Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber suffered a right calf strain in the bottom of the fifth inning during the game against the Miami Marlins.
As a result of his injury, team’s manager Rob Thomson said Schwarber would not likely play against the New York Mets on Friday night. Regardless, he claimed Schwarber’s injury was “mild”.
Meanwhile, Schwarber ruled himself out from playing against the series opener Max Scherzer.
“I probably won’t play (Friday night),” Schwarber said. “I’ll do as much work as I can (with the team’s athletic training staff) and try to get back as soon as I can.”
“I want to be back as quickly as I can but I also don’t want to do anything outrageous to hurt the team and be down for an extended amount of time.”
Schwarber said that he had been experiencing discomfort in his right calf for a couple of weeks prior. He was noticeably limping in left field at the top of the inning.
Schwarber has been leading with 34 home runs and has contributed to the Phillies since June 1. Matt Vierling is expected to replace Schwarber on Friday night. Schwarber would also not assume whether he could play as the designated hitter throughout the series on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s something I’ve been managing through,” the two-time All-Star said.
“It wasn’t anything serious. Today it just got a little bit tighter and tighter and tighter, and I just felt if there was a ball hit into the outfield, I wouldn’t be serviceable.”
Losing to Marlins
After scoring an average of 7.3 runs and hitting 10 doubles and 16 home runs in the first six home games victory, the Phillies lost against the Marlins on Thursday.
Marlins pitcher Edward Cabrera was the highlight during the game as he retained impressive performance since returning from the injured list. He struck out six batters across 5 2/3 scoreless innings, allowing the Marlins to secure their three-game series and sending the team back to Miami with a 2-4 record. Cabrera allowed three hits with five walks and 14 strikeouts.
“I feel more confident this year,” Cabrera said. “I trust my secondary pitches and my fastball and myself. It’s just something overall, I feel better.”
Kyle Gibson, however, managed to give six quality innings. He pitched no-out, bases-loaded jam in the first inning and bounced off the mound. Unfortunately, in the second inning, Gibson had an obstacle with an unearned run on a hit by Joey Wendle due to the first basemen Rhys Hoskins committing an error. Shortstop Jean Segura also lost a ball to extend the inning.
Gibson successfully retired the Marlins in the third, fourth, and fifth inning before allowing a pair of two-out singles in the sixth. The first scored on a wild pitch while the second on a double by Lewin Diaz. The wild pitch made catcher Garret Stubbs unable to block with a man on third base.
Despite losing by 3-0, the Phillies still gave quite an impressive performance. Their victory against two NL East rivals has strengthened their position in the wild-card race, having 51 games to play.