Quick lead? Check. Dominant pitching? Absolutely. Zack Wheeler struck out 13 Marlins—yes, 13—while Bryson Stott and Bryce Harper helped script another early-inning explosion in a 7-2 win at Citizens Bank Park.
Wheeler, who apparently showed up with a cheat code, carved through Miami’s lineup like he had dinner reservations. He needed just seven pitches—all strikes—to breeze through the first inning. From there, it was cruise control: seven innings, five hits, two earned runs, zero walks.
Meanwhile, Sandy Alcantara—remember him? The 2022 Cy Young winner?—looked more like a guy trying to find the exit in a Wawa parking lot. He threw 53 pitches to get just four outs. The Phillies tagged him for six runs before he could escape the second inning.
It started with a gem of a leadoff at-bat from Stott, who fouled off pitch after pitch before finally lining out to center. Then came a Turner walk. And then? Bryce Harper saw a slider and sent it into orbit—upper deck in right field, three-run missile, cue the Liberty Bell.
By the time the smoke cleared, it was 6-0. The Marlins, at one point, had sent just one runner to second base in the first five innings.
Miami finally broke through when Eric Wagaman clubbed a two-out, two-run homer in the sixth, but the Phillies never flinched. Kyle Schwarber added a solo shot in the fifth, and the bullpen combo of Tanner Banks and José Ruiz stitched up the final six outs without incident.
So that’s back-to-back wins, 19 runs scored, and a rotation that suddenly looks as sharp as it has all season. And here’s a stat to chew on: Wheeler became just the fourth Phillies pitcher since 2000 to record 13+ strikeouts with no walks in a game. The others? Cole Hamels, Cliff Lee, and Roy Halladay.
That’s some pretty good company.
