Dodgers Even Series with Phillies Despite Another Outstanding Start from Zack Wheeler
Jul 21, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images
Game 1 of the three-game series between the Phillies and the Dodgers was all about runs, runs, and more runs. Game 2 was more of a traditional pitcher’s duel between two of the National League’s best — Zack Wheeler and Justin Wrobleski.
Despite not making his debut until the last day of April, Wheeler has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball in 2026. Heading into his start Tuesday evening, Wheeler has posted a 10-1 record with a 2.13 ERA, with the sole loss he has taken this year coming at the hands of the Dodgers.
With his fellow Phillies teammate Cristopher Sanchez suffering some rough starts over the past few weeks, and Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski having his innings cut down over the remainder of the year, the National League Cy Young may be opening up and may be Wheeler’s for the taking.
However, on the other side of the field stood Wrobleski, who himself has been outstanding in the Dodgers’ starting rotation, which has taken heavy casualties this year. Wrobleski came into tonight with a 10-2 record and a 2.69 ERA, creating a dynamic duo with Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Both teams brought their best, and both offenses made it true, as the two teams combined for just 10 total hits and three total runs. While both struggled, the Phillies struggled more, leaving six runners on base, scoring their sole run in the first, while the Dodgers picked up a huge two-run bomb in the fourth inning off the bat of Max Muncy that proved to be the difference-maker in Los Angeles’ 2-1 win, ending with an all-time base-running blunder.
With Justin Crawford at third and J.T. Realmuto at second, Marsh chopped a ball to Muncy at third, and Crawford got caught in a rundown, which advanced Realmuto to third momentarily. Just before Crawford was tagged, Realmuto took back off to second and was hosed down by Mookie Betts for a 5-2-6-4 double play, ending the game.
It’s the first time the Phillies have lost a seven-inning Wheeler start since September 22, 2024, and just their first one-run loss since their June 9 loss to the Blue Jays, another game that Wheeler started.
Following a nearly hour-and-a-half delay due to rain, the game finally started, with rainy forecasts expected to last throughout the night. Wheeler looked locked and loaded early on, sending Shohei Ohtani down on his first three pitches of the night and picking up back-to-back groundouts to end the first.
The Phillies, who dropped double-digit runs for the first time since July 1 last night, kept the offensive attack going early against Wrobleski, as Bryce Harper smoked a two-out double to left-center field and came around to score on an Alec Bohm RBI single.
One was all the Phillies could muster, but for now it seemed like that was all they needed with Wheeler on the mound. Wheeler retired the first eight batters in a row to start the game, but ran into trouble in the third after allowing a two-out double to backup catcher Eliezer Alfonzo, bringing Ohtani to the plate.
Ohtani has seen little success at Citizens Bank Park in his 20-some games at the stadium, going over 60 plate appearances without a home run. Citizens Bank Park is one of two ballparks in baseball where Ohtani hasn’t homered, the other being Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.
At the plate, Ohtani smoked a 2-0 heater back up the middle for a base hit to center. On the play, Ohtani tried to stretch the single into a double, and at the same time, Alfonzo was not hustling home to score the tying run, not scoring in time for Turner to tag Ohtani out at second base to end the inning, with the run not counting.
While Wheeler worked around that run, he unfortunately met his maker in the fourth. Andy Pages led off the inning with a single to left, and two batters later, Muncy smoked a two-run bomb to dead center field, giving the Dodgers a 2-1 lead.
Now trailing, the Phillies needed runners and needed them early in innings to tie the game, and managed to get them in the fourth and fifth thanks to an error from Muncy in the fourth and a Bryson Stott single in the fifth. However, Wrobleski worked around both those leadoff men, retiring the next three guys in order.
Thankfully for the Phillies, Wheeler continued to dominate the Dodgers following the two-run bomb, striking out the side in the sixth and coming out with over 85 pitches in the seventh and retiring the side in order.
Following the seventh inning, Wheeler was pulled, ending his night with nine strikeouts over seven innings of work, allowing just two runs on five hits. Jose Alvarado was called on to pitch the eighth, and looked great for the fourth appearance in a row, giving the Phillies offense six outs to conjure up a run.
The eighth saw the top three of the Phillies order fail to even get on base, putting the ninth inning as the last chance for the Phillies. Bohm led off the ninth with his third hit of the night, a single to left, putting the tying run on.
After a strikeout from Edmundo Sosa, Realmuto smoked a double down the left field line, putting two runners in scoring position. Crawford pinch-ran for Bohm at third with Marsh coming to the plate. Marsh was facing a lefty, which has been his kryptonite in his career, and chopped a ball down the third base line.
On the play, Crawford broke for the plate but got into a rundown between third and home. Crawford was eventually caught for out number two, and Realmuto, instead of staying at third base like he should’ve, decided to run back to second base for some reason. Betts tossed a perfect throw to Tommy Edman at second, tagging Realmuto out for the final out of the game, with the Phillies falling 2-1 to the Dodgers.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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