After an electric first game of a day-night doubleheader, Phillies fans were riding high. It’s always sweet at Citizens Bank Park when there’s a chance for a sweep. Even sweeter when the weather cooperates and goes from an overcast afternoon to a gorgeous evening. Unfortunately for the hometown fans, the result on the field was one of the uglier ones of the season.
National League East rivals each sent their aces to the mound in the nightcap. A match-up between reigning N.L. Cy Young award winner, Chris Sale, and the 2nd place finisher, Zack Wheeler, normally is a recipe for a great outing at the ballpark. The victor in last season’s race for the award stayed the course, while Wheels lost control – and the game.
Philadelphia’s offense sputtered, while Atlanta’s hit top speed and Philly’s pen couldn’t slow them down. They may have won the series, but the Phillies head into the weekend on a down note – dropping the finale 9-3. Let’s see how we got there.
Wheels fell off
Zack Wheeler is undoubtedly the ace of the incredible Phillies starting staff and one of the best pitchers in the game. There’s no denying that. Thursday night, however, was not his night.
It started in a way that most Wheeler starts do. He struck out two in the first on high fastballs and retired the Braves in order in the second. Zack was feeling himself, averaging 97.1 MPH on his fastball in the early going and 96.9 on the night (his season average was 95.7). He added an exclamation point to things by striking out all three hitters in the third on different pitches. Then came the fourth.
If you look at MLB Gameday or Baseball Savant, nothing sticks out as to why this inning didn’t go well. There was a mixed bag of results, but they all added up to four earned runs against the Phillies ace. Back-to-back singles with exit velocities of 85 MPH or less started things, but Austin Riley’s two RBI double and Ozzie Albies’ two RBI home run both left the bat at 95+ MPH. Even the final two outs of the inning were hit hard to deep center.
In Zack Wheeler fashion, he bounced back – even if it was for a little – recording another strikeout in the fifth frame. He also recorded his second walk before escaping without further damage. With 95 pitches on his ledger, manager Rob Thomson sent his ace back out for the sixth with visions of his ace getting through the storm and keeping the contest within reach, but that would not be the case. Wheeler would walk back-to-back hitters on nine total pitches, and his night would end after 5.1 innings pitched and 107 pitches.
Both runners he walked in the sixth would come around to score, and Wheeler would have his worst outing of the 2025 season. The six earned runs against him marks the first time he’s surrendered that much in one game this year. Since joining the Phillies, Wheeler has made 145 starts, and has only surrendered six or more earned runs nine times – or 6.2% of his appearances. Clearly, a rare off night for the top dog in Philadelphia.
Phillies’ offense sputters, kick starts late
Philadelphia’s offense couldn’t seem to handle the Braves big left-hander. Sale looked every bit the reigning Cy Young, and reached a major milestone to close out his night. Chris struck out J.T. Realmuto and Edmundo Sosa back-to-back to end the sixth, becoming the fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 career strikeouts in MLB history.
Despite basically using just two pitches, Sale’s control and arm slot are a deadly combination. I asked Thomson after the game what makes him so tough on hitters:
“It’s arm angle, it’s extension. So whatever you read up on the board for velocity – probably add a couple miles to it because he’s on top of you. And he throws strikes. He can locate his fastball, and the slider – I mean, it’s big, it’s tough. It’s tough on lefties and righties, and he changes speeds with it. He’s got good stuff. He has for a long time.”
Sale went six innings, surrendering just two hits and three walks while striking out eight on 102 pitches.
Phillies hitters would eventually start pushing some runs across the plate, but it was too little too late. An infield single from Kyle Schwarber started things in the eighth, and Nick Castellanos’ double (his 5th hit of the double header) put he and Kyle in scoring position. RBIs from Realmuto and Sosa would bring the game closer, before Atlanta added another in the top of the ninth to keep the Phillies at arms length. Turner would knock in Stott in the ninth, but the game was already in-hand for the Braves
In Conclusion
Rob Thomson did provide updates on his two injured stars during his post game presser. He noted that Aaron Nola threw a 26 pitch bullpen and that he reportedly “felt great” afterwards. The team will see how he feels tomorrow before determining next steps for the right-hander. Bryce Harper was unavailable today, as he’s still experiencing swelling in his right elbow after being hit by a pitch there Tuesday night.
“I think (it was a positive day for him), but there’s still some swelling in there, Thomson explained. “He’s still got some pain, so we want to knock that out before we run him out there because he’s going to change his swing and, you know, it could lead to a lot of problems.”
The Phillies manager add that he does not think his star first baseman will require an IL stint at this point, but right now they “don’t know. (They) will check it out tomorrow.“
Philadelphia welcomes Milwaukee to town tomorrow for a three game set before grabbing their passports and heading north to their manager’s home country for a quick series against Toronto. Tomorrow will see Taijuan Walker take the pill for the Phillies. Game starts at 6:45 p.m.
inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
