Sunday was the first official day of summer in these parts. And you know what that means. Hittin’ season, as that great baseball philosopher Charlie Manuel likes to say. It’s certainly hittin’ season for Kyle Schwarber. He followed up Saturday night’s three-homer game with another l ong ball in powering the Phillies to a 6-2 win over the New York Mets at Citizens Bank Park on Sunday night. After losing to the Mets on Friday night, the Phillies outscored them 21-5 in winning the next two. The Phils, who play their next seven games on the road, went 4-2 on the homestand and are now 42-35, 6 ½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East. They were 10 ½ back a month ago. Under Don Mattingly, the Phillies are 33-16. They’ve won 12 of 16 series. They were minus-54 in run differential when Mattingly took over as manager on April 28. They are now minus-4. They haven’t had a positive run differential since the first week of the season. Maybe they get there soon. “I thought we had great at-bats the whole series,” said Bryce Harper, who shared the offensive spotlight with Schwarber in the back-to-back wins. “I thought the pitching was good. As a whole, I thought we played great in this series. “Just get us in (the postseason). That’s our motto. Obviously, our goal is to fight and claw back and win the division. But we just want to get in the postseason and see what happens.” Schwarber’s majors-leading 29th home run was a three-run shot against Mets lefty David Peterson in the second inning. The Phillies slugger is on pace for 61 homers. Time will tell if he gets there, but it’s sure entertaining when he gets on these power streaks. “He’s one of the best power hitters if not the best power hitter in the game and it’s fun to watch,” Harper said. “Just like anybody, I’m a fan. I enjoy watching him hit the baseball. When he takes a swing, it changes the whole momentum of a game, the mindset of our team and the fanbase and everything else. It’s a lot of fun.” As a team, the Phillies hit .290 (60 for 207) with 11 homers, nine doubles and three triples on the homestand. Schwarber had eight hits on the homestand. Five of them were homers. He loves hitting in June. He has seven home runs this month and 74 in 226 career games in the month of June. In just under 4 ½ seasons with the Phillies, he has 216 homers. He’s up to 369 for his career. He’s 33 years old. His contract runs through 2030. At this pace, he will make a run at 500 homers and the Hall of Fame in a Phillies uniform. Harper, a two-time NL MVP, is likely already headed to the Hall of Fame and pitcher Zack Wheeler is pitching himself into consideration. According to Fangraphs WAR, he has been the top starting pitcher in baseball since arriving in Philadelphia before the 2020 season. Harper and Wheeler both came up big on Sunday night. One night after hitting for the cycle, Harper came up just a triple shy of duplicating the feat as he singled, doubled and homered. Harper’s hot streak has coincided with his switching from a 32-ounce bat to a 35-ounce bat and taking early batting practice on the field. Usually, he takes his hacks in the indoor cage. “I’m still doing my full routine in the cage,” he said. “Just trying to hit outside, stay through the ball, hit the ball to right in the air. The last two days have been great.” Harper plans to stick with the big bat as long as his body allows. There will be days when it tells him to use a lighter bat. While Schwarber and Harper were driving in runs, Wheeler pitched 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball to run his record to 7-1. His ERA is 2.11. Wheeler and Cristopher Sanchez, Saturday’s night’s winner, have combined to make 21 starts this season. The Phillies are 17-4 in those games. Wheeler did not have his best command. He ran some deep counts and pushed his pitch count over 100 in the sixth inning when he uncharacteristically walked three batters. Mattingly visited Wheeler at the mound with one out and the bases loaded. Mattingly stayed with Wheeler for the second out, a fielder’s choice that resulted in a run, then went to Jonathan Bowlan who ended the inning with a strikeout of Marcus Semien. Jose Alvarado, Orion Kerkering and Jhoan Duran combined on three scoreless innings to close it out. Wheeler is loving what he’s seeing of the offense, particularly the show Schwarber and Harper put on the last two nights. “It’s pretty special, pretty cool to see,” he said. “You hear about all the greats before you. I’m watching these guys as a fan do something magic and special career-wise. It’s gone on for a long time now. They’re putting together unbelievable careers. It’s fun to be present and watch it live.” And from Harper’s standpoint, it’s fun to be part of. “That’s kind of what we expect of ourselves as an offense,” he said. “When we get going and clicking like that, when me and Schwarbs have big swings or great at-bats, we’ve got a chance to win games.” Next up: Four games in Washington against the Nationals. ...read more read less