Phillies' lineup dominates again to secure series win over Yankees

Scott Lauber, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Jul 26, 2025

Published in Baseball

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NEW YORK — Ninety minutes before the first pitch here Saturday, Bryce Harper shuffled the playlist in the Phillies’ clubhouse in search of the right pregame mix.

By the third inning, he found the perfect harmony.

Harper took one of his best swings of the season on a cutter over the heart of the plate and rocked it into the right-field bullpen, as the Phillies rolled to a 9-4 rout at sold-out Yankee Stadium.

The Phillies (60-44) clinched a second consecutive winning series after losing three in a row and will take aim at a sweep Sunday with ace Zack Wheeler against the Aaron Judge-less Yankees (56-48), who were desperately hoping for good news on the health of their MVP’s right elbow.

But with the trade deadline looming Thursday, the Phillies’ batmen have found their groove in Gotham. They followed a 12-run, 14-hit outburst Friday night by pounding 13 hits and drawing seven walks. Every starter save Johan Rojas had at least one hit.

In the series opener, Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto combined for three homers and seven RBIs. In a Saturday matinee, Harper banged a tone-setting homer against Yankees starter Marcus Stroman, while Trea Turner got two hits, scored twice and drove in two runs.

Harper also teamed up with Ranger Suárez for a defensive gem in the fourth inning, a contrast to the Yankees’ sloppy play.

With the Phillies leading 4-1 but the Yankees threatening with runners on the corners, Harper dove to his right to smother Trent Grisham’s slow roller on the edge of the grass. He flipped it underhand to Suárez, who grabbed it with his bare hand and stepped on first base.

Rally stopped. Inning over.

The Yankees didn’t make it easy on Suárez, who had only one 1-2-3 inning. He allowed seven hits and threw a season-high 108 pitches in only 5 2/3 innings. But he also got 14 swings and misses and rebounded from his previous start, a six-run clunker last Sunday against the Angels.

It helped that the Phillies kept adding to the lead. Turner lined an RBI double in the sixth inning to make it 5-1. Edmundo Sosa made it 7-1 by demolishing a two-run homer to straightaway center field in the seventh.

And rather than turning over a slim lead to a bullpen that needs reinforcing before the trade deadline, the Phillies were able to breathe easy in the late innings.

Sosa exited after the seventh inning with what the Phillies characterized as a “back contusion” (read: bruise). As he backpedaled to catch a pop fly in shallow left field, Sosa collided with onrushing Brandon Marsh. After staying down on the field for a few minutes, Sosa walked off on his own and was being evaluated by the training staff.