Phillies crush Marlins, Wheeler bolsters Cy Young resume Originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
MIAMI — Rob Thomson is not a voter for the National League Cy Young Award. That’s a privilege granted only to active members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America, which is probably best for the integrity of the process since the Phillies manager is hardly a neutral observer.
“There have been a lot of pitchers who have had good years,” he said Friday at loanDepot Park. “But Zack Wheeler, to me — and I’m obviously biased — has been very consistent over the years I’ve been here. His ability to come through in big games. Not just playoff games. When we’ve needed a win, or we’ve needed a lot of innings to help the bullpen, he’s done it. He’s done it every time.”
Not always, perhaps, but consistently enough that the consensus view at this point is that there are two leading contenders for that particular piece of hardware, neck and neck, coming down the final turn and into the final stretch: Wheeler and Atlanta’s Chris Sale.
Sale may have a very narrow lead at the moment, but there are three-and-a-bit weeks left in the season and anything can still happen.
Wheeler continued to prove his worth Friday night in the Phillies’ 16-2 victory over the Marlins. He allowed just two soft hits in six innings, striking out seven and walking one.
“It seemed like he was on autopilot,” shortstop Trea Turner said.
The only run Wheeler allowed came in the fourth on an infield hit by Connor Norby, a walk to Jake Burger and a two-out grounder up the middle by Otto Lopez that bounced off second base and rolled to left for one of the strangest doubles you’ll ever see.
“I could have pitched more,” Thomson said. “But I thought it was foolish to leave him out in the seventh inning with such a big lead.”
Wheeler is now 14-6 with a 2.59 ERA in 28 starts. His WHIP is 0.96 and opponents are hitting .193 off him. He has pitched 173⅔ innings, striking out 190.
Sale, whose next scheduled game is against the Blue Jays on Sunday, is 16-3, 2.46 in 26 starts. His WHIP is 1.01 with a .218 opponents’ batting average. He has struck out 206 in 160⅔ innings.
“It would mean a lot (to win a Cy Young),” said Wheeler, who was edged out by Corbin Burns for the honor in 2021. “I’ve got some good competition that I’m going to face. At the same time, I’m just going out there trying to score zeros and hope for the best. And that’s all I can do. So I’m just going out there competing every time and hoping to put our team in a position to win.”
The Phillies have won six straight and 11 of their last 13. They lead the second-place Braves and Mets in the NL East by eight games. Their magic number is 14.
Less than two hours before first pitch, the Marlins announced a pitching change. Their scheduled starter, right-hander Edward Cabrera, had been ruled out because of “migraine-like symptoms.” Left-hander Austin Kitchen got the ball in his place.
That didn’t work out so well.
Five of the first six batters he faced in the top of the first inning reached base: Kyle Schwarber on a throwing error by first baseman Burger, Turner and Bryson Stott on ground balls that barely missed shortstop Xavier Edwards’ glove; JT Realmuto on a ground ball that third baseman Norby couldn’t handle and a clean single by Bryce Harper.
Three goals scored.
In the second, it was more of the same. A double by Johan Rojas, an RBI single by Schwarber, a two-run homer by Turner, another double by Harper and a hit by Realmuto with two outs.
Four more scored. Or, to put it another way, midway through the second inning, the Marlins were just one run away from being allowed to use a position player to pitch because the score was out of control and there were 21 outs left.
That meant Wheeler had to work to keep pace from the start.
“Those types of games are tough, but at the same time you have to throw and throw well and know how to do it,” he said. “I was just throwing the ball against the wall a few times. I did some work with the weighted ball to try to stay loose. But I’ll take all the run support I can get.”
Before the game was over, every Phillies position player entered the game. Every starter got a hit, including three each from Turner, Harper, Kody Clemens and Rojas. Turner and Schwarber both homered. The 16 runs were the most the Phillies had scored all season, eclipsing the 14 they scored against the Giants on May 4.
And, yes, outfielder David Hensley made his pitching debut and led the Marlins in the final two innings.
NEXT MAN DOWN
Realmuto left Friday night’s game in the fourth inning after being hit by a foul ball to his left knee in his previous at-bat. It was announced that he had suffered a contusion and would undergo further evaluation.
“It’s OK,” Thomson said after the game. “We’ll look at it (on Saturday), but Stubby (Garrett Stubbs) was going to start anyway. That was planned.”
That came hours after it was announced that third baseman Alec Bohm had been placed on the disabled list with a left hand strain and a day after outfielder Austin Hays was placed on the disabled list with a kidney infection.
NEXT
The Marlins series continues Saturday with Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola (12-6, 3.29) facing right-hander Darren McCaughan (0-0, 8.74) at 4:10 p.m. and right-hander Seth Johnson (making his major league debut) taking on right-hander Max Meyer (3-5, 5.68) in the Sunday finale at 1:40 p.m.
