Mostly Clean. Phillies 5 Pirates 2

The Phillies played a mostly clean baseball game with no weird drama. They put the Pirates in their place.

The two starting pitchers tonight came in with completely different situations.

Pittsburgh Pirates starter Carmen Mlodzinski has struggled to put things together as a full-time starting pitcher. He came into the game with an ERA over 5 and has struggled to miss bats. He throws hard but does not have a consistent swing and miss pitch in his arsenal and only generates a moderate amount of ground balls.

On the other hand, Zack Wheeler is coming off his best outing of the season against the Cleveland Guardians. Wheeler fired seven scoreless innings with eight strikeouts. He continues building a case to be a future Hall of Famer.

Both starters would continue their progression or regression in the case of Mlodzinski. The Philadelphia Phillies’ offense started hot after a Trea Turner single. Bryce Harper then smacked a single up the middle that put runners on first and third with one out.

Kyle Schwarber may not have the on-base streak anymore but he continues his phenomenal start to the season by taking a center-cut fastball off the right-field wall to give the Phillies an early one-to-nothing lead.

In the third, Bryson Stott got a slider that slid right into his barrel to make it two-nothing.

Things got into deeper trouble for Mlodzinski in the fourth. After an Alec Bohm single, Brandon Marsh poked a bloop double to left field that put runners on second and third. With only one out in the fourth innings, Pirates interim manager Don Kelly went to left-hander Joey Wentz to try and get Stott out. Stott had been 6 for 28 against lefties this season with a .540 OPS overall.

Kelly’s decision did not work, Stott took a four-seam fastball to left field and thanks to a beautiful read by Marsh, allowed two runs to score to make it four-nothing. Bryce Harper added the Phillies’ final insurance run of the night with a double to left field that brought Stott home.

Wheeler’s night ended after six innings with six strikeouts and three hits allowed. While his four-seam fastball generated whiffs and weak contact, his sinker will be a story to watch. He took advantage of the Pirates approach by nailing comeback sinkers from the left-handed batter’s box. The prettiest pitch in baseball.

Matt Strahm pitched the seventh inning because went five days in a row since pitching. He fired a scoreless inning with two strikeouts and a sick Memorial Day glove. Carlos Hernández pitched a scoreless eighth inning that featured a nasty slider to Ke’Bryan Hayes for his only strikeout.

The Pirates tried to make things interesting off Tanner Banks with a two-run home run by Bryan Reynolds but could not muster another base runner in the ninth.

The Phillies are calling up Mick Abel tomorrow for a spot start with a sweep on the line. He will be opposed by Paul Skenes, who has looked more vulnerable in year two but still carries a 2.63 ERA and sub-three FIP.