Glorious comeback has Phillies believing again: ‘When you get confident, anything can happen’ – Phillies Nation
Bryce Harper had four hits, including a game-tying double in the ninth inning. (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire)
PITTSBURGH — For the second Friday in a row, the Phillies erased a 6-0 deficit and forced extra innings. The Phillies have mastered the art of the absurd comeback over the years. This one, an 11-9 win in 10 innings on a Friday night on the other side of Pennsylvania, may have topped them all.
With their former ace walking off the mound after another rough outing, beaten and battered, interim manager Don Mattingly turned to Bryce Harper. “We’re going to come back,” Mattingly told the group gathered at the mound.
“And I believed him,” Harper said after the game. Mattingly was right.
It turns out the Phillies are never out of a game when Kyle Schwarber is on a legendary tear. Schwarber has nine home runs in eight games, including two on Friday night to reach the 20 home run mark. He is on pace for over 70 home runs. It probably won’t happen, but there is a belief right now that anything is possible when Schwarber walks up to the plate.
“Schwarber is one of those guys that you think if you make pitches, you get him out,” Mattingly said. “And if you make mistakes, he makes you pay. So you feel like you can go after him a little bit if you make the right pitch. But he makes you pay when you make mistakes.”
Somehow, Schwarber is still getting pitches to hit despite being the hottest hitter on the planet. When he walked up to the plate representing the go-ahead run in the ninth, there was another absurd thought: Would Pirates manager Don Kelly hold up four fingers, intentionally walking Schwarber to bring home a run? Gregory Soto nibbled against Schwarber anyway, walking him on four pitches.
But another big threat loomed in the on-deck circle. It’s why pitching around Schwarber isn’t always a viable option.
“We’ve got another monster behind him that throws up four (hits) tonight and is always dangerous,” Mattingly said about Harper. “So it’s not like you can just, you know, bypass him and think Harper’s not going to hurt you.”
On a 2-1 pitch, Harper crushed a slider from Soto to deep right center. Harper watched, thinking he had his first grand slam since May 2024. The ball was inches away from clearing the fence. He had to settle for a game-tying double.
“Didn’t happen, it’s all good,” Harper said.
The Phillies, after getting off to an embarrassing 9-19 start that cost manager Rob Thomson his job, are just one win away from getting back to .500 for the first time since April 13. They have won 13 of 17. Not everything has gone perfectly.
The starting pitching, led by Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler, have turned things around after a terrible month of April, though Nola is still a concern. They have the least productive collection of right-handed hitters in the sport. The defense has been better of late, but they still have their sloppy moments, as evidenced by the two errors in the sixth inning.
But the Phillies are being led, not carried, by their stars. The bullpen, after Nola’s tough outing, allowed only one earned run over 6 1/3 innings to give the offense a chance to win the game. Two former Pirates turned Phillies offseason minor league signings, Tim Mayza and Chase Shugart, recorded ten outs. Jonathan Bowlan worked around a couple hits, but kept the Pirates off the board in the sixth.
José Alvarado, who has struggled all year against left-handed hitters, struck out all of the hitters from the left side he faced. Orion Kerkering, after surrendering the lead in his last appearance against Boston, shut the door in the bottom of the 11th.
Brandon Marsh, no longer the league leader in batting average, doubled for his first hit of the game to give his team the lead in the 11th. Rafael Marchan, with only four hits all season and no at-bats in the last eight days, singled to drive in two more.
Teammates cheered Marchan, that day’s backup to the backup catcher, as he entered the clubhouse postgame.
“I love the way that this guy comes in every single day,” Schwarber said. “First one in the cage. He works, keeps wanting to get better. He goes out there and has one of the bigger hits for us.”
There is confidence in every corner of the Phillies clubhouse. Everyone, no matter what your stat line says, is feeling it.
“It’s not anywhere near complete, right?” Schwarber said.
There is still so much left to be said about the 2026 Phillies. But this particular snapshot in time is glorious compared to when it was at its worst just a few weeks ago.
“When you get confident, anything can happen,” Harper said. “Good things can happen. I think we’re there.”
