The Phillies won another series at home, continuing their solid play in South Philly by taking two of three games from the contending Padres, including a split of yet another doubleheader.
In the first game Monday, Zack Wheeler tossed a gem as the Phils won in a shutout that took just over two hours to play. After rain washed out Tuesday’s action, an ugly start put the Phils behind 6-0 early and a comeback effort fell short to even the series. In a doubleheader nightcap Wednesday, Cris Sánchez took his turn playing the ace in a solid 5-1 win on getaway day.
Before an off day Thursday and a 4th of July home series against the Reds this weekend, let’s single out some winners and losers from their trio of games against San Diego:
Winners
Zack Wheeler
We wrote about Wheeler earlier this week after one his most impressive starts as a Phillie — striking out 10 Padres over eight innings in Game 1 while allowing no runners to cross the plate. There isn’t much else left to say about just how good he has been. His June 30 start capped off a June that saw his ERA at just 0.58 — he allowed two runs over 31 innings in the month. He should earn pitcher of the month honors. No one is pitching better in the entire sport right now.
Cris Sánchez
If we’re giving love to Wheeler, we also need to give love to Sánchez, who allowed a single blemish in seven innings in the final game Wednesday. The pitching staff has been phenomenal from 1-to-4, with some struggles in the No. 5 spot of late (remember that from last year?). Sánchez lowered his season-long ERA to 2.68 with his seventh win. Ridiculously, that total is only third among Phillies starters — Wheeler is at 2.27 and Ranger Suárez is at an even 2.00.
The plate approach
The Phillies remain a team that is patient at the plate and it was an effective strategy this week against the Padres. Six walks on Monday fueled them to their first win. In all, the Phillies entered their doubleheader Wednesday with the fifth most walks in the majors (296) and the third best on base percentage (.329). In addition, the Phillies’ strikeout rate is just 20.7%, the 8th lowest of all 30 teams. Their chase rate remains a bit high, 28.9 %, 10th highest.
JT Realmuto
Realmuto tallied a total of five hits in two games played in the series, sitting out the evening part of the doubleheader. Slumping near the Mendoza line a few weeks ago, he’s quietly hitting a respectable .252 this season.
Losers
Mick Abel
Abel has trended slightly downward since his dazzling MLB debut back May, but he’s remained a solid fifth starter with a ton of talent and upside over five starts. He made his sixth laborious to watch Wednesday afternoon, as he lost the strike zone in the second inning — allowing two hits and five walks in the frame, plating two runs from free passes and three more from a bases-clearing Manny Machado double. His five runs allowed were the most in his short big league career and his 1.2 innings was by far his shortest outing.
The Mets
Three weeks ago, the Mets had a 5.5 game lead on the Phillies in the NL East, with a three-game set between the two rivals approaching in mid June. The Mets suffered a six-game slide heading into the series, lost two of three at Citizens Bank Park, and then proceeded to lose five of seven (heading into their own doubleheader Wednesday night). New York is 3-14 over its last 17 games (through Wednesday afternoon) and the Phillies have been able to play .500 baseball while holding onto the advantage in the standings.
Command
Walks helped the Phillies in their opener but were their undoing in the second game of this series. Entering Wednesday with the sixth best walks per nine ratio in the majors, the Phils walked nine Padres, tying a season high. Walks happen, and can be worked around. But not when they happen with the bases loaded — which happened three times in the loss (two from Abel and one from Max Lazar). With the Phils dropping the middle game of the set 6-4, having a pitching staff that doesn’t give free runs away would have gone a long way toward a win.
The weather in Philly
For the third time this season, the Phillies played a doubleheader due to terrible thunderstorms in the area the night prior. They played none last year. The Phillies have split all three thus far. Also, when it’s not raining, it’s almost unbearably hot and humid — and it’s only the first week of July. It may be “hittin’ season,” but it’s also stay-freaking-hydrated season, too, for everyone down at the ballpark.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
