Zack Wheeler’s strong return from paternity leave helped the Phillies snap a five-game losing skid Monday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Wheeler didn’t pick up a win, but he was excellent in the Phillies’ 4-3, 11-inning win to open their series vs. the Cubs.
Brandon Marsh delivered the walk-off hit, an 11th-inning knock to the base of the left-center wall off of Daniel Palencia.
The last of Wheeler’s seven strikeouts was his 1,000th as a Phillie. He pitched six innings in his first start since May 29 and allowed three hits, one walk and one run.
Cubs starter Matthew Boyd went six innings and conceded eight hits and two runs. The southpaw struck out no Phillies and walked two.
Kyle Tucker spoiled Wheeler’s first inning by smashing a 1-2 fastball into the right-field seats.
In the velocity department, Wheeler appeared well-rested out of the gates. He threw 13 four-seamers in the first and averaged 97.5 mph with his heater. Wheeler’s final four-seam average was 96.6 mph, which is 0.8 mph above his season average.
Several long Cubs at-bats prevented Wheeler from a truly deep outing. The righty’s pitch count rose considerably in the top of the fifth. After a two-out Matt Shaw single, Ian Happ took nine pitches to strike out.
Boyd pounded the strike zone and kept the Phillies scoreless through three innings.
The Phils didn’t boost their cause on the bases. Edmundo Sosa wanted a double on his second-inning jam shot down the right-field line, but Tucker rifled him out at second base. Boyd picked Trea Turner off first base to finish the third.
The Phillies evened the game up in the fourth.
Kyle Schwarber came back from an 0-2 count to begin the frame with a walk. Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos each followed by lacing first-pitch singles to left field.
J.T. Realmuto’s grounder to third drove in Schwarber and put runners on the corners with one out. A pitch later, the inning was over. Sosa rolled a routine double-play ball to Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson.
The bottom of the fifth was all about Otto Kemp. The 25-year-old notched his first MLB hit on a leadoff knock to left-center. He then sprinted to third base after a wayward Boyd pickoff attempt and scored his first big-league run on an opposite-field Weston Wilson single, giving the Phillies a 2-1 edge.
Despite leadoff hits in the sixth and seventh innings, the Phillies couldn’t add to their lead. A single swing tied the contest in the eighth. Ian Happ ripped a 3-2 Matt Strahm sinker 424 feet to left field.
The Phillies should’ve had a leadoff runner in the eighth, but Castellanos tried to stretch a single to left into a double and wasn’t close to successful in his high-risk venture.
Kemp reached to kick off the bottom of the ninth, hustling to first base after a squib just in front of home plate. Cubs manager Craig Counsell was ejected for arguing that Kemp should’ve been called for runner’s interference on the play. The inning then fizzled out; Brandon Marsh, Max Kepler and Turner all came up empty.
Jordan Romano pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 10th, but the Phillies again failed to find a timely hit in the bottom of the inning. Following Bohm’s double play, Castellanos’ ground out sent the game to the 11th.
The Cubs pulled ahead in the 11th on Pete Crow-Armstrong’s one-out RBI double off of Carlos Hernandez. The Phils bounced right back, though.
Realmuto lined a game-tying single to right. Bryson Stott and Kemp then both legged out bunt hits, loading the bases with no outs. Marsh handled the rest.
The scheduled starters Tuesday night are the Phils’ Mick Abel (1-0, 0.79 ERA) and the Cubs’ Colin Rea (4-2, 3.59 ERA). Wednesday’s pitching matchup is Jesus Luzardo (5-2, 4.46 ERA) vs. Ben Brown (3-4, 5.37 ERA).
Thomson’s message for slumping Stott
Turner led off against a lefty and Stott sat until pinch-hitting for Sosa in the eighth inning.
Asked whether Turner would stay at the top of the Phils’ lineup vs. righties, Phillies manager Rob Thomson didn’t reveal anything.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” he said. “I think we’ve got a righty tomorrow.”
Stott’s been in a major funk of late. Entering Monday, he’d been 2 for 26 (.083 average) in June with no extra-base hits and two walks.
“Start controlling the strike zone again, try not to do too much, think left field — because that’s who he is,” Thomson said. “I don’t think he’s thinking about hitting home runs, but he’s certainly pressing to get hits and get on base. He’s got to relax and just be himself.”
Injury updates
Aaron Nola (right side soreness, right ankle sprain) had a doctor’s appointment Monday.
“I talked to him and he said he’s feeling a little better, but he’s going to get checked out by a doctor,” Thomson said.
Bryce Harper (right wrist soreness) also had a Monday night doctor’s appointment. Thomson was unsure whether Harper’s absence will extend beyond his 10-day injured list stint.
“He was tolerating it early in the year,” Thomson said. “It just kept going worse. That’s why we shut him down. Get him in with the trainers on a daily basis, get treatment every day and try to knock this thing out.”
Kemp and Bohm might swap soon
Without Harper, Bohm has been manning first base. Thomson indicated there’s a decent chance that will change in the near future.
“The plan really is to get Otto a little bit of work at first base, and then we’ll be flipping them,” he said.
Kemp has 13 career starts in the minor leagues at first base, including seven this season for Triple A Lehigh Valley. While third base has been Kemp’s primary position, he also started Triple A games this year at second, first and left field.
“I would think in the next week … sometime in that area,” Thomson said of when Kemp could slide to first. “(Infield coach Bobby Dickerson) is going to get him some extra work and we’ll see how it goes. I’ll lean on Bobby for that, too.”
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