PHILLIES PULL OFF HEIST: De La Cruz's Bloop Dagger Caps 5-Run Comeback Sweep

MINNEAPOLIS — The Philadelphia Phillies were down five, looking at a get-away day disaster. Then the bats woke up, the baseball gods smirked, and Bryan De La Cruz turned a death sentence into a victory lap.

De La Cruz ripped a two-run single in the eighth inning — a seeing-eye roller that snuck between first baseman Royce Lewis and the bag — and the Phillies stormed back from a 5-0 deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 7-5 on Sunday, sweeping the series and sending a message to the rest of the league.

From flat to furious

Philadelphia looked buried early. Andrew Painter's control abandoned him in the first inning: two singles and a walk loaded the bases with two outs, and then Brooks Lee unloaded a grand slam to right — after just missing one by inches on the previous pitch. Kody Clemens added a solo shot in the third to make it 5-0 and put the Phillies on the ropes.

That's when the comeback engine kicked in. Alec Bohm launched a three-run homer in the sixth to fuel a four-run inning, and suddenly the deficit was a one-run game. The Phillies kept grinding, and their relentless at-bats finally broke through in the eighth.

Eighth-inning magic

Bohm tied it with a bloop RBI single, then De La Cruz delivered the dagger. Andrew Morris (4-4) took the loss, allowing all three runs in the eighth — a brutal ending for a reliever who'd surrendered just two earned runs in 28 1/3 innings over his previous 27 appearances since June 12.

Orion Kerkering (7-1) grabbed the win after tossing a 1-2-3 seventh inning, and Jhoan Duran picked up his 26th save with a scoreless ninth.

Numbers and notes

Philadelphia has now won five of seven. Minnesota, meanwhile, keeps spiraling — falling to 4-10 in August after dropping 10 of their last 14.

Shortstop Trea Turner was available but stayed glued to the bench after fouling a ball off his right knee on Saturday.

Up next

The Phillies return home to host Miami on Monday with Cristopher Sánchez (15-4, 2.54) taking the hill against Miami's Janson Junk (6-7, 4.41). Minnesota kicks off a series with Atlanta as Bailey Ober (7-4, 4.64) faces Braves lefty Martín Pérez (8-6, 2.96).