Zack Wheeler’s command was off as he struggled through his six innings, but the Phillies are playing so well right now it didn’t matter. They rushed the Marlins early, hitting the ball hard again and again and playing a more solid defense in a 4-1 win, their sixth in a row.
They want to step on the bad teams early, and that’s exactly what the Phillies have been doing for the past two weeks. They crossed the plate again in the first inning on Tuesday and have beaten their opponents 17-1 in the first inning of their last 11 games.
The Phillies have had their problems with the Marlins for years, but not recently. Tuesday’s win was the sixth in their last seven games against Miami.
The Phils are 61-48 after winning 11 of 12. According to the Baseball Reference, they went into the night with a 92.8% chance of making the playoffs and that percentage was only going up.
On a night of rain delays of 32 and 33 minutes, they were never behind. Wheeler needed 59 pitches to go through the first three scoreless innings before JJ Bleday greeted him with a leadoff homer in the fourth. JT Realmuto and Jean Segura immediately responded with solo shots to the left.
This is probably the hottest thing Realmuto has ever experienced as a Phillie. In his last 18 games, he’s hit .400 with five doubles, two triples, six homers and 19 RBI.
“I always thought (his power) would come back,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He’s so athletic and so strong, he’s in such great shape. It’s going to take a while for that to go away I would think.”
The Phillies needed it all with Bryce Harper out and Kyle Schwarber not driving home in record time.
“When he gets that racquet going, it’s on another level,” Wheeler said of his batterymate. “He does all the homework and he’s the best in the game for a reason.
“Earlier this year when he was struggling a bit it was just nice to have him behind the plate. First and foremost he names a great game, I don’t really have to shake him off much. Some pitchers like to name their own games , but mostly he’s my game caller.”
Segura has also been swinging it well for the last few nights. He had five hits in six at-bat at one point from Saturday night through Tuesday’s series opener against Miami.
Wheeler, an undeniable ace, did what the greats do by limiting damage even without his best stuff. He held the Marlins on a five-hit run for six innings despite walking three. It helped that Miami, averaging 1.7 runs in their last 10 games, just can’t score.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have come out like this tonight earlier,” Wheeler said. “It was tough, it was a grind. I felt like everything was going right when I hit a pitch, but when I didn’t I didn’t know where the ball was going. Just one of those days for me , where I was a bit out of sync It was definitely a grind and I was happy to get away with six innings.
Despite feeling down, Wheeler improved to 11-5 with a 2.63 ERA through 21 starts.
This was an important win for the Phillies considering how the rest of their week is shaping up. They face Sandy Alcantara on Wednesday, Max Scherzer on Friday and Jacob deGrom on Saturday. Things don’t get much easier on Sunday against Chris Bassitt, who has fired 19 straight innings for the Mets.
This week will be a tough test, but one that a competitive team should welcome. I have to beat the best to be the best.
“It’s a challenge we cannot dodge,” said Thomson. “We’re up against some really good pitchers over the next six days. We just have to take the same approach we took – getting good pitches to hit and just fighting.”
As has been the topic for weeks, the Phils received posts everywhere Tuesday night. Schwarber, Realmuto and Segura had multi-hit games. Driving in one run, Alec Bohm scored in Realmuto’s first inning. Edmundo Sosa made several difficult shortstop plays look easy and has been defensive as promised so far. Jose Alvarado, David Robertson and Seranthony Dominguez combined for three innings scoreless to end the game.
The Phillies are looking to win another series against Alcantara (10-4, 1.88) and the Marlins on Wednesday night when Noah Syndergaard (6-8, 4.02) makes his second start with the team.
Subscribe to Phillies Talk: Apple Podcasts | Google Play | Spotify | Stapler | Art19 | Watch on YouTube