Final Score: Phillies 9, Rockies 3
The Phanatic’s birthday is both a time to celebrate the best mascot ever and take stock of where the Phillies are at. Late April is usually the time when it’s OK to stop using the “it’s early” qualifier when analyzing a team’s performance through the first few weeks of the season.
The Phillies are not quite where they want to be, but they’re getting there. They’ve won six of their last eight games, including Sunday’s relatively painless 9-3 win over the lowly Colorado Rockies, who are still looking for their first series win of the season. The Phillies are now 11-12.
Zack Wheeler pitched six innings, the Phillies homered four times and their dynamic duo of stud left-handed relievers, Gregory Soto and José Alvarado, both threw a scoreless inning.
Now it’s time for the Phillies to play well against better competition. They’ll welcome in the Mariners, a good team that has also stumbled out of the gate, for a three-game set beginning Tuesday.
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One of the best days of the year got off to a great start when Trea Turner caught a pitch on the inside part of the plate and crushed it to deep left field for his first home run at home as a Phillie. It was his first home run at Citizens Bank Park since his inside-the-park home run against Zach Eflin on September 3, 2020.
The star shortstop is off to a great start this year at the plate, slashing .293/.340/.434. It was only his second home run of the season and while he had five home runs during the World Baseball Classic in March, Turner has a history of having to ease in to his power. He didn’t hit his second home run of last season until May 17.
“When you’re one of the best shortstops in the game, if not the best, you know it’s in there. Nobody’s worried about that,” Bryson Stott said about Turner.
Kody Clemens, in at first base to give Alec Bohm a break from the field, also hit his first home run as a Phillie in the third against José Ureña.
Wheeler cruised through the first three innings, allowing just one baserunner to reach on a walk. He struck out the side in the second and didn’t throw a single pitch for a ball in the third.
He lost the zone in the fourth and after a couple singles and a walk, Wheeler had the bases loaded with nobody out. He was able to regroup and get Mike Moustakas out on strikes and get ahead of the next batter Yonathan Daza 0-2, but he yanked a fastball and hit him to drive in a run.
Two more runs scored in the inning on a sacrifice fly from Harold Castro and a single from Ezequiel Tovar, his first hit of the series. After getting through the first three innings on just 38 pitches, Wheeler needed 32 pitches to grind through another troublesome inning. The command slips — and bad innings — have been a trend through his slow start to the season.
He was able to get through six innings, allowing three earned runs on three walks and 11 strikeouts.
The Phillies regained the lead the next half inning on a couple of forceouts. Ureña loaded the bases with nobody out and J.T. Realmuto and Alec Bohm both collected RBIs on a groundout.
For a moment, it appeared the Phillies were going to win 4-3 for a third-consecutive day, but they added on in the seventh with a double from Bohm and a two-run home run by Stott. Brandon Marsh hit his second home run of the season against a left-handed pitcher to expand the lead to six in the eighth.
Shibe Vintage Sports Notes
- Wheeler recorded double-digit strikeouts for the 17th time in his career on Sunday. Sunday was also Wheeler’s 200th career outing.
- Per the Phillies, Marsh is the only player in baseball with at least four doubles, four triples and four home runs.
- The announced attendance for Sunday’s Phanatic birthday celebration was 44,618. It’s the fifth sellout so far this season.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Tuesday, April 25 vs. the Seattle Mariners at Citizens Bank Park
- 6:40 p.m. ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: Sportsradio 94 WIP
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