For six innings, it looked clean.
By the ninth, it looked anything but.
Behind a strong return outing from Zack Wheeler and a timely burst of offense in the middle innings, the Phillies built a five-run lead — and then held on through a shaky finish to beat Miami, 6-5, on Friday night.
The win pushes the Phillies to 13-19 and extends their streak to four straight — all coming since Don Mattingly took over on an interim basis.
Wheeler, in just his second start back from a blood clot and thoracic outlet surgery, looked every bit like himself.
The right-hander allowed one run over six innings, scattering three hits while striking out eight and walking two. The only blemish came early — and even that took a strange turn.
With two outs in the first, Otto Lopez drove a ball deep to center that initially appeared to be a home run. After review, it was ruled a ground-rule double when it was determined the ball hit the wall before being deflected over the fence. Lopez came around to score one batter later on an RBI double by Xavier Edwards, giving Miami a 1-0 lead.
From there, Wheeler settled in and took control.
The Phillies offense broke through in the fourth. Brandon Marsh reached and moved into scoring position before Alec Bohm tied the game with an RBI single. Justin Crawford followed with a run-scoring double, pushing the Phillies in front 2-1.
They had chances to add on earlier — including a bases-loaded opportunity in the sixth that ended in a double play — but the breakthrough inning came in the seventh.
Bryce Harper doubled and eventually scored on an Edmundo Sosa single to make it 3-1. Moments later, Bryson Stott delivered the biggest swing of the night, launching a three-run home run — his first of the season — to give the Phillies a 6-1 cushion.
It felt like enough.
It wasn’t.
The bullpen, taxed from a doubleheader the day before, began to wobble in the eighth. Jonathan Bowlan and José Alvarado combined to allow three runs, cutting the lead to 6-4 and bringing the tying runs into scoring position. Alvarado escaped with a strikeout, but the margin had tightened.
The ninth brought more tension.
Brad Keller walked the leadoff man and battled his command throughout the inning. Miami pushed across another run on an RBI single by Lopez, trimming the lead to one and putting the tying run in scoring position.
One swing away.
Keller recovered just in time, getting Edwards to line out to center to end it — a clean finish to a messy final stretch.
The Phillies got contributions up and down the lineup. Bohm and Crawford sparked the early rally, Sosa added a key RBI, and Stott’s home run provided critical separation. Marsh also reached base and later exited after being hit by a pitch, diagnosed as a right elbow contusion.
But the story was Wheeler.
Six months removed from an uncertain future, he continues to give the Phillies something they’ve desperately needed — stability.
Even if, behind him, things are anything but.
The series continues Saturday, with Andrew Painter scheduled to face Max Meyer.
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