August 22, 2026
Bill Streicher/Imagn Images via Reuters Connect
Kyle Schwarber's walk-off homer against the Cardinals on Sunday helped the Phillies win their ninth straight.
The chase for first place in back on for the Phillies.
Considered no realistic threat to overtake the Braves in the National League East after a 9-19 start, 10.5 games behind Atlanta in May, the Phillies climbed back within 2.5 games on July 2, only to fall back to 9 on Aug. 13 following another rough stretch.
But after a thrilling sweep of the Cardinals in South Philly this weekend, powered by two walk-off wins, the white-hot Phillies are knocking on Atlanta's door again, while the Braves have stumbled to a late-summer swoon.
The Phillies rode a season-high six-game win streak going into the weekend thanks to consecutive sweeps of the Twins and Marlins, then took their first two against the Cards thanks to some extra-inning heroics from Alec Bohm on Friday followed by a 12-2 slaughter Saturday to support an outstanding effort from Andrew Painter.
Their bid for nine straight looked bleak Sunday as they were scoreless entering the bottom of the ninth and down by four, but with two outs and the bases loaded, chaos ensued.
Edmundo Sosa smacked a bases-clearing double down the left-field line, followed by a game-tying single from Bryan De La Cruz, followed by a two-run shot from Kyle Schwarber to dead center, his 39th, to walk it off for the Phillies for the second time in the series and third time this month.
KYLE SCHWARBER WALK-OFF HOMER!
— MLB (@MLB) August 23, 2026
6 RUNS IN THE 9TH
9 STRAIGHT WINS
THE @PHILLIES!!! pic.twitter.com/PNwVEQveCN
The Phillies have tied their longest win streak since May 16-23 of 2025 and can be no worse than 3 games behind the Braves, who play Sunday night in Williamsport in the "Little League Classic" against the Brewers. The Braves lost their first two games against Milwaukee and had lost seven of nine going into Sunday.
The Phils will try to stay scorching on a nine-game West Coast swing that starts Monday night in Seattle against the Mariners, followed by the Angels, and then Diamondbacks.
Here are the main storylines from another Phils sweep:
He has gone from Alec "Booo"-hm to Alec "Boom," as the jeers have turned the cheers for the Phillies first basemen, who continued to provide the right-handed impact bat the Phils have desperately needed.
On Friday night, Bohm singled home Luis Arraez in the third for a 3-2 lead. In the sixth, down 4-3, he led off the frame with a single and scored the game-tying run on a J.T. Realmuto double in a two-run inning. The Phils again blew the lead, then fell behind 6-5 going into the bottom of the 10th, but after Arraez singled Bryce Harper to third, up came Bohm, who smacked a triple just beyond the reach of diving centerfielder José Fermín to plate both Harper and pinch runner Edwin Sosa, who slid in safely for the walk-off win and the ensuing pandemonium at the plate.
BOHM SENDS US HOME! pic.twitter.com/ec9jBqKEga
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 22, 2026
Hard to believe after his horrific first half, but Bohm has as many RBI as Harper, and just three fewer than team-leader Kyle Schwarber. Bohm is 19-for-41 with five doubles and 12 RBI in last 11 games, slashing .463/.488/.707. He sat Sunday with some lower-body tightness.
The big deadline addition for the Phils appears to have snapped out of the very strange funk he was mired in earlier this month, when he was 3-for-27 against the Blue Jays and Cardinals from Aug. 8-12, including just the second 0-for-6 game of his career and two strikeouts in a three-game span.
Arraez doubled and singled twice Friday, then singled and scored Saturday. He is 15-for-34 (.441) in the past eight games with just one strikeout. He also didn't start Sunday, as he's been dealing with cramping, but pinch hit in the ninth and flied out.
Saturday's dominant outing from Andrew Painter was a reminder that he was once the organization's top overall prospect, not just top pitching prospect.
Masterfully working his curveball and a changeup that clocked in the low 90s, the righthander struck out eight – his highest total since his MLB debut in May – and scattered five hits through 7.0 innings, allowing just one run. More importantly, he tossed 100+ pitches and went his longest distance post-Tommy John surgery in July of 2023.
Counting Cards 😮💨 pic.twitter.com/Ntv3RGB77p
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 23, 2026
Manger Don Mattingly was most impressed with how Painter attacked the Cardinals' lineup, and said with more outings like that, Painter "could be a monster." (h/t @MrUram)
“If he turns into something like that, then it’s a monster.”
— Dave Uram (@MrUram) August 23, 2026
Don Mattingly was impressed with Andrew Painter after the Phillies 12-3 win over the Cardinals. pic.twitter.com/RhzDlRaaZi
Whether or not Bryce Harper's 2026 season will be considered elite is a discussion for after the season, but Harper is on an elite streak of reaching base.
On Saturday, after he struck three times in his first three at-bats, Harper clubbed a three-run homer, his 25th, in his fourth and final at bat, extending his streak of reaching safely to 25 games. He made it 26 straight Sunday with a walk and two doubles.
Harper has an on base percentage over .460 since the start of the streak in late July and leads MLB in walks this season. His slugging percentage for the second straight season is under his career .517, but it's over .520 during the streak.
The Phils make no sense on defense. When they aren't botching routine plays, they're making highlight-reel ones.
Bryson Stott and Trea Turner each committed errors in the series – for Turner, it was his MLB-leading 19th – but Harper and Edmundo Sosa turned into two spectacular defensive plays.
On Saturday, Harper made a sliding catch in foul territory going into the padding to retire Jordan Walker for the first out in the second, one of his best catches since returning to the outfield since the trade deadline.
A smooth slide from The Showman pic.twitter.com/v202spRY4o
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 22, 2026
Later in the game, Sosa at third base made a ridiculous backhanded stab that sent to him to his knees on a hard grounder down the line before popping back up and firing a laser to beat Walker at first for the out with two on and two out in the seventh.
YOU GLOVE TO SEE IT! pic.twitter.com/JpYTJnn3ns
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) August 23, 2026
The Phils had to feel good Sunday about their chance to secure a third straight sweep with their ace left-hander on the mound.
Cristopher Sánchez wasn't terrible, but he also wasn't his best, which he typically is at Citizens Bank Park. He allowed RBI singles to Alec Burleson in the first and fourth before allowing a homer to Fermín in the fifth and exited having allowed four runs on nine hits in 6.2 innings.
It's a little bit nit-picky, but Sánchez hasn't pitched beyond the sixth inning in any of his past seven starts and has now allowed eight or more hits in consecutive starts. His ERA at the end of June was 2.00. After Sunday, his ERA raised to 2.62.
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