Clemens' break shows it all comes up Phillies in AZ

PHOENIX -- Kody Clemens still could not believe his luck Tuesday. He thought he had ripped a two-out, two-run home run down the right-field line in the ninth inning a night earlier to give the Phillies the lead against Arizona at Chase Field.

He raced around the bases with a huge smile on his face.

What a moment.

But a replay review quickly showed the ball was foul. Clemens stepped back into the batter’s box and struck out to end the game. But at least Clemens got an RBI back in the third inning of Tuesday night’s 15-3 victory over Arizona. He hit a fly ball to shallow left field with runners at the corners and one out. D-backs left fielder Corbin Carroll caught the ball for the second out, forcing J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm to retreat to third and first base, respectively.

Carroll still had the ball in his glove when he casually turned and walked back to retrieve his cap behind him. He thought the inning was over.

Realmuto recognized an opportunity. He raced home before Carroll realized what happened.

“I saw his hat fall off and I knew he was going back to grab it,” Realmuto said. “When I saw him turn around I was like, ‘I’ve got a shot here.’ So I just took off. I said to Kody, ‘That’s a little payback from what happened to you yesterday. It’s not quite worth the two-run homer that would have saved the game, but it was the baseball gods paying you back a little bit.’”

“I needed that,” Clemens said, smiling.

Phillies ace Zack Wheeler handled the D-backs, allowing one run in six innings. He has allowed one earned run in 13 1/3 innings in his last two starts and has allowed no more than one earned run in three of his last four.

He seems to be finding his groove.

“I just want to keep it going,” Wheeler said. “Consistency is the biggest thing.”

The same is true for the Phillies’ offense. It has scored seven or more runs in three consecutive games. It’s the first time that has happened since a three-game streak from Aug. 5-7, 2022.

Kyle Schwarber almost hit a first-pitch home run to start the game, but the ball hooked just left of the left-field foul pole. Four pitches later, he smashed a 450-foot home run to right field.

It was the Phillies’ longest homer of the season and Schwarber’s fifth homer this month. He has a .974 OPS in June.

Trea Turner singled twice, walked twice and stole a couple of bases. He is batting .387 with a 1.070 OPS in his last eight games. Nick Castellanos doubled twice to score three runs. He has been playing like an All-Star all season.

“Hitting is contagious, man,” Castellanos said. “The more guys on base, the more pressure pitches that pitchers have to make. We have a lot of really good hitters on this team. When everybody is relaxed and doing their job that they’re supposed to do, we have a chance to score a lot of runs.”

Bryce Harper singled, stole a base and scored in the third. He is batting .299 with an .837 OPS since his return from Tommy John surgery on May 2. Realmuto -- who hit for the cycle on Monday -- doubled, tripled, scored twice and stole a base. He is batting .324 with a 1.202 OPS in his last nine games. Bryson Stott had three hits, including a homer. He is batting .348 with an .866 OPS in his last 18. Clemens, who had a walk-off hit last week against Detroit, doubled and had that gift sacrifice fly.

Brandon Marsh singled twice with a walk, too.

It was the first time everybody in the lineup got a hit in a game since a 14-3 victory over the Reds on April 16. The eight extra-base hits were a season high.

“I feel like we’re coming into our stride,” Realmuto said. “This is the offense that we envisioned when this team was put together.”