The corn was picturesque. The setting was cinematic. The stakes, however, were very real.
The Phillies arrived at the Field of Dreams on Thursday having slipped outside the National League playoff picture for the first time in more than two months. They left Iowa with perhaps their most unusual victory of the season — and, more importantly, possession of a postseason spot again.
Kyle Schwarber homered twice, Aaron Nola delivered five strong innings and the Phillies overwhelmed the Minnesota Twins, 7-1, before 7,163 fans at the Field of Dreams.
For one night, at least, Philadelphia looked considerably more like the team it has spent most of the season trying to become.
Schwarber made sure the evening did not take long to become memorable.
On the third pitch from Twins starter Taj Bradley, Schwarber drove a ball 369 feet over the right-field wall and into the corn. It was his 36th home run of the season and his 47th career leadoff homer, moving him into a tie with Curtis Granderson for seventh on the all-time list and past former Phillie Jimmy Rollins.
Philadelphia was not finished.
Bryce Harper walked, Luis Arraez singled and Bryson Stott followed with an RBI single to center to make it 2-0 before Bradley could escape the first inning.
The Twins answered when Luke Keaschall homered in the second, but that turned out to be the extent of Minnesota's offense against Nola.
And considering where Nola's season has been, that may have been the most significant development of the night.
Nola entered with a 5.33 ERA and had not earned a victory since May 26. He was also coming off a start shortened by a right knee contusion. Yet against Minnesota, the veteran right-hander looked more like the pitcher the Phillies will need if they intend to play meaningful baseball deep into October.
Nola allowed five hits and one run over five innings, striking out nine and walking three on 97 pitches. It was his first victory in nearly three months and continued a far more encouraging recent stretch: he owns a 2.91 ERA over his last four starts and has allowed three runs or fewer in 12 of his last 15.
His biggest pitch may have been his last.
Minnesota loaded the bases in the fifth, bringing Royce Lewis to the plate with a chance to erase a four-run deficit. Nola needed only three pitches to strike him out and preserve the 5-1 advantage.
That lead had been built largely by Schwarber.
Brandon Marsh singled to begin the fourth before Schwarber lifted another drive toward right. Keaschall reached the wall and got his glove on the ball, but could not hold it. The ball carried over the fence for Schwarber's second homer of the night and 37th of the season, extending his major league lead. Harper later singled home Trea Turner to stretch Philadelphia's advantage to four runs.
Marsh supplied the final punctuation in the seventh.
After Alec Bohm doubled, Marsh hooked a two-run homer down the right-field line and into the corn, giving the Phillies three home runs on a night practically designed for exactly that kind of image.
The offense finished with 12 hits. Arraez collected three of them, while Schwarber and Marsh combined for four hits, three home runs, five RBIs and four runs scored. Philadelphia committed no errors.
Perhaps just as encouraging, there was no bullpen drama.
Brooks Raley, Joe Bowlan, Orion Kerkering and Jhoan Duran combined for four scoreless innings after Nola departed, allowing just three hits. Duran finished it with a scoreless ninth.
That made the final four innings almost uneventful.
The Phillies will happily take uneventful.
There has been enough turbulence lately. Enough bullpen trouble. Enough missed opportunities with runners in scoring position. Enough nights where a team built with postseason expectations has looked far too ordinary.
Thursday offered a different picture.
The win pushed Philadelphia to 65-58 and moved the Phillies one-half game ahead of Arizona for the final National League Wild Card position. They remain nine games behind Atlanta in the NL East, making the Wild Card race the more immediate path toward October with 39 games remaining.
Nobody should confuse one comfortable August victory with evidence that every problem has disappeared.
But the Phillies needed something.
Maybe it was Nola looking like Nola again. Maybe it was Schwarber setting the tone three pitches into the game. Maybe it was an offense producing seven runs without requiring a late-inning rescue. Maybe it was four quiet innings from a bullpen that has produced far too many loud ones.
Or maybe a team searching for a spark simply found one in the middle of Iowa.
The Phillies walked through the corn Thursday night surrounded by reminders of baseball's past.
They spent the next three hours doing something considerably more important.
They helped their own future.
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