PHILADELPHIA — The soundtrack hit before the first pitch.
As Zack Wheeler began his warmup tosses Wednesday night, “Rooster” thundered across Citizens Bank Park and more than 36,000 people stood to acknowledge a sight the Phillies desperately missed for most of the last nine months: their ace back home on a mound.
For six innings, Wheeler looked steady.
By the eighth, the Phillies looked dangerous again.
And by the end of the night, another comeback had transformed another tense evening into another win.
The Phillies stormed from behind with a four-run eighth inning Wednesday night to beat the Athletics, 6-3, extending what is rapidly becoming the best stretch of their season. Since Don Mattingly took over in the dugout, the Phillies are suddenly playing with rhythm, urgency and, perhaps most importantly, belief.
At 17-20, they are still climbing out of a hole.
But they no longer look buried in it.
The Athletics controlled much of the early portion of the game against Wheeler, who was making his first home appearance since Aug. 2 of last season following thoracic outlet surgery in September.
In the third inning, Lawrence Butler raced home from second on a soft flare by Jacob Wilson that dropped into right field just beyond the reach of the Phillies infield. Two innings later, the Athletics manufactured another run when Nick Kurtz punched a single into right to score Zack Gelof.
When Tyler Soderstrom opened the sixth inning with a home run to right-center, the Phillies trailed 3-1 and Citizens Bank Park had quieted considerably.
But the Phillies have shown more resistance lately than they did during the season’s ugly opening month.
Brandon Marsh helped spark the pushback. Starting against left-hander Jeffrey Springs, Marsh tripled in the fifth inning for his first three-base hit of the season and later scored on a ground ball off the bat of Felix Reyes.
An inning later, Adolis García gave the Phillies life with one swing, crushing a solo homer 421 feet into the seats in left-center to cut the deficit to one.
García nearly impacted the game defensively earlier in the night with two strong throws home from right field that narrowly missed producing outfield assists. Eventually, though, his biggest contribution came with the bat.
The decisive rally arrived in the eighth.
After the Athletics opened the door with a defensive mistake by Jeff McNeil, the Phillies flooded through it.
García lined a single to load the bases before Edmundo Sosa delivered the hit that changed the night — a two-run single that scored Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper and gave the Phillies their first lead.
Marsh followed with another big at-bat, fighting through an 0-2 count to shoot an RBI single into the outfield. Later in the inning, rookie Justin Crawford added another insurance run as the Phillies suddenly turned a one-run deficit into a three-run advantage.
That was enough support for Wheeler, who continued to trend upward in his recovery.
The right-hander worked 6 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits while striking out four. More importantly for the Phillies, his stuff and command continued to look sharper in his third start back from surgery.
The Phillies handed the ninth inning to Brad Keller, who loaded the bases before escaping the jam to earn his third save.
The Phillies will try to complete a sweep Thursday night behind rookie right-hander Andrew Painter, who is scheduled to oppose Athletics right-hander J.T. Ginn at Citizens Bank Park.
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