In three weeks, in the same sold-out ballpark, in front of another national television audience, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper will probably be in the All-Star Game, maybe even the Home Run Derby.
But they won’t put on a show like this.
They can’t possibly.
Can they?
Whatever happens, take this to the bank: The Phillies’ stars put on dueling talent shows for the ages Saturday night at the Bank in a 15-3 demolition of the rival Mets. And, no, that isn’t mouth-agape hyperbole over feats we can’t believe we just saw.
Start with Schwarber, who became the fourth player in Phillies history (dating to 1883, by the way) to hit two homers in one inning, golfing twin second-deckers to right field in an eight-run third.
Oh, but it didn’t stop raining Schwarbombs. He skied a third that sneaked around the right-field foul pole in the seventh to raise his majors-leading total to 28 homers.
Not to be outdone, Harper hit for the cycle for the first time in a career that has spanned 15 seasons and will eventually take him to the Hall of Fame. And it took him only four at-bats. He homered in the first inning, doubled and singled in the third, and tripled in the fifth.
And just in case you doubted that Harper was aware of the situation, or that it didn’t mean something to him, he reached third base in only 11.8 seconds, losing his helmet halfway between first and second. When he slid into third base, he raised both arms skyward, then pumped his right arm and doffed his helmet.
It was only the 11th time in 144 seasons that a Phillies player hit for the cycle.
The Phillies already had a 3-0 lead when Schwarber teed off on a low changeup from Mets starter Freddy Peralta to open the third inning. It was 8-0 when Schwarber’s turn came up again and he blasted a sinker from lefty reliever Cionel Pérez into the same neighborhood where the first homer landed.
And with his 456- and 457-footers, Schwarber nudged Andy Seminick (1949), Von Hayes (1985), and Trea Turner (2023) on the list of Phillies to homer twice in one inning.
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Harper came to the plate in the fifth inning with Turner and Schwarber on base and two out. He drove a fastball from Tobias Myers to center field and ran like his hair was on fire. It was the first cycle by a Phillies player since Weston Wilson in 2024 and only the fifth in the last 63 years.
Schwarber and Harper had four hits apiece. Schwarber drove in six runs; Harper knocked in three.
The Phillies pounded a total of 17 hits, with every player in the lineup picking up at least one except rookie right fielder Gabriel Rincones Jr.
Amid all the Schwarber/Harper history, Cristopher Sánchez quietly pitched another gem, allowing one run on five hits in six innings to lower his ERA to 1.80. It’s the second-best mark in the National League behind the Brewers’ Jacob Misiorowski (1.45).
The Phillies evened the series with the Mets, setting up a Sunday night rubber game with Zack Wheeler on the mound. They are 8-2 in Wheeler’s starts this season.
Father’s Day will hit a little differently this year for Don and Preston Mattingly. After years of working in baseball for different teams, often on opposite sides of the country, they are together with the Phillies as the first father-and-son manager-and-GM combination ever. Preston Mattingly joins Phillies Extra to discuss working with his dad, as well as the Phillies’ decision to demote Andrew Painter to the minors and their preparations for the trade deadline. Watch here.
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