Coming off an impressive home series victory in which they took three out of four games against the rival Atlanta Braves, the Phillies hit the road for a quick two-game set against the Toronto Blue Jays. 

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Disaster ensued when rookie Tyler Phillips made his return to a major-league mound on Tuesday evening, as the South Jersey native failed to escape the first inning. But Kyle Schwarber submitted yet another signature performance as the Phillies offense battled inning after inning en route to a thrilling 10-9 comeback victory. 

Cristopher Sánchez took the ball for the Phillies on Wednesday afternoon and quickly recovered from a poor first inning, found himself and dealt the rest of the way en route to a 4-2 win.

Here is what stood out from this pair of games north of the border:

Kyle Schwarber leads Phillies to remarkable come-from-behind victory

It felt as if Schwarber saved the Phillies' season when he mashed a crucial grand slam against the Miami Marlins on Aug. 14 to help the team break out of their lengthy slump, but entering Tuesday's series opener in Toronto the slugger had not gone yard since that season-altering swing.

Leading off the game against Blue Jays starter Chris Bassitt, Schwarber put an end to that drought by launching a hanging curveball into the right field seats. Then he did it again... and again. Schwarber's final line in the box score was outrageous: 5-6 with three home runs, a double, six runs batted in and four runs scored.

None of the swings were as big as the one that came in the ninth inning. The Phillies had worked back from what was once a five-run deficit, trimming it to one entering the top of the ninth inning. Edmundo Sosa and Kody Clemens both collected hit against Toronto closer Chad Green to lead off the ninth, bringing Schwarber back to the plate with the go-ahead run in scoring position. 

It was instantly obvious that Schwarber was locked in for this pivotal at-bat. He fouled off seven of the first eight pitches he saw from Green, refusing to surrender. Finally, Schwarber pounced on a fastball over the middle of the plate at 97 miles per hour and sent it into orbit: a titanic three-run shot to give the Phillies the lead and Schwarber his second three-homer game in less than a month.

Clemens, called up on Sept. 1 as rosters expanded from 26 to 28 across the majors, was not in the starting lineup on Tuesday but still ended up proving his value with two outstanding plate appearances. Clemens entered the game as a pinch hitter for Johan Rojas with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh inning. The Phillies were trailing 8-5 and needed Clemens to avoid striking out at all costs. He put together what might have been the most competitive at-bat by any Phillies hitter this season, eventually driving in a run on the 11th pitch he saw after fouling off six pitches. He hit a ground ball to the left side, and Blue Jays third baseman Ernie Clement made a terrific play to get an out at third base. But Clemens earned an RBI, and with the Phillies ended up adding another run when Schwarber came up next.

Clemens returned to the plate in the ninth after Sosa led off the inning with a single, and he laced a double into the right field corner that advanced Sosa to third base. Clemens scored the go-ahead run on Schwarber's game-winning shot, and he was rewarded for his strong outing with a start on Wednesday afternoon.

Tyler Phillips optioned to Triple-A after disastrous outing. What comes next for No. 5 spot in Phillies starting rotation?

The Phillies ended up needing every run they got out of their offensive explosion on Tuesday night, because Phillips put them in quite a hole. Phillips' rise into a major-leaguer pitching for his hometown team was a beautiful one, but the magic wore off in his final three starts before being optioned — and he failed to rebound during his two starts back at Triple-A before he was recalled to fill the spot of the struggling Taijuan Walker.

Surely, the Phillies could not have known Phillips would pitch as poorly as he did in Toronto — allowing eight hits and six earned runs while only recording two outs against the Blue Jays. But even heading into the game, it seemed far-fetched that Phillips would pitch well. With Walker moving to the bullpen and Kolby Allard not available to be recalled until Sept. 10 barring an injury, though, Phillips had to be the guy on Tuesday — with at least a second start expected next week before Allard became an option again. Phillips' struggles were so significant, though, that the team decided to send him back to Triple-A on Wednesday morning and recall Nick Nelson. It is unclear if Nelson will serve as a starter, bulk reliever or traditional reliever for the time being, but he has filled all of those roles in the past.

With Phillips out of the picture for at least 15 days, the Phillies will need to find another starter for Sunday afternoon's series finale against the Miami Marlins — though they could opt to go with a bullpen game against a weak Marlins lineup. By the time that spot in the rotation comes up again, the left-hander Allard will be eligible to return to the team's active roster.

It is worth noting that had the Phillies not given Walker one more chance to start last week against the Houston Astros and moved him to the bullpen after his disastrous prior outing in Kansas City, they could have started Allard — who has given them a chance to win every time he has taken the ball — instead of Walker against Houston in a game that saw Walker allow 13 hits and strike out zero Astros hitters and started Allard instead of Phillips on Tuesday night in Toronto. The Phillies would have also had Allard ready to start Sunday afternoon's game in Miami rather than needing to scramble to figure out how to piece nine innings together in the final contest of a six-games-in-six-days road trip.

On the bright side, the Phillies bullpen continued its dominance of late in relief of Phillips. Tanner Banks got four scoreless outs, three of them coming by way of strikeout. José Alvarado returned and threw a 14-pitch scoreless inning. In his first relief appearance with the Phillies, Walker threw two shutout innings before allowing a two-run homer to Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a pitch no hitter has any business sending into the seats. José Ruiz fired another scoreless inning, the surging rookie Orion Kerkering did the same and Matt Strahm locked down the save despite allowing a solo homer with two outs in the ninth inning.

Second game blurb

Schwarber's heater did not only last one night: to lead off Wednesday afternoon's game, he took red-hot Blue Jays starter Bowden Francis deep to lead off the game — his fourth homer in a 10-inning span. This blast was Schwarber's 13th leadoff homer of 2024, tying the major-league record for most in a season:

Phillies manager Rob Thomson rewarded Clemens with a start on Wednesday, and the utility player who has bounced back and forth between the majors and minors all season instantly made his skipper look wise. Right as play-by-play announcer Tom McCarthy began telling viewers that Thomson said on Wednesday morning that he thought Clemens was going to homer during one of his two pivotal at-bats on Tuesday, the left-handed Clemens pulled an inside fastball into the right field seats:

Clemens' two-run shot in the second inning put the Phillies back in front after Sánchez struggled in bottom of the first. After retiring the first batter he faced, the Phillies' All-Star starter allowed three consecutive doubles. Suddenly, the Phillies were in a 2-1 hole. But Clemens' home run and Sánchez's remarkable ability to get back on track quickly paid dividends.

After a much-needed mound visit to Sánchez by Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto, the lanky southpaw settled in, gained feel for his nasty changeup and improved his command. He spun six consecutive scoreless frames to finish his day.

Sánchez's final line Wednesday: 7.0 innings pitched, six hits, two earned runs, zero walks and seven strikeouts on 96 pitches (72 strikes).

The Phillies were able to add some insurance in the top of the ninth inning after Sánchez's gem was followed by an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 inning from All-Star reliever Jeff Hoffman. Leading off the inning, Realmuto slugged a solo home run to left field.  

There were a few injury-related concerns in this game for the Phillies, stemming from two pivotal batters being hit by pitches. On Tuesday night, Nick Castellanos was hit in the thigh by an errant pitch. He stayed in the game in the moment— and went from first to third on a base hit — but was eventually removed from the game. On Wednesday, he served as a designated hitter, with Schwarber receiving a rare start in left field and Weston Wilson manning right field in Castellanos' place.

In the first inning on Wednesday, Bryce Harper was hit by a fastball in his non-throwing elbow. He stayed in the game momentarily, but was soon lifted for Sosa. Harper admitted to MLB.com's Todd Zolecki what many believed to be the case watching him appear to labor through many games recently: he is banged up, dealing with elbow and wrist issues in particular. The elbow that was hit on Wednesday, however, was not the one Harper told Zolecki was giving him discomfort: that is his surgically-repaired throwing elbow.

The Phillies were able to push through those issues, though, and came out on top Wednesday afternoon to secure a two-game series sweep. They are inching closer and closer to their first National League East crown since 2011.

Up next: The Phillies will now head to Miami for four games against the NL-worst Marlins. Ranger Suárez will start the series opener on Thursday night, and he will be followed by Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola. The Phillies' starting pitcher on Sunday remains to be determined. 

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