The Philadelphia Phillies pulled off a comeback against the St. Louis Cardinals. Trailing 4-0 entering the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies stunned the Cardinals 6-4 to secure a series sweep. It was an outcome that no one was expecting, not even their manager.
“I don’t know if you can really explain that,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly on NBC Sports Philadelphia’s postgame coverage. “I was gonna come in and tell you that I knew I could feel it all day, but I didn’t really feel that coming. But I do like, we like the fact that the boys just keep grinding.”
The Phillies were down to their last strike three separate times in the ninth inning against Cardinals All-Star closer Riley O’Brien. Their win expectancy fell as far as 0.5% in the inning, per Statcast’s Game Feed for this game.
But as they’ve done all month, they found a way to make it happen. Five straight Phillies reached base with two outs, including four hits, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
Per OptaSTATS, it marked the fifth such victory of the season. That’s the most by any club since pitches began being tracked in 1988.
That’s the most such wins by any MLB team in a single season since pitches were first tracked in 1988.
Phillies’ Don Mattingly on Ninth-Inning Comeback
It didn’t seem like a comeback was in the works. After Bryce Harper’s double to lead off the frame, All-Stars Luis Arraez and Brandon Marsh flied out.
However, the inning began to shift as the club put together quality at-bats. J.T. Realmuto singled and Justin Crawford walked to extend the inning and bring the potential tying run to the plate.
Edmundo Sosa took advantage of the opportunity, grounding a single in the left field corner to make it a one-run game. Bryan De La Cruz singled Sosa home, tying the game and setting up Kyle Schwarber to win it.
Schwarber finished off the game with a titanic blast off the batter’s eye and onto Ashburn Alley. It ended a three-year drought for walk-off home runs at Citizens Bank Park.
“Obviously at-bats late, but Craw walk, huge J.T. hit, Harp getting it started,” said Mattingly. “And then Sosa and De La. Both guys down, I think it was 0-2, maybe both of them. And then Schwarbs freaking smashed that ball.”
The improbable comeback victory became the Phillies’ ninth consecutive win. And as a result of that winning streak, they’ve crept back in the National League East division race.
Mattingly likened it to their back-to-back road wins against the Washington Nationals on June 23 and 24, where they came back after being down to their final strike.
Phillies Continue to Thrive Under Don Mattingly
The 2026 season has been full of twists and turns. Don Mattingly was named the interim manager on April 28 after a 9-19 start got Rob Thomson fired.
Since Mattingly took over, the Phillies are 64-39, or a 100-win pace. The team has successfully navigated adversity at multiple points of the season and has shown across-the-board improvement.
With 32 games left in the season, Philadelphia sits just three games back of the Atlanta Braves for the NL East lead. The two clubs will play each other seven times in September, meaning the division is still in play for the Phillies.
The Phillies have pulled some improbable comebacks this year. Winning the division in a year where Atlanta held it almost the entire way may be their most improbable one yet. And that could cement Don Mattingly’s case to win National League Manager of the Year.
Phillies’ Don Mattingly Makes Honest Admission About Comeback Win vs. Cardinals