Fresh off of welcoming his fourth child into the world, Zack Wheeler looked sharp in his first start since May 29. His lone obstacle of the night was Kyle Tucker. The star right fielder took him deep in the 1st inning on a 98.3 MPH fastball.
Outside of that blemish, threw exceptionally well against a Chicago Cubs team tied for the 3rd-best team OPS in baseball (.772). Besides the homer, Wheeler struck out the side in the 1st and didn’t allow another hit until the 5th inning, a Matt Shaw single.
In the 6th, Wheeler got a morsel of revenge with a sprinkle of history. He struck out Kyle Tucker for his 1,000th career K as a member of the Phillies. He did so in 146 starts, the least amount by any Phillie to reach 1,000 K. He also reached 100 quality starts with the Phillies.
“It’s a testament to how good he is,” said manager Rob Thomson. “He really hasn’t been here that long and he has 1,000 strikeouts.”
Phillies Offense Battles
The struggling Phillies’ offense broke through in the bottom of the 4th. A leadoff walk by Kyle Schwarber gave way to singles from Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos. With the bases loaded, JT Realmuto beat out a double-play ball to collect his 23rd RBI. Edmundo Sosa grounded into a double play to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
Fresh-faced rookie Otto Kemp made his presence known (a theme in the game) in the bottom of the 5th with a liner over Dansby Swanson‘s head for his first major league hit. After an errant throw over to 1B by pitcher Matthew Boyd, Kemp scurried to 3B. Weston Wilson singled him in for the slim 2-1 lead.
Tanner Banks entered the game as the first reliever tasked with protecting the lead. The lefty worked through the Cubs’ 6-7-8 hitters without blemish. Matt Strahm could not do the same in the 8th. With one out, Ian Happ drove a middle-middle fastball out to the leftfield seats.
The Phillies now needed their offense to come through to end their 5-game losing streak. What occurred in the 8th was baffling. Nick Castellanos punched a ball down the line for a single but was thrown out at 2B by a half marathon. JT Realmuto singled after, but then a pinch-hitting Bryson Stott grounded into an easy 4-6-3 double play.
Orion Kerkering gave the Phillies another chance after allowing just a walk in the 9th.
Otto Kemp beat out a bleeder to start the 9th with a runner on 1st. Craig Counsell was ejected after a heated exchange with the home plate umpire. It looked like Counsell took issue with the route Kemp took to 1st.
Brandon Marsh, after a lengthy review, just narrowly escaped grounding into a double play. Manager Rob Thomson pinch-hit Max Kepler for Johan Rojas. He popped out to 2nd. Trea Turner grounded out to force extra innings.
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With Nico Hoerner placed at 2B, Jordan Romano entered to pitch the 10th. He got a groundout for the first out and to keep Hoener where he was. He then got back-to-back fly ball outs that, in the daytime, could’ve been homers.
Trea Turner got pegged as the Phillies’ ghost runner for the bottom of the inning. The Cubs intentionally walked Kyle Schwarber to great effect as Alec Bohm hit into a 5-3 double play. Castellanos followed with another grounder to 3B to push the game to the 11th.
Carlos Hernández was tasked with the 11th for the Phillies. He allowed an RBI double to Pete Crow-Armstrong but kept the Cubs’ lead at one.
The Phillies discovered a new type of baseball play in the bottom of the inning. They are calling it the bunt. JT Realmuto started the inning with an RBI single to tie the game at 3-3. Then, Bryson Stott and Otto Kemp both used the new bunt maneuver successfully, loading the bases.
Brandon Marsh drove a ball to the wall for the walk-off. The Phillies moved to 38-28 and ended their 5-game losing streak. Most amazingly, they put down 4 successful bunts; the 2 in the 11th and Johan Rojas’ two sacrifices.
“Four really good bunts tonight,” said Thomson postgame. “Mike Calitri handles our bunting and he does a great job.”
Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
