Trea Turner overcame an early defensive miscue that cost the Phillies three runs and Kyle Schwarber's bat perked up after another week-long slump in an exciting, come-from-behind 6-4 win over the Padres.
The Phillies scored all six of their runs in the final three innings to wake up a huge crowd late in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park. Schwarber tied the game with a 440-foot solo home run in the seventh, then after Manny Machado put San Diego ahead with a bomb of his own, Bryce Harper, Schwarber, and Turner delivered consecutive RBI singles to turn a one-run deficit into a two-run advantage.
Schwarber and Turner reached base in five of their 10 plate appearances. That hasn't been the case much this season. The Phillies entered the day with the lowest on-base percentage (.292) in the majors from the 1-2 spots in their batting order and last in the National League in batting average, slugging percentage, RBI and strikeouts.
The win in Game 1 Saturday was just the fifth time in the Phillies' last 75 games that Schwarber and Turner each had a multi-hit game.
Get top local stories in Philly delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC Philadelphia's News Headlines newsletter.
"When Casty, Harper, J.T. come up in (RBI) situations, that's when they thrive. It creates constant pressure," Schwarber said of the importance of him and Turner setting the table up top more often in the second half.
Turner contributed to the Padres' three-run second inning with a bad decision on a routine grounder to short with two outs and slow-footed Gary Sanchez on first. He charged the ball and fielded it as he was crossing the second base bag. He had the runner at first by a ton — Matthew Batten was no more than 50 to 55 percent down the first base line. Turner also had enough time to make a normal flip to second base but instead chose a fancier backhand flip that Edmundo Sosa wasn't expecting and dropped.
The next batter, Trent Grisham, popped a three-run homer.
Philadelphia Phillies
Complete coverage of the Fightin' Phils and their MLB rivals from NBC Sports Philadelphia.
Turner took the blame for the play afterward.
"After watching the replay, I want to do it over," he told the 94 WIP radio broadcast. "I felt like I ran a long ways to get that short hop and then I thought Batten was a pretty fast runner. I thought it was going to be bang-bang at first. When I caught the ball, I kind of saw Gary still in front of me, so I figured I had some more time at second than at first.
"I didn't really want to flip it behind my back, but I feel like that was my only way to get it to Sosa. If I had it back, watching the replay, I think I had a little bit more time at first. But that's baseball. You have to make those decisions split-second and live with it. We're just glad we overcame that mistake."
The Phillies' comeback began with poor defense from Juan Soto for a second straight night. Soto has the most selective eye in the game and, offensively, is on a Hall of Fame trajectory early in his career, but he is an adventure in left field and there's no reason to think that changes as he ages. With two outs and two on in the sixth inning, Brandon Marsh hit a ball to left field that Soto didn't read correctly. It went just over his head for a two-run double in a game the Phillies trailed by three.
In the ninth inning Friday, Soto's muffed catch was a two-base error that opened the door for a potential Phillies rally and forced the Padres to use closer Josh Hader.
While Turner and Soto cost their teams runs, Phillies center fielder Johan Rojas made the defensive play of their season four pitches into his major-league debut. Fernando Tatis Jr. crushed a line drive to deep right-center field and Rojas leaped against the out-of-town scoreboard to catch it. That would have been enough, but Rojas then fired a perfect, 250-foot strike to first base to double off Ha-Seong Kim as Drew Ellis dove back to the bag to complete a phenomenal play.
Tatis' ball had an expected batting average of .800.
"What a way to break into the big leagues," manager Rob Thomson said. "But that's who he is, he can really defend, as good as anybody, really. He can really throw. He's aggressive. We'll give him a shot, especially against these lefties."
Rojas was back in the lineup in the nightcap against southpaw Ryan Weathers, as was Harper after sitting for the first 7½ innings of Game 1.
