TAKEAWAYS MARLINS-PHILLIES
In game one of the series, the Phillies easily handled the Miami Marlins, 6-2 at Citizens Bank Park. Philadelphia looked like a playoff team on Friday, so what do we take from the first game.
ANOTHER DOMINANTING PITCHING PERFORMANCE
On Thursday, Cristopher Sanchez struck out 12 in the Phillies win over the San Francisco Giants. Well, today it was Zack Wheeler’s turn to throw a masterpiece.
The ace of the staff, simply put, overmatched this Marlins team. Even though, he gave up a home run, Wheeler threw nearly 72 percent of his pitches for strikes. He struck out 13 batters, including two innings which he struck out the side. Wheeler has owned the Marlins throughout his career. Before tonight, Wheeler is 11-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 25 starts.
In fact, the back-to-back pitching performances done the last two games, have not been done since Cliff Lee and Roy Halladay did it in April 2011.
THE OFFENSE KNOCKOUT SANDY
In the preview, it was known that the Phillies have had success against Miami’s starter, Sandy Alcantara. Alcantara is returning after having Tommy John surgery last year, so it is not the same pitcher, who was outstanding in 2022.
Phillies batters were hitting .299 against him, and they did not waste any time. Alcantara lasted only two innings, and threw 61 pitches (30 in 1st and 31 in 2nd). In his short outing, he gave up four hits, including a bomb by Bryce Harper, 6 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 wild pitches and only struck out one.
Overall, everyone in the lineup, helped out on Friday night. Besides Harper, Kyle Schwarber hit his 7th home run of the year, as it went 426 feet into the bullpen. Also, Nick Castellanos went 2-for-3 before being pulled as a precautionary, Alec Bohm extended his hitting streak to five with an RBI single and center fielder Johan Rojas, who was struggling early in the year, went 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Most importantly, Rojas raised his average to .292.
Tomorrow, it will be Taijuan Walker, who will try and rebound after being shelled in his last start. Marlins batters have a .128 average lifetime against Walker. Meanwhile, Cal Quantrill will go for Miami, and Philadelphia has a .222 average against him. One player to watch is Schwarber. Even though, he has a .188 average Quantrill, all of his hits are home runs. First pitch is 1:05.
-David Weightman/ Olde City Sports Network