Trea on finale win: 'Kind of weird, but a lot of fun'

PHILADELPHIA -- The Phillies spent much of Sunday afternoon looking for the big hit with runners in scoring position that has eluded them for much of the season.

As it turns out, they didn't need one.

The Phils took full advantage of a series of Mets miscues in the eighth inning to rally for a 7-6 win at Citizens Bank Park. The victory secured the Phillies' first series win over their archrival since 2021.

Trailing by three entering the eighth, Philadelphia sent 10 batters to the plate and scored four runs despite getting only one hit -- a J.T. Realmuto single with one on and nobody out.

From there, the Phillies scored one run on an error-aided fielder’s choice, one on a bases-loaded walk and two on back-to-back bases-loaded hit-by-pitches.

“I'm not sure if I've seen that before -- I may have, I don't know,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson, who’s been involved in professional baseball since 1985. “But the chances are unlikely.”

“I've seen some big rallies,” said Bryson Stott, who worked a walk to load the bases with nobody out. “But I've never seen [it] with one hit like that.”

So how did it happen?

After loading the bases on Realmuto’s single sandwiched between two walks, Alec Bohm hit what appeared to be a tailor-made double play ball. Instead, Mets third baseman Brett Baty bobbled the ball before firing wide to second base -- allowing a run to score and everyone to advance safely.

The Phillies then scored three more runs on a bases-loaded walk by Brandon Marsh and back-to-back bases-loaded hit-by-pitches by Kyle Schwarber and Trea Turner.

“I don’t really care how we win as long as we win,” Turner said. “Crazy one, kind of weird, but a lot of fun.”

Turner was at the center of nearly everything for the Phillies on Sunday. Long before taking a 2-2 offering off his backside to force in the go-ahead run, Turner hit a solo shot in the first inning, added an RBI single in the third and stole a pair of bases in the fifth. He scored after the throw on his second stolen base leaked into left field.

Turner’s all-around effort marked his fourth career game with a home run and multiple stolen bases -- the most among active players.

“He had a great game,” Thomson said. “Trea showed how he can score a run on his own.”

Turner also showed what he can do with a fine-tuned leg kick.

Asked about his 107.6 mph homer -- his hardest-hit ball since May 10 and his hardest-hit home run since Aug. 1 of last season -- Turner started to answer before hitting coach Kevin Long, who just so happened to be walking past the media scrum in the clubhouse, playfully interjected.

“You hadn’t hit one that hard all year,” Long said, before joking that Turner should have also let the first pitch in his decisive at-bat -- one that he leaned away from -- hit him.

“Well, when you want to leg kick all year and your hitting coach won’t help you leg kick, it’s hard to hit the ball hard,” Turner fired back. “And then, you get the leg kick right.”

The exchange was all in jest, as Turner has obviously been using variations of his typical leg kick all season -- as he did in his two-homer game on June 5.

But Turner hadn't homered since that two-homer day, and he found himself mired in a 4-for-26 (.154) slump without an extra-base hit over his previous seven games following Saturday's 4-2 loss.

“We stayed late yesterday and hit a little bit, trying to find that leg kick,” Turner said. “It’s something I’ve done my whole career.”

It was only 20-30 minutes in the cage Saturday night, but Turner seems confident he found something.

“That first at-bat,” he said of his home run, “that’s the kind of swing we’ve been looking for all year.”

The Phillies are certainly hoping Turner truly unlocked something in his swing, because winning their first series against New York in two seasons required a fair bit of help from the opposition.

They won Friday night’s contest on the back of two sloppy Mets misplays. And on Sunday, the Phils stole a one-run victory despite going 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position, including 0-for-4 during that wild eighth inning. Philadelphia has a .344 slugging percentage with runners in scoring position this season. That ranks ahead of only the Royals, who are 22-56.

But on Sunday, it didn’t matter.

“That one was a little wild,” Turner said. “That’s baseball. It’s a hard game. Sometimes, you get lucky and it goes your way.”