To begin their series with the Marlins, the Phillies carried over exactly what worked for them Thursday vs. the Giants.
The Phils again seized a quick lead and received a strong, strikeout-heavy performance from their starting pitcher. Zack Wheeler struck out 13 Marlins in a 7-2 win Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
In seven innings, Wheeler allowed five hits and two runs. He walked none.
Wheeler tossed a seven-pitch, all-strike first inning. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara was in for a much bumpier ride.
Though he lined out to center field, Bryson Stott had an exemplary, eight-pitch leadoff at-bat. Trea Turner walked and Bryce Harper then hammered a slider into the right field second deck.
A day after grabbing a 5-1 lead in the first inning against San Francisco, the Phillies stretched their advantage to 6-0 in the second. Alcantara needed 53 pitches to get four outs and didn’t reach the third inning.
“We’ve seen him a lot,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He probably wasn’t as sharp as he normally is, but I thought we were very disciplined. … I really liked our approach against him.”
Max Kepler opened the bottom of the second with another excellent at-bat and walked. J.T. Realmuto, Alec Bohm and Johan Rojas all smacked singles and the Phillies kept on scoring with assistance from two Alcantara wild pitches.
Meanwhile, Wheeler did smooth, no-nonsense work. He leaned on his four-seam fastball early and retired the first seven hitters he faced.
“Every time he goes out there, it’s special,” Harper said. “He pounds the zone, understands what he needs to do. I thought he was very sharp today.”
Wheeler said he “made a couple of adjustments” following a loss to the Cardinals in his last outing.
“Just getting into my front leg a little bit better,” he said. “My fastball was playing well, spinning nice and true how you want it to be. The split was playing well off of that. J.T. called a great game, just keeping them off balance, for the most part.”
Through five innings, one Marlin made it to second base. Eric Wagaman put Miami on the scoreboard with a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth, but the Phillies had no trouble seeing their win through.
Kyle Schwarber provided the team’s only run after the second inning when he cracked a long ball in the fifth off of lefty reliever Anthony Veneziano. Tanner Banks pitched a scoreless eighth and Jose Ruiz handled the ninth.
Twenty games in, the 2025 Phillies sit at 12-8.
Nick Castellanos returned to the lineup after leaving Thursday’s win with left hip flexor tightness. He went 2 for 3 before Kody Clemens replaced him in the fifth inning.
“At that time I didn’t really want him to run the bases,” Thomson said. “And we were up 7-0, so I felt pretty comfortable with it just to get him out of there and make sure he’s safe.”
Brandon Marsh missed his second straight game with a right knee injury. Thomson said Marsh did some running pregame and would’ve been available to play in an emergency situation.
With Marsh still out, Rojas started his third consecutive game in center field. He’s gone 3 for 8 with an RBI, a walk and a stolen base during that stretch.
Taijuan Walker (1-1, 2.30 ERA) and Cal Quantrill (1-1, 5.79 ERA) are set to start Saturday at 1:05 p.m.
Jesus Luzardo (2-0, 2.31 ERA) will pitch against his former team Sunday at 1:35 p.m. Connor Gillispie (0-2, 6.63 ERA) is Miami’s scheduled starter for the series finale.
