Zack Wheeler Ties Career High With 14 Strikeouts in Phillies Win Over Reds
Aaron Doster/Imagn Images
The Phillies’ pitching staff struck out 18 Reds batters, and the offense broke out against a lefty starter, bringing the Phils within two of the Atlanta Braves for first place in the NL East.
After losing the previous series, the Phils were looking to get back to winning ways, sending Zack Wheeler out to take on Andrew Abbot, who pitched well on May 30 in Philly. This time around, the biggest question was whether the Phillies could adapt to facing a left-handed starter, something that caused them issued earlier this season.
The Phillies got the scoring started on a Trea Turner fielder’s choice, then the next batter, Kyle Schwarber, hit a long home run to give the Phils an early 3-0 lead. Thanks to the stellar pitching of Wheeler, the next scoring came in the seventh, when Eugenio Suarez hit a long home run, which came on a sweeper that was a little high in the zone, making the game 3-1. In the next inning, the Phils loaded the bases and Edmundo Sosa hit a sacrifice fly to make the game 4-1. All-Star closer Jhoan Duran came in to close down the ninth for a 4-1 win, starting the series off with a huge win.
Home Cooking Wins Out for Schwarber
Schwarber definitely likes to play in Ohio, and he proved that in the third inning. Schwarber worked the count to 3-0, then he did something that he never does and had only done one other time in his career: he hit a home run. His last 3-0 home run was in 2022 against the Giants. What makes this hit even more impressive is that it’s the first time he’s connected on a 3-0 pitch this season, and it ended up being his 31st home run of the year.
He added another hit in the top of the eighth inning as well, so it looks like this trip to Cincinnati came at the right time for Schwarber. The home run in the third snapped his five-game homer-less streak.
Zack Wheeler Ties Career High With 14 Strikeouts
Wheeler, coming off his shortest start since 2024, wanted to leave no doubt in this one. He was dominant in this game from the first pitch, which was a perfectly placed 95-mile-per-hour fastball, a pitch that Elly De La Cruz couldn’t have done anything with, which truly became a theme of the game. He kept pitches low and mixed all of his pitches well, including hitters having to guess due to how well he located his sweeper.
By the fifth inning, the inning that he didn’t finish in his last outing, he had 10 strikeouts, which he finished with against Pittsburgh. In this game, however, it was obvious that he had more in the tank. He finished with 14 Ks on the game, tying his career high. He aslo threw 104 pitches, which was the same number of pitches he threw against the Pirates, but in this game, he got through the seventh. His final line is one of his best this season: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 14 K. Wheeler was dominant in this game, and the only thing keeping him out of the All-Star game at home is that he has one more start on the Sunday before the festivities get started.
Kerkering Struggles With Control in Strange Inning
Orion Kerkering came in to take over for Wheeler in the eighth inning and immediately had some trouble throwing strikes. He walked two batters on nine pitches. With two runners on, he got Sal Stewart to ground out on a strange play, which seemed to show De La Cruz making contact with Bryson Stott, but after a long deliberation, and the ejections of pitching coach Caleb Cotham and infield coach Bobby Dickerson, which resulted in an eight-minute delay, the game finally resumed.
With runners at second and third, he walked J.J. Bleday, and with the long delay, Don Mattingly went to the bullpen and brought in Jonathan Bowlan, who went to a full count on Suarez before blowing him away to end the inning and the threat. The nights where Kerkering isn’t on, you can see it early as was obvious by his first two hitters. He was trying hit the corners of the strike zone but couldn’t stay consistent Nobody hit him hard, but they didn’t have to, as he walked three Reds batters. This should at least get Dave Dombrowski thinking about late-inning relief as we approach the trade deadline.
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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