KANSAS CITY, Mo. — With fireworks pop, pop, popping in the distance in all directions around Kaufman Stadium, the Phillies burst a few bombs in the air, too, Saturday night.
Just not from the usual sources.
Never mind that five players — nearly 20% of the roster — found out before the game that they will come home to play in Philly’s All-Star Game on July 14. It was the supporting cast — notably J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm, and Jesús Luzardo — that lit up the Royals, 6-1, on the Fourth of July.
In winning for the 10th time in 14 games, the Phillies got homers from Realmuto, rookie Gabriel Rincones Jr., and Bohm. Luzardo rode his devastating sweeper to strike out nine batters in six solid innings.
And what about those All-Stars? Although they were in the lineup, Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, and Brandon Marsh might as well have taken the night off. Jhoan Duran did. There was no save necessary.
It was a no-muss, no-fuss win for the Phillies, now 41-20 under interim manager Don Mattingly and 50-39 overall, still breathing down the neck of the Braves, who lead the division by three games.
“I feel like, if we’re going to be any good, we need to get contributions up and down,” Mattingly said. “It can’t always be Harp and Schwarb hitting homers and driving in a bunch of runs. It’s got to be the whole roster.”
Yes, and before Realmuto and Rincones — the seventh- and eighth-place hitters — launched back-to-back homers against Royals starter Michael Wacha in the fourth inning, Luzardo set the tone for the night.
In his second-to-last start before the All-Star break, Luzardo retired the first eight batters — five by strikeout — before yielding an infield single. He mixed four pitches but could’ve easily gotten by with only the sweeper, a pitch that he started throwing only before last season.
Luzardo threw a total of 95 pitches; 42 were sweepers, 15 of which generated swings and misses. And while he preyed on one of the worst offenses in baseball, it also continued a trend in which the sweeper has been more effective.
“I almost felt like I threw it so much that I forgot how to throw it,” Luzardo said. “But lately, I feel like the last five or six starts, it’s felt back to what it was and maybe even get better.”
Mattingly said it can be tough to differentiate Luzardo’s sweeper from his other pitches, including his changeup. If it’s difficult to tell from the dugout, imagine what it looks like in the batter’s box.
“It’s the angle with him,” Mattingly said. “It kind of gets into where you get pitches feeding off each other. The fastball sinks, and then the changeup, and then the sweeper, and it all starts feeding out of the window. It’s really effective.”
Said Royals manager Matt Quatraro: “It’s an elite pitch. You hope that he makes a mistake.”
The Royals finally scratched across a run in the fourth inning on Lane Thomas’ double and a two-out infield single from Nick Loftin.
By then, though, the Phillies already had a lead.
The Phillies put pressure on Wacha by loading the bases with two out in the first inning but didn’t break through until Realmuto cracked a two-run homer in the fourth.
Rincones followed by hitting a cutter into the right-field bullpen to open a 3-0 lead.
Bohm teed off in the sixth inning with a leadoff homer. The Phillies kept tacking on. Trea Turner scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning before Bohm doubled and scored on Rincones’ single in the eighth.
Not mentioned: Schwarber, Harper, and Marsh, none of whom scored a run or drove one in. (Schwarber did, however, get three hits and reached base four times.)
The All-Stars brought the Phillies back from the sewer of a 9-19 start. And while the roster is top-heavy, the supporting actors have played a vital role in the surge under Mattingly.
“Obviously we wouldn’t be where we are today without all the guys that got nominated and picked to be All-Stars,” Luzardo said. “And I think we could have had a lot more, too. Selfishly, I think [Bryson] Stott, Bohm, [Zack Wheeler], obviously.
“But it is what it is. The guys that got picked, kudos to them. I’m really happy for them. It’s awesome to see.”
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