With 50 games remaining in the regular season, Kyle Schwarber is entering the National League MVP conversation.
Fresh off his latest offensive masterpiece, Schwarber hopes to lead the Philadelphia Phillies to another win over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday.
In the series opener on Monday, Schwarber hit a two-run homer early in the contest and then belted a grand slam to cap an eight-run sixth inning as the hosts prevailed 13-3. He now leads the NL in homers (40) and RBIs (94), and his .975 OPS ranks second behind Shohei Ohtani’s .978.
“He’s had a great year,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said of Schwarber. “He really has — the home runs, the RBIs, the big hits he’s had for us, the on-base (percentage). He’s had a great year. … I can understand why everybody loves him, because I do, too.”
Four other Philadelphia players homered in the Monday contest: Bryce Harper, Harrison Bader, Edmundo Sosa and Weston Wilson. In all, the power display helped the Phillies win for the fourth time in six games.
Meanwhile, the Orioles have lost four of their past five outings. They received home runs from Tyler O’Neill and Jordan Westburg early in the Monday matchup, but starter Cade Povich and three relievers combined to allow 12 unanswered runs to close out the contest.
“I thought we competed well the first five innings,” said Tony Mansolino, Baltimore’s interim manager. “Once Povich came out of the game — he threw the ball incredibly well — but once he came out of the game, we just weren’t able to give our hitters a chance to have competitive at-bats.”
On Tuesday, Philadelphia will turn to Taijuan Walker (3-5, 3.82 ERA), who had a 3.80 ERA in five appearances (four starts) during July but did not have a win to show for it. He gave up two runs and seven hits in five innings in a no-decision against the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday.
“He was up in the zone,” Thomson said after the Phillies lost that game 9-3. “He gave up a lot of (hard hits) today, but he worked through it. … He gave us a chance to win the ballgame.”
Walker has made 10 career starts against Baltimore, posting a 4-2 record with a 2.77 ERA.
He will be opposed by Dean Kremer (8-7, 4.27), who has made one lifetime start against the Phillies. Back in 2023, the right-hander limited Philadelphia to one run and three hits over seven innings.
More recently, Kremer allowed three runs and six hits over five innings in a no-decision against the Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday. After the Orioles dropped that contest 9-8, Mansolino noted the effect of the heat on both starting pitchers, including Kremer, who has not absorbed a loss in any of his past eight starts.
“He was pretty red-faced as he came in,” Mansolino said, “but he was fighting it just a tick today.”
Kremer certainly could use some offensive support from the likes of O’Neill, who has homered in five of his past eight games, and Westburg, who is 13-for-31 (.419) over his past seven games.
–Field Level Media
