Max Lazar joins the ride as Phillies make it nine straight with marathon win

Sports

add

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Max Lazar’s road trip began last Monday with a seat in 26E on an American Airlines flight to Denver, which the Phillies had hastily booked for the 25-year-old righty. A middle seat in the last row of the plane. The Phillies had to scramble after José Alvarado’s suspension and tabbed Lazar to handle mop-up duty — not to save the club’s ninth-straight win in the 11th inning.

But, as Max Kepler launched a 101 mph fastball over Lazar’s head in the bullpen to tie Saturday’s game and Orion Kerkering somehow survived a bases-loaded, no-out jam, Lazar knew. He was the last pitcher.

“I mean,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said, “so many things happened in extra innings. It is just hard to explain.”

With the tying run at the plate, Lazar buried a curveball down and in to A’s infielder Logan Davidson, who was taking the first at-bat of his big-league career. Davidson whiffed.

Phillies 9, A’s 6. And, on Sunday afternoon at this minor-league stadium, the Phillies will go for their first 10-game winning streak in 15 years.

Good night, good morning, GOOD WIN#RingTheBell pic.twitter.com/mEegGDABE6

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) May 25, 2025

They needed 11 innings in 3 hours and 45 minutes to secure the ninth consecutive win. Right now, they are flexing. They were without their two most-trusted relievers, but the bullpen surrendered only two runs in 6 1/3 innings. Kepler, who did not start Friday or Saturday, connected on a 101-mph fastball from A’s closer Mason Miller with one out in the ninth inning to revive the Phillies. Brandon Marsh, who sat on the bench with Kepler to begin the first two games of this series, preserved the game with a perfect throw home to nail the potential tying run in the 10th inning.

Kepler and Marsh had jogged from the dugout to a door in the green center-field fence during the game. They had to take some hacks; the only batting cage here is beyond the outfield wall. Kepler sensed something as they sprinted back toward the dugout in the sixth inning. They weren’t even in the game yet.

“Someone a couple of days ago asked what it’s like to be on a team where everyone can contribute at any moment,” Kepler said. “And we showed that tonight. We went into the game, and I told Marsh specifically: We have an opportunity here to turn this baseball game around. And we did. He did it on defense with a nasty throw. Everyone contributed.”

The Phillies dropped two routine pop-ups in foul territory. They used a reliever on back-to-back-to-back days for the first time since September 2023. They squandered a great chance to score in the 10th inning when Marsh and Kepler failed to bring home a run. But Marsh atoned with his throw in the bottom half, and their teammates delivered in the 11th.

Kyle Schwarber almost ripped his pants when he scored the ninth run on a sacrifice fly. He started to dash home, darted back to third base to tag up, then barreled toward home plate. He just made it. His double earlier in the inning had plated two runs, and the only reason Schwarber was standing on third base was because he remembered an esoteric thing the Phillies reviewed in spring training.

There are so many rules; the Phillies tend to focus on specific ones. “Weird-type stuff,” Thomson said. Dusty Wathan, the third-base coach, likes the fielder-runner obstruction one. It helped the Phillies in July 2022 when Rhys Hoskins collided with a shortstop while going from second to third. Wathan waved Hoskins home, knowing he’d be out by 20 feet, but the run would count.

That night, Schwarber scored ahead of Hoskins. On Saturday, as he slammed into Davidson, the A’s first baseman, Schwarber remembered all of it. So he kept running no matter what. The umpires awarded Schwarber third base, despite being thrown out there. The runner is rewarded so long as he does not stop moving.

“Kyle, he’s a student of the game,” Marsh said. “He leads us and we follow, for sure.”

Kyle Schwarber homers in the 6th inning and delivers the game-winning hit in the 11th as the @Phillies make it NINE straight wins!

(MLB x GEICO) pic.twitter.com/XZDjKjCmpu

— MLB (@MLB) May 25, 2025

An aside: Davidson, a 27-year-old former first-round pick who toiled in the minors for six seasons, earned his first promotion to the majors over the weekend. He made his big-league debut Saturday only when Nick Kurtz suffered an injury while running the bases in the 10th inning. Davidson pinch-ran at third base. He was the one who Marsh threw out at the plate. He cost the A’s another run in the 11th inning when he impeded Schwarber. Then, he struck out to end the game. The A’s have lost 11 straight. Sometimes, this sport is brutal.

And, sometimes, it rewards the faithful.

“We typically haven’t played our best on the West Coast in the last few years,” Thomson said. “So it’s good to grind out these games. A game like tonight, it just shows the character of our ballclub.”

Thomson wasn’t going to use Jordan Romano or Matt Strahm. Tanner Banks sent the game to extra innings with a drama-free ninth. Thomson was going to use Kerkering only if the situation warranted. Kerkering had never pitched on three consecutive days in his life.

Only Lazar remained.

“The three-run run lead definitely helped,” Lazar said. “The guys battled the whole game, and it was a crazy game.”

Lazar had nerves. He said he was just trying to follow everyone else’s lead. His fastball touched 96 mph. He showed the Phillies something; his teammates razzed the soft-spoken reliever afterward as he prepared to do an interview. It really did take everyone.

“He’s always been a guy that doesn’t have a heartbeat,” Thomson said. “He just goes out there and does his stuff. He’s got good stuff. The velocity’s gone up in the past couple of years, and the curveball’s always been good. There’s a lot of carry to his fastball. He did a great job. And he’ll come out tomorrow and he will give us two innings if we need it.”

With the save sealed, J.T. Realmuto handed Lazar the ball. The catcher pounded his rookie reliever on the chest. Lazar stuffed the ball in his back pocket. He high-fived his teammates and coaches. Then he went to a gate at the edge of the visiting dugout at Sutter Health Park. His girlfriend had scheduled a trip to Allentown, Pa., to see Lazar at Triple-A Lehigh Valley. She changed those plans once Lazar was promoted to the majors. Lazar’s father decided to make it a trip because Lazar’s grandfather lives in the Bay Area.

The rookie negotiated with a security guard while a few dozen sicko Phillies fans who came to this minor-league city screamed. Lazar’s family made it through the pack. He hugged his girlfriend. They took a photo. The ball was still in his back pocket.

The Phillies have the best record in the majors. This ride is just beginning. Lazar just wanted a part — no matter how small — in the whole thing. He had a taste in 2024 for 13 2/3 innings. None of them were as important as the one he threw Saturday night to finish a surreal game.

“To get back up here,” Lazar said, “it’s been awesome.”

(Dennis Lee / Imagn Images)

This news was originally published on this post .