Thanks to a great pitching performance from Zach Wheeler, the Philadelphia Phillies took Game 1 of the Wild Card series by defeating the Florida Marlins at Citizens Bank Park on Tuesday night.
By Chris Murray
For the Philadelphia Sunday SUN
ABOVE PHOTO: The Fightin’ Phillies celebrate win. Photo: Webster Riddick
In a short postseason series where runs are at a premium and goods pitching is a must, the Phillies got it when they needed it most in Game 1 of their best-of-three National League Wildcard Series against the Miami Marlins.
Thanks to the solid pitching of Zack Wheeler and some timely hitting, the Phillies pushed the Marlins to brink of elimination with a 4-1 win to take a 1-0 lead in the NLWS in front of a frenzied sell-out crowd of 45,662 fans at Citizens Bank Park.
On the mound, Wheeler set the tone on the mound for the Phillies with eight strikeouts and no walks while allowing just one run on five hits in six and two-thirds innings. He finished the game with a 0.75 in walks and hits per innings pitched (WHIP)
Bryce Harper scores a home run. Photo: Webster Riddick
“Wheels was fantastic all night,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “This guy has been consistent all year. He’s been really good. I thought tonight his stuff was as good or better than any other start all year.”
Wheeler kept the Marlins from mounting any serious rally by mixing his fastball with his sweeper pitch, which is a modified version of a slider.
But whatever you want to call it, Wheeler frustrated the Marlins hitters during his time on the mound.
“I think the story was Wheeler,” Marlins manager Skip Schumacher said. “He was excellent tonight. The sinker-sweeper combination gave us trouble. A lot of weak ground ball contact. We had a chance a few times to score a couple of runs. We just couldn’t get the two-out hit.”
Wheeler said the sweeper pitch was his go-to pitch against the Marlins and that he felt comfortable using it throughout his time on the mound.
“That was the best the sweeper’s been and I had a very good feel for where to start it and what it was going to do, no matter if I threw it up or down,” he said. “It was a big pitch for me tonight and we really relied a lot on it,” Wheeler said. “The fast ball was there with the (velocity) and command was there for the most part. I know they’re an aggressive team. We just gotta go right after them.”
Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper said that Wheeler’s performance on the mound gave the offense a big boost.
Photo: Webster Riddick
“Any time you have the faith in your pitch to go out there, it gives you that much of an edge as a team,” Harper said. “Zack’s one of those guys. I thought that he did a great job.”
When you look at the Phillies offense and you see that they were 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, you might conclude that it was a tough night for their hitters. But three runs were just enough for the Phillies to move one step closer to a date with the Atlanta Braves in National League Division Series.
The Phillies started the scoring in the third inning on an RBI double by third baseman Alec Bohm that drove home Johan Rojas, who also reached on a double after fouling off a bunch of pitches. In the fourth inning, catcher J.T. Realmuto singled and then went to third on a double by right fielder Nick Castellanos.
Second baseman Bryson Stott’s single to center scored Realmuto, but Castellanos was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second by Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisolm.
The Marlins scored their lone run of the game in the top of the seventh on a Bryan De La Cruz’s infield single to Bohm. It was the only the run Wheeler would give up. He was replaced by left-handed reliever Jose Alvarado.
After a wild pitch moved the Marlins runners to second and third, Alvarado struck out pinch hitter Yuli Gurriell swinging to end the Marlins threat.
“That was a big strike out,” Thomson said. “We knew Gurriell was going to pinch hit for (Jesus) Sanchez. We liked the matchup. Alvarado’s cutter has been fantastic in his last three or four outings.”
The Phillies got an insurance run on an RBI double by Castellanos that scored Harper, who ran through the sign by third base coach Dusty Wathan telling him to stay at third. While he doesn’t give Harper the leeway to run through a sign, Thomson said he admired his hustle.
“He’s just so aggressive. He wants to win. He wants to score,” Thomson said. “It’s not like I tell him, ‘Hey if somebody tells you not to run, go ahead and run if you want to. We don’t do that. But he’s so instinctive and so aggressive that sometimes he runs through stop sign.”
Harper said he didn’t pick up Wathan’s sign and that nine out of 10 times he would have stopped at third.
“It worked out that time. It got us to 4-1 and good momentum coming into the ninth inning,” Harper said.
Should the Phillies win tonight’s game against the Marlins, they’ll head to Atlanta to take on another NL East rival, the formidable Atlanta Braves. Aaron Nola (12-9, 4.46 ERA) will try and get them there when he starts Game 2 against Miami’s Braxton Garrett (9-7, 3.66). Game time is 8 p.m. and you can catch the contest on ESPN.
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