Phillies Ride Wheeler’s Arm and Schwarber’s Bat to Victory Over Cleveland
Philadelphia Phillies' Kyle Schwarber, right, watches his RBI single off Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee as Austin Hedges, left, watches during the fourth inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 10, 2025, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Phil Long)
Phillies pitchers have loved pitching on Sunday night baseball so far this season.
Last time the Phillies played the Sunday night game, Aaron Nola pitched his first solid game of the season, and since the Phils were handing the ball to ace Zack Wheeler to take on Luis L. Ortiz and the Cleveland Guardians, there was a feeling that we would see something special, and we were not let down at all.
Wheeler threw seven scoreless innings, and the bullpen kept the shutout, as the Phils took Game 3 of the series, 3-0, earning their fifth straight series victory.
Wheeler’s Consistency
Since 2022, Wheeler has 50 starts with 7+ innings, third in baseball over that span. He has been an absolute workhorse in his tenure with the Phillies, the true ace of a very talented rotation this year.
Tonight, he started the game giving up 2 hits in the first inning to Steven Kwan and Jose Ramirez, and neither was hit hard at all. He got through a potentially stressful inning smoothly, and this is due to 2 things that Wheeler has done his whole career: get first pitch strikes and world-class fastball control. There is no secret that when any pitcher does these 2 things, they’re more likely to pitch well, but this simple formula has been the key to Wheeler’s success.
Tonight, in his 7 innings, he got ahead of 16 of the 26 hitters, most of the time with a fastball. This allowed him to use his off-speed pitches masterfully, particularly his splitter and curveball. He kept the Guardians off balance all night, only allowing 5 barreled up balls all night.
Tonight was the 109th start of his career with 6+ innings, and he struck out 8, walked 2, and gave up 3 hits over 7 innings, largely based on the strength of missing barrels and pitching ahead in the count. The Phillies played great defense behind Wheeler as well.
Schwarber Powers The Offense
Kyle Schwarber hit 2 home loud home runs tonight, driving in all 3 of the Phillies’ runs.
The first home run was on a good pitch from Ortiz that jumped off his bat at 112 mph, and the second one was a mistake from reliever Tim Herrin, a 92 mph sinker that got way too much of the plate, especially when you’re throwing to the National League leader in home runs.
Schwarber is now 2 home runs short of 300 for his career. This season, Schwarber and the slow-starting Bryce Harper have 21 home runs on the season, exactly half of the 42 homers the Phils have hit this season.
One glaring issue tonight for the rest of the offense was the 12 strikeouts and only 4 walks. While strikeouts are not something that concerns many in baseball since advanced statistics have taken over many front offices, when the Phillies strike out 10 or more times, they are now 3-5 with this win. While winning this game masks the problem a bit, this is something Kevin Long needs to address sooner rather than later. If the rest of the team can stop taking called third strikes, we might see more big hits from the rest of the Phils’ lineup.
What’s Next?
With another huge series win over a very good Guardians team, the Phillies head home to take on an enigmatic St. Louis Cardinals team, who come in winning 8 in a row. Jordan Romano closing tonight’s game felt like he had mentally turned the corner. In the 9th, he made Ramirez look foolish, which is what fans have been looking for all season.
The Cardinals will hand the ball to Matthew Liberatore, taking on Cristopher Sanchez with the Phillies looking to win another series at home.
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Steve Hamilton
Steve may have been born in California, but don’t let that fool you. After dating a local woman and clashing with her and her family over sports for decades, he has an affinity for Philly sports. Balancing love for Philly and Bay Area sports teams may seem impossible, we can all agree that the Cowboys are the true evil.
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