Phillies hope bats stay hot in series finale vs. Royals

The Philadelphia Phillies will aim to ride the momentum of a dominant offensive performance into the rubber match of a three-game series against the host Kansas City Royals on Sunday afternoon.

After losing four of five games coming into Saturday, the National League East-leading Phillies had a season-high nine extra-base hits and a campaign-best-tying 18 hits in an 11-2 romp over the Royals.

J.T. Realmuto led the way with a pair of three-run homers to highlight a career-high seven-RBI performance. Realmuto's RBI total tied a franchise record for the most by a catcher in a game. Carlos Ruiz also had seven RBIs in a game against the Atlanta Braves on May 2, 2012.

"Slowly but surely, I've been feeling more comfortable in the box," Realmuto told NBC Sports Philadelphia. "Making better swing decisions, and usually when I start doing that, good things happen."

Realmuto has hit safely in three straight games and in 10 of his past 11.

Bryson Stott matched a career high with four hits, and Trea Turner went 3-for-5 with two RBIs as the Phillies posted just their second win in their past six games.

Kansas City, in turn, sustained its second loss in its past nine games after mustering just five hits and going 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The Royals' offense was limited to Freddy Fermin's RBI single in the fifth inning and sacrifice fly in the seventh.

"Some of it was us, some of it was them," Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. "They beat us up pretty good. But we did not do the things that we can control, as well as we can do them. So, some of it is on us, some of it, you have to credit them."

Philadelphia will turn to left-hander Kolby Allard (1-0, 3.46 ERA) in the series finale vs. Kansas City right-hander Seth Lugo (14-7, 3.02). Allard is getting the nod in his first start since Aug. 8 as a means to give star Zack Wheeler an extra day of rest.

Allard picked up his first win since 2022 in his last outing after allowing one run on six hits in five innings of a 6-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Aug. 8.

Allard, 27, is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two relief appearances against the Royals.

Lugo will look to continue his career season on Sunday. He has personal bests in wins and strikeouts (143) after rebounding from a disastrous performance in which he allowed a season-high eight runs (seven earned) vs. the Minnesota Twins on Aug. 13 by yielding just two on four hits and fanning eight over seven innings in a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday.

"Whenever you have a bad one and have to sit on it for a week, it's tough," Lugo said. "You want to get out there as soon as possible. To bounce back after a couple of rough ones, it feels real nice."

Lugo, 34, is 3-2 with a 4.58 ERA in 34 career appearances (six starts) against the Phillies.

--Field Level Media