Takeaways after Phillies hold on to win Zack Wheeler’s gem

Zack Wheeler pitched his best game with the Philadelphia Phillies and Rhys Hoskins had a huge day at the plate. Together, they led the Phillies to a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Monday night.

The Phillies are 11-11 overall and 2-2 on the road trip.

Here’s three takeaways:

A gem

In his 16th start with the Phillies, Wheeler did not allow a baserunner until Paul DeJong capped a nine-pitch at-bat with a base hit with two outs in the fifth inning.

Wheeler pitched eight innings of one-hit ball. He walked three and struck out nine. The right-hander had power stuff down in the zone all night. His fastball topped out at 99 mph.

Wheeler pitched into the ninth. Manager Joe Girardi removed him at 114 pitches after he walked the leadoff hitter, Matt Carpenter. The Cardinals scored one in the ninth, but Hector Neris hung on for a highwire save. He got the final two outs with a man on second base. The final putout was recorded by Odubel Herrera on a drive to the wall in center.

Wheeler is 2-2 on the season.

Hoskins homers twice, all the Phillies need

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright allowed just three hits through the first six innings and carried a shutout into the seventh. For much of the night, the right-hander relied on his curveball, which has long been one of the best in the game. The pitch was sharp most of the night, but not with a 2-2 count on Hoskins in the seventh. Wainwright hung the pitch and Hoskins crushed it into “Big Mac Land” to give the Phillies a 1-0 lead.

Hoskins homered again in the top of the ninth and it proved to be huge. He leads the major leagues with eight homers this season.

J.T. Realmuto had three hits for the Phillies.

Tough time vs. Wainwright

Wainwright went all nine innings. He gave up just six hits and walked none.

Up next

Zach Eflin pitches against Carlos Martinez on Tuesday night.