Phillies 12, Cardinals 3: Painter's Seven and Schwarber's MLB-Leading 38th

Eight wins in a row, and St. Louis never caught the early wave

August 22, 2026 - Philadelphia - Edmundo Sosa doubled home two in the first, and the Philadelphia Phillies never let the St. Louis Cardinals back into a Saturday night that ended 12-3.

Every Phillies starter had at least one hit. Andrew Painter threw seven innings with eight strikeouts. Kyle Schwarber added his MLB-leading 38th homer in the eighth. The winning streak hit eight.

Three in the first, four in the third

Schwarber scored on Alec Bohm's single in the first. Sosa then ripped a two-run double to center that scored Bohm and Trea Turner. 3-0 before St. Louis had taken a swing that mattered.

Quinn Mathews, called up again with Hunter Dobbins joining the injured list, lasted five innings and was charged with seven earned runs on 10 hits. All of that damage came in the first three frames. He did strike out Bryce Harper three times. That was the only part of the early card that favored St. Louis.

The third finished Mathews' night as a competitive start. De La Cruz singled home two. J.T. Realmuto lifted a sacrifice fly. Derek Hill doubled home another. 7-0. Bohm had two hits and scored twice. Sosa finished with two hits and two RBI. The lineup looked like a conveyor belt that refused to jam.

Harper's three-run shot, then Schwarber's 38th

St. Louis scratched one across in the sixth when Alec Burleson singled home a run. Philadelphia answered the same inning. Schwarber's sacrifice fly made it 8-1. Harper then drove a three-run homer to right-center, his 26th of the year, off Ryan Fernandez. 11-1. The three punchouts from Mathews did not survive the next arm.

JJ Wetherholt homered to center in the eighth, his 17th. Schwarber answered with a solo shot to right, 367 feet, off Pedro Pagés for No. 38 in the majors. That is the number that will travel with the box score. Painter's seven innings are the reason the lead never felt fragile.

Painter's longest night of the year

Painter (3-8) allowed one run on five hits, walked nobody, and struck out eight in 103 pitches. Demoted in June after a stretch that left him 0-8 in nine decisions with an ERA above seven, he has gone 2-0 in five starts since his July 31 recall. The ERA still sits at 6.04. Nights like this are how it keeps moving the other way.

José Alvarado and Chase Shugart finished the last two innings. St. Louis scored once in each. Neither run threatened the result. Mathews fell to 0-2. The Cardinals managed seven hits and never put a runner on via walk against Painter.

AthX Engine graded the rout from the mound first

AthX Engine put Philadelphia at 24 team fantasy points, the top club on the slate. Painter led all pitchers at 26. Schwarber scored 10 hitting fantasy points on the sacrifice fly and the solo shot. Fantasy points measure the box. Price is a separate market number.

What's next

Kyle Leahy faces Cristopher Sánchez in the series finale. An eight-game streak does not rewrite a season by itself, but it does explain why AthX Engine keeps the Phillies near the top of a Saturday board when Painter goes seven and the lineup hits in every slot.

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*Sources: ESPN recap, ESPN box score, MLB schedule, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*