kerkering has also added a fourth pitch, a splitter, to play off of his signature sweeper. He’s thrown it only six percent of the time, but it has its uses. On Friday against the Rockies, Kerkering threw one of his better splitters to the left-handed hitting Mickey Moniak.

Down in the count 2-1, Moniak was looking to barrel up something inside. Recognizing that, catcher J.T. Realmuto called for a splitter to break towards third base. Moniak chipped his bat while fouling off the pitch. He followed it up with a sinker in a similar spot for a fly out to shallow left field that kept the runner at third from scoring. 

If the sweeper is at the right velocity (87-88 mph), the splitter can tunnel well with it. Both pitches are meant to look the same coming out of Kerkering’s hand, with the sweeper moving towards the left-handed batters box and the splitter heading the opposite way. 

“If (the splitter) is 92 in between the sweeper going left and right, then it’s really hard to differentiate the two,” Kerkering said. “So I think that’s what helps a lot.” 

Still only 25, Kerkering is entering his third full season as a major league relief pitcher. Drafted in 2022, Kerkering quickly rose through the Phillies’ minor league system, debuting at the end of 2023 and contributing to the Phillies’ playoff run that year. With Jose Alvarado scheduled to become a free agent after this year, it’s possible Kerkering enters 2027 as the longest-tenured Phillies reliever. 

With any reliever, a good stretch run is typically followed by a humbling outing or two. There will be struggles and more adjustments to make. 

He’s already seen – and been through a lot – in his time with the Phillies. He’s been under a lot of scrutiny for the way last year ended, but so far, he’s having success as a big part of the revamped Phillies bullpen.

The Phillies begin a six-game road trip with three against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, where they will match up against a familiar face.

Ranger Suárez, the longtime Phillies pitcher who signed with Boston for five years, $130 million in the offseason, will get the ball for the Sox on Thursday against his former team.

Suárez is 2-2 with a 2.77 ERA in seven starts this season. His start in the series finale Thursday will be his first since he left a May 3 start with hamstring tightness. 

The Red Sox as a team this year had a similarly rough start to the Phillies. Despite high expectations following a postseason berth last season, Boston started the year 10-17, resulting in the firing of manager Alex Cora and five coaches. Since then, they have gone 7-6 under interim manager Chad Tracy, good for a 17-23 record overall. They currently sit in last place in the AL East. 

The Phillies, meanwhile, are 19-22, coming off a homestand in which they went 4-2 against the A’s and Rockies. They are currently in a three-way tie for second in the NL East, alongside Miami and Washington, and are nine games back of the first-place Atlanta Braves. 

When the two teams last faced each other in July 2025 at Citizens Bank Park, the Phillies took two out of three from Boston. Two games in that series went extra innings, including a 10-inning Phillies win and an 11-inning Red Sox victory.

All three night games will be broadcast locally. John Kruk will be in the television booth alongside play-by-play man Tom McCarthy.

Here’s when and where you can watch the series on TV:

• Tuesday, May 12 at 6:45 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Wednesday, May 13 at 6:45 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia
• Thursday, May 14 at 6:45 p.m. ET: NBC Sports Philadelphia

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — As the rippling effects of Rob Thomson’s firing continue to settle in, a familiar face is embracing his new spot at the helm of Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The IronPigs have found their new guy.

Chris “Tank” Adamson, who previously served as the IronPigs’ bench coach since 2024,  was given the keys to the squad on April 28 after former manager Anthony Contreras was elevated to the Phillies’ staff as their new third-base coach. With the Phillies deploying plenty of adjustments elsewhere, promoting someone who already knew the cadence of the clubhouse and players coming in and out allowed for an easy transition.

“It’s been great. It helps having some familiarity with the processes and the people that are already here,” Adamson said. “So I’ve made that transition fairly as easy as could be. Just very lucky for the people around.”

Adamson, 38, is in the midst of his sixth season with the Phillies organization. He previously managed High-A Jersey Shore in 2021 and the FCL Phillies in 2022 before returning as BlueClaws bench coach in 2023. Alongside his tenure with the Phillies, the Sydney, Australia, native has spent his minor league offseasons as manager of the Adelaide Giants of the Australian Baseball League since 2017, leading the team to three ABL championships in the past four years.

Nicknamed “Tank” for his lack of speed running the bases at 8 years old, Adamson has stuck with the moniker ever since. He shone at catcher for Division II Angelo State University from 2008 to 2010, receiving a Lone Star Conference all-tournament nod in his final season with the Rams. Adamson then returned to his native country in 2011, where he spent five years behind the dish and sparingly in the infield and outfield for Adelaide, then named the Bite. 

Adamson’s versatility from his playing years carried right into his role as IronPigs bench coach, as he found himself at the forefront of catching, outfield and infield drills, as well as throwing batting practice. Having a history at several different positions allowed Adamson to get a feel for managerial responsibilities before he even took the job. 

“Continue to develop guys individually and as a collective group, continue to grow,” Adamson said about his goals for the 2026 IronPigs. 

Lehigh Valley is 3-9 since Adamson took over, dropping series to both the Syracuse Mets and Buffalo Bisons. Over the 12-game stretch, the IronPigs’ offense went cold, slashing .206/.314/.609, and the team’s pitching staff sat at the bottom of the International League with a 7.46 ERA. It’s difficult to find long-term stability within position groups with multiple players making regular jumps between the minors and majors, but Adamson is more focused on getting his players ready for their opportunity in the big leagues.

“There’s always some additions and subtractions as you go on a season, particularly at this level,” he said. “But just continue to make sure that all of the guys know themselves intrinsically and they’re ready when their name’s called to go up to the big leagues.”

Contreras, on the other hand, leaves his chapter with the IronPigs as their longest-tenured manager, serving for five seasons with a record of 327-288, a .593 winning percentage. With the winningest manager in Lehigh Valley history heading to Philadelphia, Adamson has big shoes to fill, but he’s studied Contreras enough to know how to replicate his formula. 

“He’s a consummate professional in just the way he prepares on a daily basis,” Adamson said of Contreras. “I’ve learned a lot from him over the years. And you know, there’s not going to be too much change from what you see on the field. He set a really good foundation here, and we’re just going to continue to build.”

READING, Pa. — Right-hander Aaron Combs, a 24-year-old reliever, pitched for two Florida high schools, Inspiration Academy and IMG Academy, before graduating in 2020. He attended three colleges, medically redshirting as a freshman at Coastal Carolina before helping lead the College of Central Florida to the 2022 Junior College World Series and ultimately transferring to Tennessee for two years.

He’s now played for four minor-league affiliates of two big-league organizations since he was drafted in 2024. Combs is used to bouncing around, and that experience seems to be helping him on the mound in the minors.

“I think that definitely helps with all the unexpected,” Combs said last month. “I kind of just expect the unexpected.”

On New Year’s Day in 2025, Combs answered a phone call from a member of the White Sox organization. Less than six months prior, Chicago selected Combs in the eighth round of the amateur draft. The pitcher could not have predicted the message he received.

“It was a pretty normal call,” Combs said, “until he’s just like, ‘Yeah, we traded you.’ I mean, it was pretty crazy.”

The White Sox dealt Combs to the Phillies in exchange for veteran left-hander Tyler Gilbert after he was designated for assignment by Philadelphia. A starter in junior college but a reliever at Tennesse, Combs was placed in the rotation at High-A Jersey Shore last season. He missed time with a shoulder impingement and struggled with the role, attempting to “go six innings in the first inning, and that’s just not possible.”

“I had a lot of changes put on me last year,” Combs said. “Obviously, getting traded, like, almost immediately is not really expected for anybody. But I was super excited to get traded to the Phillies. And then being a starter, I was excited for that, too.”

The Phillies moved Combs back to the bullpen for 2026, and the results quickly followed. He posted three scoreless outings with the BlueClaws to start the year.

“I think it really helped me a lot,” Combs said. “Just comfortability, getting back to who I really am and knowing I can dominate as a reliever.”

Combs was promoted to Double-A Reading on April 21, much earlier than he would have expected. It was the latest stop on the whirlwind. Combs surrendered two runs in 1 2/3 innings in his first outing at the new level, but he’s made four shutout appearances since. Combs has a 1.86 ERA across 9 2/3 innings in eight total minor-league games.

He’s on board with being used in just about any relief situation, which is valuable for a young pitcher looking to climb the ranks. He can record more than three outs on a given night, or he can take down the ninth inning in a save situation. He’s done both roles dating back to college.

During the 2024 NCAA College World Series, Combs threw four scoreless innings out of the bullpen for Tennesse in a Game 2 victory over Texas A&M. The next day, he pitched the ninth inning of the deciding Game 3. Combs allowed two runs, but he held on to win the championship.

“I think that’s what makes me so good in the ‘pen, too, is knowing I have that experience and knowing that I can throw in front of 30,000 people,” Combs said. “I’m going to mess up. I mean, I’m sure you’ve seen the inning. It wasn’t exactly a clean inning. So I’ve had plenty of saves where it’s not a clean inning, but I know I can get through it no matter what happens.”

With so much change around him in the past few years, Combs has made it a point to not look too far ahead. He knows that being in Double-A feels “a lot closer” to the major leagues, but he doesn’t really want to think about it or talk about it. When things could be different at any second, it’s important to be present in the moment.

“I try to just be where my feet are and try to take care of business where I’m at,” Combs said, “because if I’m taking care of business where I’m at then that means I’ll hopefully get moved or whatever it is. So I’m just dealing with what I got in front of me.”

PHILADELPHIA — Brandon Marsh made the turn around first base, nodded his head and strolled back to the bag with his fourth single of the afternoon. Facing reliever Zach Agnos in the bottom of the eighth inning, the left-handed batter grounded a base hit up the middle to complete a 4-for-4 showing for the Phillies in a 6-0 win to secure a three-game series victory over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park.

Marsh has been playing some of the best baseball of his entire career so far this season. He extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games on Sunday. He now leads all qualified major leaguers in batting average at .353, playing in 37 of Philadelphia’s 41 games.

“That’s pretty freaking cool,” Marsh said. “I feel like what’s helped me a lot is just really being stubborn to the routine and the preparation.”

Marsh credited those around him for their part in his success. He’s talked to veteran teammates to prepare for opposing pitchers. He’s worked with coaches on the club’s hitting staff. “Everybody but me is helping,” Marsh said. “It’s been a lot of fun. Just got to keep it going.”

Last year, Marsh did not record a single hit in the month of April. He was placed on the injured list with a hamstring injury on April 20 and went out on a minor-league rehab assignment four days later. Players at Triple-A Lehigh Valley at the time, namely Garrett Stubbs and Christian Arroyo, helped Marsh regain his confidence. He’s been productive ever since returning to the big leagues on May 3, 2025, and he’s been one of the most dangerous bats in Philadelphia’s lineup in 2026.

“I try to forget about last year,” the 28-year-old Marsh said. “But I feel like it taught me a lot, and it’s helped me get to where we’re at today.”

Historically, Marsh has been a hitter with pretty extreme platoon splits and a liability against left-handed pitching. But this season, he’s crushing right-handers to the tune of a .950 OPS and put up a respectable .680 OPS in limited plate appearances against lefties. He’s earned recent chances to play against lefty starters over rookie center fielder Justin Crawford, as the Phillies only have so many short-side platoon options they can deploy at once.

Interim manager Don Mattingly has expressed faith in Marsh to hit both righties and lefties. He likes Marsh’s swing and all-fields approach, and he’s been a fan for a long time. Mattingly first got to see Marsh play as an Angels prospect in the Arizona Fall League in 2019. When he was the manager of the Marlins, the club tried to swing a trade that would’ve sent Marsh to Miami, Mattingly said. Ultimately, the Phillies acquired Marsh during the 2022 season, and he’s continued to develop.

Mattingly, one of baseball’s icons in the 1980s with a legendary lefty swing, believes that Marsh can keep it rolling.

“Well, if he can do it for the stretch that he’s in, there’s no reason that he can’t continue on,” Mattingly said. “I think this guy’s a good hitter.”

Sure, Marsh probably won’t be a .353 hitter for the rest of the season; his career-high average was .280 last year. But how much of it can he keep up?

Marsh has used the whole field his entire career, but he’s truly spraying the ball around the diamond this year. He’s pulling 33.7% of his batted balls, going up the middle on 33.7% and going the other way on 32.7%. That makes it hard for opposing defenses.

The outfielder is running a .413 batting average on balls in play this season, a number that would usually indicate unsustainable results. But Marsh has always had an absurdly high BABIP. His .375 career mark ranks second in big-league history among hitters with at least 2,000 plate appearances, sandwiched in between Ty Cobb (.383) and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson (.366).

Can Marsh explain why he has better fortune on balls in play than anyone since the start of the Great Depression?

“I don’t know,” Marsh said. “I’ve been talking with some of the guys about it. It just makes me think I strike out way too much.”

Luckily for Marsh, he’s cut his strikeout rate to a career-low 20%. He knows good things happen when the ball’s in play, and there’s no living player for which that rings truer. If he can keep the strikeouts away — which will be a big test — it will make a major difference.

“A lot of luck comes into play, for sure,” Marsh said. “But really just trying to hit the ball hard, forward, like Bryce (Harper) says. And whatever happens after that happens. I can’t control much after that. So really, just trying to hit the ball hard, forward against a lot of tough pitching and just let the baseball gods handle the rest.”

While Marsh has been a revelation and a breakout performer, it’s hardly been a one-man show for the Phillies, who have reached an 18-22 record after winning 10 of their first 13 games since Mattingly took over for the recently fired Rob Thomson.

Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez delivered seven shutout innings on Sunday to extend his scoreless-innings streak to a career-best 20 2/3. Slugger Kyle Schwarber is tied for the major-league lead in home runs with 16 and has homered in his last four games, hitting two on Sunday. Harper also homered on Sunday and has a .938 OPS.

But Marsh has certainly been a crucial contributor in his sixth big-league season.

“We knew what we had in house,” Marsh said. “We knew what type of team we were. We knew we’re an explosive team with really good pitching. We didn’t show that at the beginning of the year. And it’s nobody’s fault but ours. So it’s on us to turn it around and get to where we want to go. It’s a long hill we got to climb, but we’re built for it.”

The Phillies beat the Rockies, 6-0, on Sunday at Citizens Bank Park to extend their series win streak to four and to move to 10-3 under interim manager Don Mattingly.

Kyle Schwarber hit a pair of home runs in the first and second innings, giving him five in his last four games and 16 on the year. Starter Cristopher Sánchez provided much needed length, throwing seven shutout innings with seven strikeouts.

Schwarber’s solo shots were part of a five-run offensive effort by the Phillies in the first two innings. His first was the first in a pair of back-to-back homers with Bryce Harper. His second gave the Phillies a 5-0 lead and shortly put him atop MLB’s leaderboard (Aaron Judge also hit his 16th home run on Sunday).

The Phillies scored two other runs in the second inning before Schwarber’s second long ball. Bryson Stott scored on a throwing error by Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman. Alec Bohm, who picked up an RBI in the sixth inning, scored on a sacrifice fly by Trea Turner.

Across his seven innings, Sánchez ran into trouble twice, getting out of trouble twice. In the third inning, the Rockies started with back-to-back singles by Ezequiel Tovar and Jake McCarthy. But a lineout and back-to-back strikeouts of Tyler Freeman and Hunter Goodman kept Sánchez’s line scoreless.

The left-hander found himself in a jam four innings later after facing just 10 combined batters in innings four, five and six. A one-out single by Mickey Moniak and two-out single by Tovar put a pair of runners on with Sánchez at 99 pitches. On pitch No. 103, McCarthy lined a ball out to the right-center field gap, but it was tracked down by Adolis García to preserve Sánchez’s scoreless line and scoreless innings streak (20 2/3).

Sánchez’s efforts gave the Phillies’ bullpen some rest after a busy three days. Between Thursday and Saturday, none of Andrew Painter, Jesús Luzardo and Aaron Nola pitched more than 4 2/3 innings. Phillies relievers pitched more innings (17 2/3) than those three combined (11 1/3) during that time.

Jonathan Bowlan pitched the eighth and Jhoan Duran pitched the ninth to secure to the win.

Now 19-22, the Phillies will have Monday off before starting a three-game series on Tuesday in Boston against the Red Sox.

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper moved in to field a ground ball off the bat of his former teammate Mickey Moniak on Saturday night and stepped on the first-base bag to record the opening out of the game. That’s when the discomfort suddenly began to set in

The Phillies star suffered an ocular migraine, something that he deals with about three times a year, Harper told Phillies Nation on Sunday. This type of migraine only takes about an hour to subside for Harper, but it impairs his vision. He was removed from the game in the bottom of the first inning and replaced by rookie reserve Felix Reyes.

Harper said he felt better by the fourth inning of the Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies, but he obviously could not return at that point. He was back in the lineup for Sunday’s series finale at Citizens Bank Park and hit a home run in his first at-bat.

Down on the farm

Right-hander Alan Rangel was scheduled to start for the Triple-A Lehigh Valley IronPigs on Saturday at Coca-Cola Park. Instead, he pitched the final five innings of the club’s 9-7 loss to Buffalo out of the bullpen.

The Phillies organization wanted to keep their options open as they headed into the night. After short starts from Jesús Luzardo and Andrew Painter put a tax on the bullpen in the previous two games, the team wanted to wait and see how Aaron Nola fared on Saturday before allowing Rangel to take the mound. If Nola had gotten hurt or exited early, Rangel would have been needed in Philadelphia as a long reliever on Sunday.

“If Noles would have, like, got hit in the ankle with a line drive in the first and we got to go through our ‘pen,” interim manager Don Mattingly said, “then you would have wanted to be able to have some length the next day.”

Once Nola went deeper into his start, the Phillies sent Rangel out to pitch. Nola allowed three runs across 4 2/3 innings against the Rockies. Rangel surrendered three runs in five innings of relief.

“He was great,” IronPigs manager Chris Adamson said of Rangel. “He picked us up. It was obviously a different situation for him, having to come out of the ‘pen. But he adapted really well and saved us, which was huge. He’s been huge for us all year and continues to do so.”

Rangel has a 2.95 ERA in seven Triple-A outings this year. He’s had a handful of call-ups to the majors in the past two seasons when the Phillies have been in need of a long man. He’s a serviceable depth piece with a 2.57 ERA in 14 big-league innings. The team does not have many choices behind him.

Jean Cabrera is the one other Lehigh Valley starter on the 40-man roster, and he has a 9.32 ERA. The only IronPigs starter besides Rangel with an ERA below 5.27 is Connor Gillispie, but he was recently placed on the full-season injured list with an elbow issue. If the Phillies need a pitcher to come up and throw more than two innings, Rangel is the clear pick right now.

Staying in rotation

The Phillies do not play on Monday before heading to Boston for a three-game series at Fenway Park, but Mattingly won’t use the off day to adjust his rotation. The starters will stay in turn; Zack Wheeler will pitch Tuesday, Painter will start Wednesday and Luzardo will go on Thursday.

The Red Sox have not yet announced their starters for the series.

Notes

• Reliever Zach Pop (calf strain) threw a scoreless inning for the IronPigs in his first minor-league rehab appearance on Saturday.
• Kyle Schwarber hit a home run in the first inning on Sunday, making it the fourth game in a row with a homer for the Phillies slugger. It was the second time he’s reached that mark in his career.
• Brandon Marsh singled in the first inning on Sunday to extend his career-long hitting streak to 12 games.

— Phillies Nation’s IronPigs beat reporter Dan Sullivan contributed to this report.

PHILADELPHIA — Alec Bohm responded to two days off with two home runs.

The Phillies third baseman hit two solo home runs against Rockies starter Kyle Freeland in the Phillies’ 9-3 win on Saturday night at Citizens Bank Park. Both were pulled fly balls. Both had to feel good after a brutal slump to start the season.

Bohm entered the game with a .433 OPS. After homering twice in two at-bats, Bohm’s season OPS rose by 71 points to .504. That’s just how it goes in baseball.

“If you were going to draw it up, I guess that’s how you would draw it up,” Bohm said after the game.

It was Bohm’s first multi-home run game since April 19, 2024. He also doubled in his fourth at-bat. He entered the game with four extra-base hits all year. He had three on the night to increase his total to seven.

“Baseball is a hard game,” Bohm said. “It just kind of reinforces that the things I’m doing and things I’m working on are right.”

Bohm wasn’t the only Phillie who saw Freeland well. Kyle Schwarber hit his third home run in as many games. His three-run home run into the second deck of right field made it 4-1. Edmundo Sosa, making his first start in left field since April 8, 2025, drove in a run on an RBI single. He was replaced by Justin Crawford in the sixth. Sosa did not catch a single fly ball in left, but the first two fly balls came right to Brandon Marsh, who moved from center to left when Crawford entered the game.

Marsh extended his hitting streak to a career-high 11 games with a single in the eighth.

After going 0-for-6 in Friday’s game, Trea Turner went 4-for-5 with four singles. Per the radio broadcast, he is the first player in MLB to go hitless in six at-bats and record four hits the next day since Mookie Betts on June 14, 2017 as a member of the Red Sox against the Phillies.

Turner said he may have taken “350” swings yesterday. He did not swing a bat at all before Saturday night’s four-hit game.

“That’s how dumb this game is,” Turner said.

Aaron Nola labored through his start, allowing three earned runs over 4 2/3 innings. Interim manager Don Mattingly pulled Nola in the fifth to match up against platoon bat Troy Johnston. Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer opted to keep Johnston in the game. He grounded out against lefty Tim Mayza to end the inning with two runners stranded.

The Phillies bullpen allowed zero hits in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Orion Kerkering pitched a scoreless ninth to end it. He hasn’t allowed an earned run in 11 straight appearances. He has allowed only one earned run in his last 14 games.

The Phillies and Rockies will wrap up the series on Sunday. Left-hander Cristopher Sánchez will take the mound against right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano.

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies star first baseman Bryce Harper exited Saturday’s game against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park with a migraine, the home club announced.

Harper appeared in the field behind starting pitcher Aaron Nola for the top of the first, but he was replaced by reserve Felix Reyes when his No. 3 spot in the batting order came up in the next half-inning. The Phillies went on to win, 9-3, as third baseman Alec Bohm went 3-for-4 with two home runs and a double after sitting for two days amid a long slump.

The migraine seemed to have started suddenly, as the Phillies were not aware of Harper having any symptoms prior to the start of the game. Interim manager Don Mattingly said that Paul Buchheit, the team’s director of medical services and head athletic trainer, thought that Harper would be available on Sunday for the series finale against Colorado, but the club will have to wait and see for sure.

This is now the third migraine-related change the Phillies have had to make this season. Rookie pitcher Andrew Painter was scratched from a start last month with a migraine but improved enough to enter the game in the third inning; first-year outfielder Justin Crawford was taken out of the lineup for a game due to a migraine last weekend.

The two-time National League MVP Harper is batting .282 with nine home runs and a .929 OPS in 2026. He has not missed a game yet this season.

PHILADELPHIA — Edmundo Sosa’s one and only start in left field last season was a roller coaster. With the Phillies lacking a productive short-side platoon outfielder, they’re giving him another shot out there.

Sosa will make his first appearance in left field since April 2025 on Saturday night, batting fifth for Philadelphia against left-hander Kyle Freeland and the Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. He took balls in left field during the club’s early work on Friday afternoon, his first reps in the outfield of the year. Interim manager Don Mattingly observed from the warning track in left-center and deemed Sosa’s defense passable enough to play.

“Just watched him kind of run down balls,” Mattingly said. “I talked to Paco (Figueroa), our outfield (coach), and he felt comfortable with him. So I thought we might as well go for it and get started. It’s a way to kind of feel like we put the best guys on the field at least and give us some versatility out in left field to be able to mix and match with our lefties.”

In his lone start in left last season, Sosa robbed a home run, then had a miscommunication with center fielder Johan Rojas that allowed a fly ball to drop. He didn’t start in left field after that. There has been discussion about putting the utility infielder in the outfield for years, but it has never stuck outside of a handful of appearances.

Mattingly sounds willing to give Sosa some run, even if it might mean sacrificing a bit of defense in exchange for the presence of Sosa’s bat against lefties.

“I think it’s something we should at least give some time, right?” Mattingly said. “… So for me, you’re trying to put your best club out there, as far to get your best guys in the lineup. And you’re never going to be perfect, right? You want to do the best you can, play the best defense you can possibly play.”

Sosa has mostly platooned at second base with Bryson Stott, who has hit for extra bases of late and has spoken about wanting everyday chances. But Stott will be in there against the lefty, batting ninth on Saturday. The struggling Alec Bohm will also return to the lineup in the No. 8 hole after a two-day “reset.” Sosa played third base over Bohm on Thursday and Friday.

With Stott and Bohm both starting, Sosa will get a chance in left field. The 30-year-old veteran does not have his own outfielder’s glove, so he’ll borrow designated hitter Kyle Schwarber’s red and brown Wilson A2K with blue piping and the slugger’s full name stitched on the ring finger. Sosa did drills with Brandon Marsh on Saturday afternoon and commended his teammate for his pointers and positivity. He didn’t get a chance to talk to his good friend Adolis García during his pregame work, but he was sure the right fielder would have some advice about playing the outfield before first pitch.

“Honestly, if he doesn’t give me something today, I’ll just smack him in the head,” Sosa joked through a club interpreter.

The Phillies (17-22) have failed to find someone to succeed in the role that they’re now letting Sosa try. Otto Kemp opened the season as the team’s right-handed hitting option in left field, but he was swapped out for Felix Reyes after a poor start. Reyes hit a home run in his first plate appearance, but he’s hitting just .156 overall. While Sosa has never established himself as an outfielder, Reyes is not much of a defender either. The team will see if Sosa’s bat can separate him as a better short-side contributor at the position.

Because the Phillies lack a natural center fielder that hits right-handed on the roster, it’s impossible for them to both fully platoon Marsh, their regular left fielder, and hide rookie center fielder Justin Crawford from lefties without playing someone out of position. On Saturday, Marsh will slide over to center in place of Crawford and bat sixth against Freeland.

Lately, the Phillies have leaned toward sitting Crawford versus southpaws. Marsh is batting .333 on the season and picked up three hits off a lefty on Wednesday. Despite Marsh’s career .218 average versus left-handers, Mattingly likes his swing and believes “there’s no reason he can’t hit lefties.”

But the Phillies also have faith in Crawford to produce against lefties in the long run as well, even if he has just one hit off a left-handed pitcher this year. Mattingly will want to give all of Marsh, Crawford and Stott chances to face lefties, while also preventing them from being overexposed. If Sosa can hold his own in left field, it will allow the team to rotate their opportunities.

“With Sos out there, it gives me three spots,” Mattingly said. “It gives us Craw, Marsh and Stott to pick to give one guy a day off. A bad matchup, swing wise, it gives you a chance to change it up a little bit. So I think we’re just trying to maximize our lineup, be versatile from what we can do, things like that.”

In a season that has already had plenty of ups and downs, one of the most encouraging developments has been Brandon Marsh’s emergence as one of this Phillies squad’s best hitters.

He enters Saturday hitting .333/.368/.500 for the season, leading the team in hits with 42. These numbers are backed by a .388 batting average on balls in play, or BABIP, which might usually suggest a hitter has gotten lucky… unless that player is Marsh.

BABIP measures how often the balls put into play by a hitter result in hits, excluding other outcomes such as walks, strikeouts, and home runs. League-wide, BABIP rates stay fairly consistent over time, usually hovering around .300. In 2025, league BABIP was .291. So far in 2026, it is .290. A lucky hitter may reach a higher mark across a season, and an unlucky hitter may reach a lower mark, but over the course of a career, most players tend to level out not far from the average.

In this respect, as X user @TheWARmonger_ pointed out Tuesday, Brandon Marsh is not most players.

Among players with at least 2,000 PA, Marsh sports the second-highest career BABIP – not of all active hitters, but of all hitters ever. To be positioned atop the leaderboard between two all-time greats from a century ago in Ty Cobb and “Shoeless” Joe Jackson is an auspicious place for the Phillies outfielder. 

Through Friday, this career mark for Marsh has increased by another point, to .373. By comparison, the active hitter with the next-highest BABIP (min. 2,000 PA) is Detroit’s Riley Greene at .350.

So what explains Marsh’s historically great ability to translate batted balls into hits? The answer may be found in the contact he doesn’t make.

Marsh has been a very good offensive contributor throughout his career, particularly against right-handed pitching. But the main factor that has kept him from becoming a truly elite bat has been his strikeout rate. Among all players with at least 2,000 PA since 2021, Marsh has the highest strikeout percentage at 30.6%.

Of course, BABIP doesn’t take into account how often a player strikes out. It only cares about what happens when contact is made. And it is when he’s been able to make contact that Marsh’s abilities truly reveal themselves. 

Among players with at least 2,000 plate appearances since 2021, Marsh has the fifth-highest line-drive percentage at 24.1%. Line drives, as opposed to ground balls or fly balls, are the most likely type of batted ball to fall for a hit. 

And while his career average exit velocity has simply been very good, ranking 42nd out of 154 players since 2021 (min. 2,000 PA), he has been elite at avoiding weak contact. Marsh’s 8.6% soft contact rate since 2021 is second-lowest among 376 qualified hitters, behind only Aaron Judge’s 8.3% soft contact rate, and a full percentage point ahead of third-place Corey Seager (9.6%) and fourth-place Shohei Ohtani (9.8%). By limiting weak contact, Marsh ensures that the balls he puts into play are rarely easy outs for opposing defenses.

Put simply? When Brandon Marsh hits the ball, he is elite at making medium or hard contact. He is similarly elite at hitting line drives, which guarantees that balls fall for hits at a higher rate. He may swing and miss a lot, resulting in a lot of strikeouts, but that has been the trade-off for not making weak contact, which fielders could more easily turn into outs.

Except there’s one more detail to note: So far in 2026, Marsh isn’t striking out as much either. He’s still chasing pitches outside the zone a fair bit, as he always has, but he isn’t swinging and missing as often as previous years. As a result, his 2026 strikeout rate sits at 19.1%. As opposed to the near-worst in the league marks of seasons past, his strikeout rate this year is now middle-of-the-pack among qualified hitters, at 69th-best out of 177. This rate would be by far the best of his career, beating out his previous single-season low of 25.9% last year.

All the evidence points to one conclusion: What we’re seeing from Brandon Marsh is no fluke. He has always been immensely skilled at turning contact into base hits – historically so. And if he’s found a way to limit his strikeouts without sacrificing the quality of his swings, as seems to be the case so far this season, then there’s no reason to believe we won’t continue to see this new level of performance from the Phillies outfielder.