TORONTO — On Saturday night, after going 0-for-3 with a walk against Atlanta, Kyle Schwarber lingered late in the batting cage with the Phillies’ hitting coaches. As a DH, it’s his 10th major league season, but this year he faces a new challenge: right-handed batting.

That’s an odd challenge, considering how successful he’s been against that group in the past. But the discrepancy is real: Schwarber entered Tuesday’s game with a batting average of .193 against righties and .315 against lefties. He hadn’t hit a home run against either since Aug. 14.

He wanted to solve the problem and did some right-handed drills with assistant coach Rafael Peña. Hitting coach Kevin Long encouraged his student to trust himself. His ability to hit right-handed didn’t disappear in a single season. But that doesn’t mean this season was easy.

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“I don’t think I’ve ever said it in my career — ‘Oh, you’re much better against one side than the other,'” Schwarber said. “And it’s frustrating. You pride yourself on being a good hitter. And it doesn’t really matter what hand it is, but when it gets to that point … you just think, ‘Why is this so obvious?'”

Schwarber left the batting cage feeling better than when he arrived. And on Tuesday night, in a 10-9 win over the Blue Jays, all that work paid off.

He hit a home run in the first inning against right-handed starter Chris Bassitt. He hit a double against Bassitt in the third inning and another home run against Bassitt in the fourth inning. He capped it off with an RBI single against left-hander Genesis Cabrera in the seventh inning and capped off his night with a three-run home run against right-hander Chad Green in the ninth inning.

According to Phillies PR, there are only two players in franchise history who have had five hits and three home runs in one game. One is Schwarber, the other is Mike Schmidt.

Schwarber doesn’t like to boast about his achievements. He is proud of the work that goes into the results, and for that reason Tuesday was particularly gratifying.

“You put yourself in a good shooting position, and when you do that and you’re on time, I can fully utilize my greatest strength – my eyes,” said Schwarber. “And I think that’s the greatest thing we’ve been able to accomplish so far.”

“You put yourself in a good shooting position, and when you do that and you’re on time, I can make my greatest strength – my eyes – work for me,” Schwarber said. “And I think that’s the biggest thing we’ve been able to accomplish so far.”

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The key will be consistency. Schwarber said he’s had weeks where he felt like he was making progress against right-handers, only to stumble later. But hitting 5 for 6 with three home runs was as good a start as anyone could hope for.

“Unbelievable,” manager Rob Thomson said of his DH.

Schwarber’s big night played a big role in the Phillies’ win on Tuesday, but not the only one. After Tyler Phillips allowed six earned runs on eight hits in just two-thirds of an inning, the Phillies slowly but steadily began to cut into the Blue Jays’ lead.

Nick Castellanos hit an RBI force out and Bryson Stott hit an RBI double to add two runs in the third inning. Toronto’s pitching staff managed six walks in total, and the Phillies took advantage. In the seventh inning, reliever Erik Swanson managed a run by walk. In the next at-bat, pinch-hitter Kody Clemens got Swanson on 11 pitches and hit a dribbler down the left field line to score Stott.

The bullpen did a good job of keeping the game close. Taijuan Walker, making his debut in the Phillies bullpen, pitched 1-2-3 innings, allowing two singles in the fifth inning and a two-run home run to Vladimir Guerrero in the sixth. Thomson was encouraged by the lack of hard contact.

“He had 31 strikes,” Thomson said. “He got the lead off, the first pitch struck out. I thought his split had a little bit of a low point, which was good to see, but he ran his fastball through the zone and forced them to put the ball in play. And he was very successful.”

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After Schwarber gave his team the lead in the ninth, Matt Strahm kept it in the bottom of the ninth – but not without making it close. He struck out Will Wagner and Alejandro Kirk and then allowed a solo home run by Leo Jiménez, putting the game at one point.

Ultimately, that didn’t matter. Strahm made Ernie Clement pop out and secured the win.

“There was no feeling of defeat,” Schwarber said. “It just felt like everyone had a good attitude and it showed. We had some really good at-bats against Bassitt, who has traditionally played really well against us. And of course the bullpen did a fantastic job of keeping us in the game.”

“Tai was great, coming out there and giving us innings. And even Alvarado came out in the (third). Just keep going down the line. The guys always kept us in the game and gave us a chance.”

Bryce Harper with a strange swing in the ninth and Castellanos hit-by-pitch

Castellanos was hit in the thigh by a 96 mph sinker in the eighth inning. He slowly walked to first base and continued down the line to shake off the hit. Thomson described it as a “sore spasm” and said the Phillies would look at it tomorrow.

Bryce Harper pitched oddly in the ninth inning. Thomson said he “twisted his elbow a little bit,” but Harper is fine.