PHILADELPHIA — Bottom for Bryson Stott hit in late July, his batting average at .228 after four straight hitless games.

With a few adjustments to his playing time and tweaks to his swing, Stott has come to life in August, and with him, the Phillies offense.

Stott went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs, including the single that broke the dam in the seventh inning of Wednesday’s 11-2 win to finish a series sweep over Seattle.

The 20-hit outburst capped the Phillies’ most explosive three-game run since July 8-14, 2007, with 48 hits and 29 runs.

Stott had struggled, but a mechanical adjustment to lower his hands have brought him back.

“In ’23 and the start of ’24, (my hands) were pretty low, and you take so many swings a day that they start creeping up and creeping up,” he said. “I didn’t feel it until I started going back, and I’m like, something looks weird. And I just try to simplify it even more.”

Since Aug. 1, Stott is hitting .362 (14-for-47) with 10 RBIs. Tuesday brought his first home run of the month and eighth of the season. He has eight extra-base hits in 18 August games, tying the most he’s had in a month this season (in 27 games in March/April).

“He’s had some really good at-bats,” manager Rob Thomson said Tuesday. “They’ve changed his load, I guess is what you’d call it. There’s not as much waggle on his bat. So he knows where his club head is.”

An effective Stott in the nine-hole lengthens the order immensely. His headiness is valuable even when struggling and magnified when he’s hot.

The Phillies led 3-1 when Stott stepped into the box in the seventh. At that point, they had 13 hits but were just 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position.

With runners on the corners and a hit-and-run on, Stott smacked a ball the opposite way that skipped past Seattle third baseman Eugenio Suarez, scrambling to cover a possible throw behind. That scored a run, then Trea Turner, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper followed with RBI hits.

“It’s just knowing that getting a hit ties the game, gives us a lead or adds on to a lead, is always a good feeling,” Stott said. “It’s a lot of good baserunning going on these past few weeks of first-and-thirds and making those situations a little less stressful, knowing you could hit a sac fly or things like that.”

• • •

Thomson made what, by his standards, is a bold call in the outfield. He sat scuffling Nick Castellanos against a righty, opting for Harrison Bader in center, Brandon Marsh in left and Max Kepler in right.

Marsh singled, scored a run and made a diving play to end the fourth. Bader singled twice, was hit by a pitch and scored twice. Kepler homered, his 13th, doubled and singled.

Ever the diplomat, Thomson called it, “more of a rotation than anything else” while professing a belief that he has four starting outfielders.

“I think they’re all everyday players, to tell you the truth,” Thomson said. “It’s just, you’ve got to keep them all rested and sharp at the same time, if you can.”

Bader, acquired at the trade deadline from Minnesota, had gotten just 44 plate appearances, going 7-for-37 (.189). For his career, the righty hits right-handed pitching better than lefties.

Kepler, whose average was teetering on the brink of .200 earlier this month, has improved immensely. He’s 11-for-32 (.344) in his last eight games with two homers and five extra-base hits. For some reason, he’s batting .395 (17-for-43) when he plays in right, as opposed to .199 as a left fielder.

Castellanos, who hit .254 with 23 homers and 86 RBIs last year when he started all 162 games, is batting .255 this year with 16 homers. He’s at .194 with four homers in 26 games since the All-Star Break. One of the worst outfield defenders in baseball, he was prickly when removed from a game for a defensive sub in June, then was benched June 17 for an “inappropriate comment” to Thomson. He did jam his knee in a July game in New York, which offers some cover to the rotation.

• • •

Officially, thanks to a changed scoring decision from Sunday’s game, Turner’s 1,500th career hit was an infield single in Washington, not Monday’s home run.

Also officially, Turner is incandescently hot at the plate.

Turner went 5-for-6 to up his hitting streak to 10 games. In those 10 games, he’s 23-for-46, an even .500.

Turner also stole two bases to reach 31 for the season, his seventh 30-steal season. His career-high is 46 in 2017.

“I think he’s using the entire field right now,” Thomson said. “He’s thinking line drive, because he’s going to get his home runs, but he’s using the middle of the field.”

• • •

The Phillies are on pace for their best season of interleague play.

With the Seattle sweep, they are 26-16 against the American League. Their best record in the expanded interleague slate is 28-18 in 2023. They went 26-20 last year.

The Phillies are 16-8 against the AL since the break, having started the second half with seven straight series against AL foes. They’ve won series against Boston, the Yankees, Detroit and Baltimore plus sweeps of Texas and Seattle.

The Phillies welcome Kansas City and Minnesota to Philadelphia in September, the latter to finish the season.

• • •

Jose Alvarado made his first appearance since his 80-game suspension for a positive test for performance-enhancing drugs.

Alvarado entered in the eighth, the Phillies having just turned a 3-2 lead into 8-2. It was the kind of low-leverage situation Thomson hoped to ease him in with. He received an overwhelmingly warm welcome from the 38,331 in attendance.

“I’m just extremely happy to receive that, to have the reception when I first came back,” Alvarado said via a translator. “It’s just something that makes me really happy. And I’m very optimistic.”

“I thought it was great,” Thomson said “I really do. I was a little bit concerned. I didn’t know how our fan base would react, but I think they understand that it was an honest mistake. And I really love the fact that they welcomed him back.”

Alvarado worked a 1-2-3 inning, with a broken bat and a strikeout of Cal Raleigh.

• • •

In the battle of sluggers, Schwarber hit his second homer in as many nights and 45th of the season in the eighth. Schwarber’s first-inning sacrifice fly to score Turner, who led off with a triple, was his 105th RBI, setting a career high. He had 104 each of the last two years.

He’s up to 109 after a two-run single and the two-run homer.

On the other side, Mariners catcher Raleigh homered Sunday for his MLB-leading 47th. Phillies pitchers held him to 1-for-12 in the series with a double, a walk and eight strikeouts.

• • •

NOTES >> J.T. Realmuto singled in the first. He’s hitting .324 since June 1. … David Robertson worked his first back-to-back since returning. He came into the seventh inning of a 3-1 game, allowing the 39th homer of the season to Suarez on a hung breaking ball, then got two outs before a walk led to Tanner Banks finishing the inning. … The Phillies are off Thursday before renewing acquaintance with the Nationals. Taijuan Walker (4-6, 3.34 ERA) starts Friday. Washington’s rotation is TBA.

Originally Published: August 20, 2025 at 6:10 PM EDT