Wheels and Bombs for Mom: Phillies 3, Guardians 0

Wheeler and Schwarber carried the Phillies to a primetime win.

The Phillies won their fifth straight series as they took the finale from the Cleveland Guradians on Sunday Night Baseball by a score of 3-0. Kyle Schwarber provided all the offense Zack Wheeler needed, as Philadelphia’s DH homered twice and their ace threw seven dominant shutout innings.

Pitcher’s duel

Both starting pitchers were excellent in this game. Cleveland starter Luis Ortiz easily worked around a leadoff Bryson Stott single in the first but would suffer his only blemish in the second. Ortiz tried to throw back-to-back changeups to Schwarber who promptly deposited the second one 392 feet to right field with a 112 MPH bomb for the first run of the game.

Nick Castellanos then struck out and Max Kepler lined out before J.T. Realmuto hit a long fly ball to center that became a double when center fielder Angel Martinez was not able to reel it in. Alec Bohm then walked to put two on with two outs, but Ortiz quickly retired Rojas on strikes to end the inning.

That would be the last real threat the Phillies would get against Ortiz, who then retired seven in a row and only allowed a single and a walk for the rest of his outing.

A little bit better

Ortiz was good, but Zack Wheeler was better. He ran into an early jam with two singles in the first, but Wheeler got Carlos Santana to ground into a double play to end the inning. He then retired eight in a row before a walk to Santana in the fourth ended his streak.

Wheeler’s fifth inning was flat out dominant. He struck out Bo Naylor and Gabriel Arias swinging on three pitches each before Nolan Jones took two close pitches for balls. No matter, as Wheeler then struck him out swinging too to ring up the side on 11 total pitches.

The pivotal moment of the game for Wheeler arrived in the sixth inning, as he allowed a one out double to Steven Kwan and a walk to Daniel Schneeman to put two on for Jose Ramirez in a one run game. Ramirez ripped a 101 MPH line drive to center, but Rojas was in perfect position to record the out. Wheeler finished the job with a three-pitch strikeout of Santana for his eighth punchout of the night.

Wheeler then retired the side in order in the seventh before being lifted from the game. He finished 7 shutout innings while allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 8 on 93 pitches. He collected 13 whiffs on those 93 pitches, with his fastball leading the way with nine swings and misses.

This one’s for you

Stott walked to begin the eighth against new pitcher Tim Herrin and then stole second as Trea Turner struck out. Bryce Harper then hit a 101 MPH liner to deep left field that was caught at the wall by Kwan. It appeared the Phillies were going to waste another precious scoring opportunity, especially after Schwarber was the victim of one of many questionable called strikes for the second time on the night.

But Schwarber seemed to take out his frustration on the baseball, as he blasted his second homer of the night, this one a two-run shot, to extend the lead to 3-0. His 14 long balls are the most in the National League and are tied with Aaron Judge for the lead in all of MLB.

Cleaning it up

José Alvarado and Jordan Romano took over for Wheeler and fired two perfect innings in relief. Romano is now up to five straight scoreless appearances after his rocky start to the year. He’s allowed three hits over that span with no walks and five strikeouts.

Tomorrow’s matchup

Cristopher Sánchez (4-1, 2.89) opens a series at home for the Phillies against the Cardinals who will oppose him with Matthew Liberatore (3-3, 3.07). First pitch is scheduled for 6:45.