On a night that began with Taijuan Walker surrendering back-to-back homers and a 4–0 deficit before the Phillies even had a chance to breathe, it ended with Brandon Marsh and Harrison Bader turning into the most unlikely headliners in a September showdown of the National League's two best teams.
Marsh collected four hits, including the ninth-inning single that drove in the go-ahead run. Bader piled on three more, drove in three, and doubled twice. Together, they carried the Phillies through a 10–8 rollercoaster Monday afternoon at American Family Field — a win that felt stitched together from chaos, hustle, and a lineup card that finally clicked in all the right places.
The Brewers had opened like a thunderclap: Brice Turang homered on the second pitch of the game, Caleb Durbin followed with a blast to start the second, and Milwaukee led 4–0 before Walker could record six outs. But Bryce Harper reset the night with one swing, hammering a 101-mph fastball from rookie Jacob Misiorowski over the center-field wall. From there, the game veered into the kind of script September baseball loves to write.
Marsh and Bader became constants.
In the sixth, Bader doubled, Marsh dashed first-to-third, and both crossed on sacrifice flies to give the Phillies their first lead. In the eighth, tied again, Marsh singled, Bader doubled him home, and Bryson Stott added another RBI double. The Brewers tied it once more in the bottom half. And then came the ninth.
Against reliever Abner Uribe, Kyle Schwarber walked, Realmuto walked on a disputed check swing that cost Brewers manager Pat Murphy an ejection, and Marsh drilled his fourth hit through the right side to plate pinch-runner Garrett Stubbs. Bader, naturally, followed with a bloop RBI single to make it 10–8.
David Robertson (2-0) earned the win despite coughing up two runs in the eighth. Jhoan Duran cleaned it up with a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 28 tries.
So in a game that started with Milwaukee’s fireworks and Harper’s thunderclap, the last word belonged to a duo who usually live somewhere south of the spotlight. Marsh is now 11-for-23 over his last seven games. Bader is batting .313 with an .873 OPS since joining Philadelphia.
And the Phillies — now 80–58 — own the opener of this heavyweight three-game series. They’ll take a breather Tuesday before rolling the dice again Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Against reliever Abner Uribe, Kyle Schwarber walked, Realmuto walked on a disputed check swing that cost Brewers manager Pat Murphy an ejection, and Marsh drilled his fourth hit through the right side to plate pinch-runner Garrett Stubbs. Bader, naturally, followed with a bloop RBI single to make it 10–8.
David Robertson (2-0) earned the win despite coughing up two runs in the eighth. Jhoan Duran cleaned it up with a perfect ninth for his 25th save in 28 tries.
So in a game that started with Milwaukee’s fireworks and Harper’s thunderclap, the last word belonged to a duo who usually live somewhere south of the spotlight. Marsh is now 11-for-23 over his last seven games. Bader is batting .313 with an .873 OPS since joining Philadelphia.
And the Phillies — now 80–58 — own the opener of this heavyweight three-game series. They’ll take a breather Tuesday before rolling the dice again Wednesday in Milwaukee.
Quotable
“We just kept battling back, it was back and forth,” manager Rob Thomson said. “It was almost like a playoff-feel to it.”
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