Shaky Wheels: Padres 5, Phillies 4

Zack Wheeler was not sharp in his last start before the break

Zack Wheeler surrendered two home runs to Jackson Merrill and failed to hold a pair of leads as the Phillies lost their last series before next week’s All-Star break with a 5-4 loss to the Padres in San Diego. The bats staked Wheeler to a 2-0 and 4-3 lead and he was unable to hold either, as he allowed more runs than he had across his last six starts combined. Meanwhile, the offense wasted opportunities to bail out Wheeler and finished 3-13 with runners in scoring position.

Fun while it lasted

The Phillies got to Padres starter Yu Darvish early, as an error by Darvish in the second allowed Alec Bohm to score on a Nick Castellanos single. Bohm was hit by a pitch and Castellanos singled behind Darvish’s back and the latter threw the ball away trying to make the play at first.

J.T. Realmuto followed two batters later with a double that scored Castellanos and gave the Phillies an early 2-0 lead. It was Realmuto’s 16th double of the year, and he is now hitting .379 with an .862 OPS in the month of July.

Jumped

Wheeler retired the side on seven pitches in the first and looked primed to cruise with an early 2-0 lead. But Gavin Sheets led off the bottom of the second with a double and Jackson Merrill tied the game two batters later with his first of two home runs on the night.

Jake Cronenworth followed with a double of his own that landed just in front of a charging Brandon Marsh in center. Wheeler then got the second out of the inning with a strikeout but couldn’t escape, as light-hitting catcher Martin Maldonado singled through the hole at first to drive in Cronenworth and give the Padres a 3-2 lead.

Wheeler finally ended the inning with a strikeout of Fernando Tatis Jr., but the damage was done, as the Padres tagged him for three extra base hits and three runs in the inning.

Coming out cold

The Phillies had a good opportunity to retake the lead in the fifth when Darvish was nearing his limit in just his second start of the season due to injury. Max Kepler led off with a walk and advanced to second when Brandon Marsh followed with a single. But Trea Turner couldn’t move the runners with a flyout to left and Kyle Schwarber struck out to put the scoring threat in jeopardy.

Darvish stayed in the game to face Bryce Harper who worked a seven pitch at-bat to load the bases with two-outs. That brought Edmundo Sosa to the plate, newly entering the game as a pinch hitter after Bohm left with a rib contusion following the early hit by pitch. But Sosa came through off the bench, hitting the second pitch he saw from Darvish through the left side and into the outfield to score two and putting the Phillies back on top 4-3.

This guy again

This lead would also be fleeting, as Merrill took Wheeler deep again in the sixth after falling behind 0-2 in the count. It was the first time Zack Wheeler allowed two home runs in a game to the same batter since 2021. It was also Merrill’s first two home runs since May 27th, and he had been 3-35 in the month of July before tonight.

Wheeler finished the rest of the inning unscathed, but his night was done. He went six innings and allowed four runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Not this time

Sosa once again found himself with a chance to give the Phillies the lead, as he came to the plate with runners on second and third with two outs in the seventh after Turner doubled and advanced to third on a Schwarber groundout before Harper walked and stole second. Sosa put the ball in play with a soft grounder to third, but Manny Machado’s throw beat him to first by half a step to thwart the scoring chance.

Tanner Banks entered for the bottom of the seventh and allowed a pair of one out singles to Tatis and Luis Arraez to put runners on the corners with one out. Jordan Romano entered to try and put out the fire, but he allowed Machado to hit a deep fly to right that scored Tatis and gave the Padres the lead one final time.

The Phillies would get a pair of runners in the eighth and advance the tying run to third, but that would be their last gasp of offense as Marsh popped out to end the inning before the top of the order went down 1-2-3 in the ninth.

Tomorrow’s matchup

Cristopher Sánchez (7-2, 2.59) takes the mound for the first half finale against old friend Nick Pivetta (9-2, 3.07) for the Padres. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10 PM.