Schwarber lifts Phillies to 6-4 comeback win over Machado and Padres

PHILADELPHIA -- — Kyle Schwarber hit a tying home run in the seventh inning and drove in the go-ahead run with a single in the eighth, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied for a 6-4 victory over Manny Machado and the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of a doubleheader Saturday.

Machado had put San Diego in front 4-3 with his 300th home run, a solo shot in the eighth.

Bryce Harper then tied it in the eighth with a pinch-hit RBI infield single to help the Phillies snap a three-game losing streak.

“We're going to keep locking it in and keep grinding to the end,” Schwarber said.

Trent Grisham also homered for the Padres, who were going for their season-best fourth win in a row.

“A lot of good things happened, and a lot of bad things happened,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said.

Philadelphia right-hander Taijuan Walker (10-3, 4.02 ERA) faces Padres lefty Ryan Weathers (1-5, 6.08) in the nightcap.

Machado’s homer off Matt Strahm (6-3) to lead off the eighth put the Padres up 4-3. The 31-year-old slugger has been red hot this month, recording his majors-leading eighth home run in July and his 17th on the season. He has gone deep in three straight games, with four homers over that stretch, and has six in his last six games.

“What he's done in the last couple of weeks has been pretty torrid,” Melvin said.

The Phillies went ahead in the bottom of the frame against Tim Hill (1-3). Bryson Stott reached on third baseman Rougned Odor’s fielding error to start the inning, went to third on Brandon Marsh’s single to right and scored on Harper’s grounder to short.

Schwarber followed with a single to center, scoring Marsh, to make it 5-4 before Trea Turner’s RBI single added another run.

Craig Kimbrel, in his first appearance since earning the save in the National League’s 3-2 All-Star game victory over American League on Tuesday night, threw the ninth for his 15th save in as many tries. Kimbrel got Machado to pop out to short right field with runners on first and second to end the game.

“They just keep fighting,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It's the quality of character in the clubhouse. They never give up.”

After the Phillies tied it at 3 in the seventh on Schwarber’s 440-foot drive over to center off Nick Martinez, Machado hit a 94 mph fastball from Strahm into the second deck in left field.

Grisham staked the Padres to a 3-0 lead with a three-run shot off Ranger Suárez in the second. Philadelphia probably should’ve been out of the inning a batter earlier, but shortstop Turner tried a behind-the-back flip to second base rather than throwing to first for the final out on Matthew Batten’s grounder. An unexpecting Edmundo Sosa wasn’t able to hold onto the ball to force out Gary Sánchez.

Padres starter Blake Snell, in the final season of a $50 million, five-year contract, lowered his ERA to 2.71 while striking out seven, walking three and surrendering three hits in five scoreless innings. Snell was lifted after 82 pitches on a muggy, 90-degree afternoon.

Philadelphia got within a run on Marsh’s opposite-field, two-run double to left off Steven Wilson in the sixth.

HARPER UPDATE

Phillies slugger Harper was not in the starting lineup for the opener but was set to bat fourth as the designated hitter in the nightcap. The two-time NL MVP is in a career-worst homerless drought. Harper has not gone deep since May 25, a span of 165 plate appearances.

He was sidelined in the final game before the All-Star break after being hit by a pitch on his right elbow, on which he had offseason Tommy John surgery. Thomson said before Friday’s game that Harper could be back in the field for the first time since April 2022, playing first base instead of his customary outfield position, but then said afterward that Harper would not play first against San Diego.

ROJAS REEL

Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas made a highlight-reel catch in the first inning in his big league debut, crashing into the wall to snare Fernando Tatis Jr.'s drive to right-center and then firing to first to double off Ha-Seong Kim.

“It was incredible,” Rojas said through an interpreter. “Pretty special moment.”

TRAINER’S ROOM

Padres: Tatis was drilled on the buttocks by a 98-mph fastball from Yunior Marte in the seventh but stayed in the game.

UP NEXT

The teams wrap up their four-game series on Sunday, when Padres RHP Seth Lugo (3-4, 3.39) opposes Phillies ace RHP Zack Wheeler (7-4, 4.05).

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