So who stole the show in Game 1 of Thursday’s doubleheader in South Philly?
Not Bryce Harper — he was still riding the bench after wearing a 95.3 mph Spencer Strider fastball off the elbow two days ago. Didn’t play in the opener. Wasn’t in the lineup for the nightcap.
But the Phillies found a star anyway. And his name? Rafael Marchán.
That’s right — the backup catcher turned in a game worthy of a cleanup hitter, a leadoff man, and a Gold Glove defender all rolled into one. He launched a two-run homer in the third. He slid home headfirst on a Trea Turner infield single in the fifth. He drove in the go-ahead run the hard way — by taking a bouncing slider off his shin guard with the bases loaded in the eighth. And just for good measure, he erased two Braves on the basepaths, throwing out Stuart Fairchild to end the fourth and Ozzie Albies to begin the ninth.
Call it the full Marchán.
The Phillies won the opener, 5–4 — their 21st win in their last 26 games. The Braves, meanwhile, dropped their sixth in seven. Jordan Romano made it interesting in the ninth, walking three and giving up a single, but escaped by freezing Eli White with a slider at the knees for a called third strike — his eighth save in 10 chances.
And just like that, Marchán gave the Phillies one of the most unexpected one-man shows of their season.
Cristopher Sánchez gave them 5 2/3 solid innings, allowing two earned runs, though he didn’t factor into the decision. Jose Ruiz recorded the final out of the eighth and picked up the win.
Nick Castellanos also made his presence felt, collecting four hits — his first four-hit game since June 30.
Game 2? That was a different movie entirely.
The Braves flipped the script and rolled to an 9–3 rout in the nightcap, thanks in large part to the unraveling of Zack Wheeler.
He came out firing — retired 10 of the first 11 he faced. Then came the fourth inning. A bloop single from Marcell Ozuna barely touched grass. Matt Olson followed with a double. Austin Riley laced another into the gap, and just like that, Wheeler’s career-long scoreless streak — 26 innings — was gone.
Then came the exclamation point: a two-run homer to right by Ozzie Albies, capping a four-run flurry that flipped the night on its head and left Wheeler walking off the mound shaking his head.
"They got a couple hits and it snowballed on me quick," Wheeler said. "Just got to move on."
His final line? 5 1/3 innings, four hits, four walks, six earned runs, and 107 pitches — only 61 of them for strikes. The bullpen didn’t fare much better, with Joe Ross allowing two more runs in relief.
And the offense? Nowhere to be found until it was too late. Chris Sale carved them up with six shutout innings, surrendering just two hits and striking out six.
One doubleheader. Two wildly different scripts.
Don’t expect to see him just yet.
Manager Rob Thomson said Harper was unavailable off the bench in the nightcap and didn’t take any swings in the cage on Thursday. The elbow is still swollen, still sore — and the Phillies aren’t about to take any chances.
“There’s still some swelling and pain,” Thomson said. “So we want to knock that out before we run him out there. We don’t want him to change his swing — that’ll lead to a lot of problems.”
Will he play Friday? Thomson couldn’t say. He didn’t have a timetable for a return, but he did make one thing clear: there’s no expectation Harper will land on the injured list.
As for Aaron Nola, he threw a bullpen between games — 26 pitches — and Thomson said he looked sharp. Still, he’ll be reevaluated Friday morning. And while the next step is still TBD, the likely scenario is a rehab start before he rejoins the rotation.
His final line? 5 1/3 innings, four hits, four walks, six earned runs, and 107 pitches — only 61 of them for strikes. The bullpen didn’t fare much better, with Joe Ross allowing two more runs in relief.
And the offense? Nowhere to be found until it was too late. Chris Sale carved them up with six shutout innings, surrendering just two hits and striking out six.
One doubleheader. Two wildly different scripts.
Extra Bases
So, about Harper… Don’t expect to see him just yet.
Manager Rob Thomson said Harper was unavailable off the bench in the nightcap and didn’t take any swings in the cage on Thursday. The elbow is still swollen, still sore — and the Phillies aren’t about to take any chances.
“There’s still some swelling and pain,” Thomson said. “So we want to knock that out before we run him out there. We don’t want him to change his swing — that’ll lead to a lot of problems.”
Will he play Friday? Thomson couldn’t say. He didn’t have a timetable for a return, but he did make one thing clear: there’s no expectation Harper will land on the injured list.
As for Aaron Nola, he threw a bullpen between games — 26 pitches — and Thomson said he looked sharp. Still, he’ll be reevaluated Friday morning. And while the next step is still TBD, the likely scenario is a rehab start before he rejoins the rotation.
