Red Sox.
BOSTON — On the 11th day of the month, Mr. June finally arrived.
With a pair of home runs from Kyle Schwarber, the Phillies wasted no time getting back in the win column, beating the Red Sox, 4-1, at Fenway Park.
Maybe all the travel the past two weeks twisted his internal clock, but Schwarber, who was 5-for-28 heading into Tuesday’s series opener, had his 27th multi-home run game of his career.
His first, which came on the first pitch of the night, was a doozy. Schwarber crushed a 444-foot no-doubter to right center field on a fastball right down the middle of the plate. It’s the farthest ball he’s hit this season.
“It was huge, first pitch of the game,” manager Rob Thomson said postgame. “Kind of puts everybody on their heels and that’s what he does. He’s been swinging the bat pretty good. Average is going up, on-base is going up, it’s good to see him put the ball in the seats a couple times tonight.”
The second was just a smidge to the right of the previous, landing in the first row of seats behind the bullpen.
There are few things in life more consistent than Schwarber heating up in June, though none come to mind at the moment.
Oh, here’s one, Zack Wheeler.
After giving up a run in the first inning for the first time through his 14 starts, Wheeler locked in. He went seven innings, allowed three hits, just the one run and punched out four.
“His stuff was excellent,” Thomson said. “Command, first-pitch strikes, seemed like he was ahead all night. I thought he was fantastic.”
It was also a costly night of errors for the Red Sox and the Phillies found a way to capitalize on every single one.
With Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott in scoring position, David Dahl grounded out to first in what should have ended the fourth inning. Instead, first baseman Dominic Smith missed a catch that allowed both runs to score.
Since we’re talking about consistency, let’s touch on Matt Strahm.
After striking out the side in the eighth inning, Strahm has now gone 26 and two-third innings without allowing an earned run. His ERA has dropped to 0.67.
Trea Turner goes down, Edmundo Sosa steps up. Brandon Marsh goes down, Dahl steps up. And now, J.T. Realmuto goes down and Garrett Stubbs steps up.
Prior to the start of Tuesday’s game, the Phillies placed Realmuto on the 10-day injured list. Realmuto will undergo right knee meniscectomy surgery Wednesday in Philadelphia and is expected to miss “about a month.”
Where Realmuto left off defensively, Stubbs picked it right up. He caught Connor Wong stealing second with a perfect throw to Sosa. It’s the fourth time Stubbs has thrown a runner out at second this season. Stubbs also singled on the night.
The Phillies will see a familiar face tomorrow as Nick Pivetta (3-4, 3.40 ERA) takes the mound for the Red Sox. He’ll face Cristopher Sanchez (3-3, 2.71 ERA).
Then, for Thursday’s series finale, it’ll be Aaron Nola (8-2, 2.77 ERA) facing off against Tanner Houck (6-5, 1.91 ERA).
