SAN DIEGO — There are only so many ways human beings can describe an event that occupies fewer than three seconds of their lives, a fact that was put to the test repeatedly after Kyle Schwarber hit a 488-foot home run in Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Tuesday night at Petco Park.
Schwarber’s sixth-inning solo homer — the longest in the 18-year history of Petco Park — in the Philadelphia Phillies‘ 2-0 win over the San Diego Padres provided a brief but stunning moment of energy on a night that was defined by a distinct lack of activity.
The combined totals: four hits, eight baserunners, 20 strikeouts. It had a couple of moments, but this was not a stirring advertisement for the game.
The Phillies won because two of the hits were solo homers — Bryce Harper‘s in the fourth, then Schwarber’s — and because Phillies starter Zack Wheeler ground the Padres lineup into a fine paste over seven innings of one-hit, 8-strikeout mastery.
Wheeler, who has allowed just three earned runs in 19 1/3 postseason innings this October, came out with a show of dominance in the first inning, putting together a string of 98 and 99 mph fastballs with late movement. Once that was implanted in the minds of the Padres hitters, he was free to use his breaking pitches to induce soft — or no — contact. He threw just 83 pitches and was removed after his velocity ticked down in his final inning, but he allowed just two baserunners, a walk to Juan Soto in the first and a single up the middle by Wil Myers in the fifth.
For the Padres, a 2-0 count constituted a rally.
“Seemed like the curveball was the equalizer for him,” Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins said. “Obviously it’s a good fastball always with him, but he threw a ton of good breaking balls to their guys, and you saw some awkward swings and weird swings.”
But it was Schwarber who captured the imagination, in a way only tape-measure homers seem capable of doing. He sent a Yu Darvish breaking ball into the second deck in right field, far above and beyond the playing surface and into a section of the ballpark nobody could remember being reached — even in batting practice. When the ball hit the bat, it sounded like a tree split in the batter’s box. The ball dissolved into the distance at 119.7 mph and pulled the air out of a raucous crowd. Harper’s stunned reaction in the dugout — eyes wide as basketballs, jaw slack — spoke for everyone.
The only semi-recent postseason comparison came in the 2002 World Series, when Barry Bonds hit a ball 485 feet off Angels reliever Troy Percival.
“It looked like somebody on the driving range,” Hoskins said. “It got so small so fast. One of those that you don’t really need to look at; you can just hear it.”
Darvish, who allowed three hits and struck out seven in seven innings, said of his former Cubs teammate: “Schwarb, he’s a friend of mine. Every time we meet we greet each other and all that, but next time I meet him, I might have to punch him.”
The homer was important, too, and went a long way toward erasing the Padres’ home-field advantage and giving Philadelphia a boost of confidence with co-ace Aaron Nola pitching in Game 2 o n Wednesday. The way Wheeler, Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado lasered through the Padres lineup, the extra run, in Hoskins’ words, “Felt like a lot more than one run.”
The person who seemed least impressed by the feat was Schwarber himself, who had two of the Phillies’ three hits to hoist his postseason average to .130. He left the batter’s box reasonably quickly and watched the ball’s flight path with only passing interest. He accurately described the homer as “just a point,” and stressed repeatedly that he would have accepted it had it barely cleared the wall.
In the endless search for the insider-y detail, he was asked to recount the reactions of his teammates when he returned to the dugout.
“A lot of people just looked at me weird,” he said, refusing to give the people what they want.
That left it to everyone else, and once the obligatory expressions of shock were relayed — “jaw-dropping,” according to outfielder Brandon Marsh — there wasn’t much else left to say. The moment was more visceral than anecdotal, at least for now. As Phillies outfielder Matt Vierling said, “When it happened, I kept trying to think about how I would describe it. I’ve just never seen anything like that. It’s hard, though, because it happened so quick; 120 miles an hour doesn’t give you much time to think.”
Harper was asked to describe Schwarber’s homer three or four different times in three or four different ways, and he finally said, “Yeah, it was just really far. That’s it — plain and simple. It was just really far.”
Bobby Jenks, a two-time All-Star pitcher for the Chicago White Sox who was on the roster when the franchise won the 2005 World Series, died Friday in Sintra, Portugal, the team announced.
Jenks, 44, who had been diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, a form of stomach cancer, this year, spent six seasons with the White Sox from 2005 to 2010 and also played for the Boston Red Sox in 2011. The reliever finished his major league career with a 16-20 record, 3.53 ERA and 173 saves.
“We have lost an iconic member of the White Sox family today,” White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf said in a statement. “None of us will ever forget that ninth inning of Game 4 in Houston, all that Bobby did for the 2005 World Series champions and for the entire Sox organization during his time in Chicago. He and his family knew cancer would be his toughest battle, and he will be missed as a husband, father, friend and teammate. He will forever hold a special place in all our hearts.”
After Jenks moved to Portugal last year, he was diagnosed with a deep vein thrombosis in his right calf. That eventually spread into blood clots in his lungs, prompting further testing. He was later diagnosed with adenocarcinoma and began undergoing radiation.
In February, as Jenks was being treated for the illness, the White Sox posted “We stand with you, Bobby” on Instagram, adding in the post that the club was “thinking of Bobby as he is being treated.”
In 2005, as the White Sox ended an 88-year drought en route to the World Series title, Jenks appeared in six postseason games. Chicago went 11-1 in the playoffs, and he earned saves in series-clinching wins in Game 3 of the ALDS at Boston, and Game 4 of the World Series against the Houston Astros.
In 2006, Jenks saved 41 games, and the following year, he posted 40 saves. He also retired 41 consecutive batters in 2007, matching a record for a reliever.
“You play for the love of the game, the joy of it,” Jenks said in his last interview with SoxTV last year. “It’s what I love to do. I [was] playing to be a world champion, and that’s what I wanted to do from the time I picked up a baseball.”
A native of Mission Hills, California, Jenks appeared in 19 games for the Red Sox and was originally drafted by the then-Anaheim Angels in the fifth round of the 2000 draft.
Jenks is survived by his wife, Eleni Tzitzivacos, their two children, Zeno and Kate, and his four children from a prior marriage, Cuma, Nolan, Rylan and Jackson.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
NEW YORK — The New York Yankees, digging for options to bolster their infield, have signed third baseman Jeimer Candelario to a minor league contract and assigned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, the affiliate announced Saturday.
Candelario, 31, was released by the Cincinnati Reds on June 23, halfway through a three-year, $45 million contract he signed before the start of last season. The decision was made after Candelario posted a .707 OPS in 2024 and batted .113 with a .410 OPS in 22 games for the Reds before going on the injured list in April with a back injury.
The performance was poor enough for Cincinnati to cut him in a move that Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall described as a sunk cost.
For the Yankees, signing Candelario is a low-cost flier on a player who recorded an .807 OPS just two seasons ago as they seek to find a third baseman to move Jazz Chisholm Jr. to second base, his natural position.
Candelario is the second veteran infielder the Yankees have signed to a minor league contract in the past three days; they agreed to terms with Nicky Lopez on Thursday.
Snell and Treinen each faced hitters Saturday, and Snell pitched two innings. Each could begin a rehab assignment after the All-Star break.
The 32-year-old Snell has pitched in two games for the Dodgers following his five-year, $182 million free agent deal after spending last season with the San Francisco Giants and three before that with the San Diego Padres. He is a two-time Cy Young Award winner.
“(Snell) looked good. He looked really good,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I don’t know what the velo was but the ball was coming out really well. He used his entire pitch mix. I thought the delivery was clean, sharp, so really positive day.”
The Dodgers’ starting rotation has been injury-prone this season but is starting to get a boost from Shohei Ohtani, the two-way superstar who is working as an opener in his return from elbow surgery.
Treinen is looking to get back to his role in the back end of the bullpen. He threw one inning Saturday.
“Blake Treinen I thought was really good as well,” Roberts said. “Both those guys should be ready at some point in time shortly after the All-Star break.”
