Somewhere, a baseball is still flying over the Rocky Mountains. At least that’s what it felt like after Kyle Schwarber launched a ninth-inning missile into the stratosphere Monday night — a 466-foot thunderclap off the facing of the third deck at Coors Field that punctuated the Philadelphia Phillies’ 9-3 win over the Colorado Rockies.
Schwarber’s blast wasn’t just long. It was landmark.
Career homer No. 300.
Exit velocity: 109.3 mph.
Third-longest home run in the Majors this year - trailing only Mike Trout (484 feet) and Aaron Judge (468 feet).
And a perfect exclamation point on a night that saw the Phillies shake off a sluggish start, storm back with a four-run eighth, and move into first place in the NL East for the first time since April 12.
Alec Bohm played his part in the drama, launching a two-run homer off Seth Halvorsen (0-1) in the eighth to flip a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 lead. Trea Turner followed with a two-run double, and the Phillies never looked back.
Edmundo Sosa, hitting like a man trying to crash the All-Star ballot by sheer force, went 4-for-5 with his first homer of the season - a ninth-inning shot that followed Schwarber's moonball.
Bryce Harper added two RBIs, including a sac fly in the seventh that began the Phillies’ late-inning avalanche.
Cristopher Sánchez was solid again, allowing three runs over six innings. Joe Ross (2-1) picked up the win in relief.
As for the Rockies? Well, when your bullpen coughs up eight runs in the final three innings and your record dips to 8-39, the worst 47-game start in modern baseball history (since 1901), there’s not much left to say.
Except maybe this: Ezequiel Tovar did his part. He hit a solo homer in the first and added an RBI single in the third. But Colorado’s offense vanished after that.
So now the Phillies (34-14) - winners of four straight - can enjoy the rarefied air of first place.
They’ll look to keep their altitude Tuesday night when Jesús Luzardo (4-0, 2.00 ERA) squares off with Rockies righty Antonio Senzatela (1-7, 6.39) in Game 2 of this four-game set.
And maybe bring a net for Schwarber’s next one.
