A very good Friday: Phillies 7, Marlins 2

Zack Wheeler and the bats easily handled the Fish

The Phillies dominated the Marlins on both sides of the game with home runs from Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber paired with 13 strikeouts from Zack Wheeler in a 7-2 win in the first game of a weekend series. Philadelphia chased Miami starter Sandy Alcantara from the game after two innings and six runs allowed. Meanwhile, Wheeler rebounded from two lackluster starts to complete seven innings and allow five hits with two runs.

Jumping out early

The offense didn’t waste much time getting after Alcantara. Bryson Stott started the game with an eight pitch at-bat that ended in a flyout before Trea Turner walked on four pitches. That set up Harper to hit a titanic blast into the second deck in an 0-2 count on the sixth pitch of the at-bat to give the Phillies an early 2-0 lead.

Rather than being content, the Phillies’ bats continued to add on in the second. Max Kepler walked after a seven pitch at-bat before J.T. Realmuto singled to put two runners on with no outs. Alec Bohm then singled Kepler in with a base hit to center field to push the lead to 3-0. Despite his well-documented early season struggles, Bohm has now collected a hit in five straight ballgames.

Johan Rojas followed that up with another single that scored Realmuto and increased the lead to 4-0.

Bohm and Rojas were both able to advance into scoring position with a wild pitch and Stott took advantage with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-0. Alcantara uncorked another wild pitch with two outs that allowed Rojas to score and increase the lead to 6-0. The former Cy Young winner would exit the game after getting the third out in the second inning. Alcantara was charged with 6 runs on 4 hits with two walks, two wild pitches, and one strikeout.

Kyle Schwarber added the extra point with a bomb to center field in the fifth inning for his seventh homer of the season. He is now tied for the National League lead in home runs with Tommy Edman.

Wheels back on track

Zack Wheeler started the game off right on the mound as well. He retired the Marlins on just seven pitches in the first, all for strikes. The inning was punctuated with a three-pitch strikeout of Kyle Stowers, the first of Wheeler’s 13 Ks on the night.

Wheeler ran into a little trouble in the third when a pair of singles put two on with two outs, but he was able to strikeout Jesús Sánchez to end the threat and collect his fifth punchout through three innings.

He came back out for the fourth and utterly destroyed the Marlins hitters, striking out the side on just 10 pitches. It was the first of two times Wheeler K’d the side, with the latter instance coming in his final inning of work in the seventh.

That was an inning after allowing a two-run homer to Eric Wagaman in the sixth, the fifth long ball surrendered by Wheeler through five starts. That mistake notwithstanding, Wheeler was excellent and finished the night strong. His final line was 7 innings, five hits, two runs, no walks, and 13 strikeouts.

Tanner Banks and Jose Ruiz took over for Wheeler to pitch the final two innings and allow no hits and just two walks. Altogether, Phillies pitchers collected 16 strikeouts, with nine of them looking.

Tomorrow’s matchup

Taijuan Walker (1-1, 2.30 ERA) will look to find his groove from his first two starts when he takes the mound against Cal Quantrill (1-1, 5.79 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 PM tomorrow afternoon.