CHICAGO — This was the kind of afternoon the Phillies envisioned when they revamped their bullpen this winter.
Zach Wheeler was on 94 pitched through five innings and handled a tight running back during a grueling third that saw the White Sox catch six straight batters.
He came out with the lead and the Phillies kept him there. Gregory Soto, Craig Kimbrel, Ciranthoni Dominguez and Jose Alvarado retired the 12 batters they faced with two strikeouts per inning in the Phils’ most dominant strike of the young season.
The Phillies beat the White Sox, 7-4, in Game 1 in a doubleheader on a guaranteed-rate field.
“Obviously, that’s the domination,” said Rob Thompson, head coach. “From Soto to Kimbrel to Seranthony to Alvarado, no walking, area bombing, only quality stuff.”
Alvarado pitched the ninth inning for his first save of the year, but Thompson said, as usual, it was game-based. This does not mean that Alvarado is now the closest. The White Sox bench batter was left-handed Gavin Sheets, and if Alvarado faced more than three batters, he would have had to deal with left-handed Andrew Benintendi.
Of course, Thompson could hardly have predicted in the sixth that Soto, Kimbril and Dominguez would put out nine in a row to allow Alvarado to get that pocket of the lineup. But with Alvarado, it doesn’t really matter.
“Just because of the rivalry,” Thompson said. “We wanted Craig at the top of the table and then Ceranthone in the middle. We can use Alvarado wherever we want, he’s dominant.”
Alvarado may legitimately be the best reliever in baseball at the moment. He has a 1.22 ERA over his last 48 games with 82 strikeouts and 12 walks. He has surpassed his opponents this season. Control issues seem to be a thing of the past. He has struck out 18 of the 26 batters he faced in 2023 without a walk.
Soto has settled in since he had a few erratic runs in the first week of the season. He pitched 5 innings without allowing a hit or gain in the last six games.
Phillies Wheeler gambled to take a 3-0 lead in the first half by jumping on Lance Lane. Bryson Stott led off the game on a single to set a Phillies record with a 17-game winning streak to start the season. The Phillies singled three more times in the inning, including hitting Alec Boehm twice.
The Phils scored six of their seven runs with two outs. Josh Harrison had his best days as a Phillie with a two-run single in the third inning and a two-run homer in the seventh that served as much-needed insurance.
“Huge,” Thompson said. “Four RBIs, three hits, a homer, and a big homer to give us distance. He played great.”
Despite the big day, Harrison was not in the Game 2 lineup. Phillies Bohm started at third base with Kody Clemens on first. JT Realmuto also stopped Game 2 after getting two hits earlier in the day.
Wheeler’s tight back is worth watching. He received treatment on his back after the third inning and says it took the pressure off. The White Sox swung on six of his last 11 pitches, though Wheeler’s fastball speed fell to 92-93 mph in his last inning. Today’s income is an average of 96.5.
He said, “There were two things.” “My command wasn’t the best today. My back was getting tight during that long inning. It was tough. Just figuring it out and it was nice to follow through. Just a lot of nice contact today. One of those days where you bowl but they put the bat on the ball” .
The White Sox’ biggest hit from Wheeler was Lewis Robert’s two-run double. She came on a fastball just down the middle but Robert didn’t hit it well, sending it falling into shallow right field.
“It wasn’t because of any great exit speed, for sure,” Thompson said. “He was kind of overwhelmed to death and his word count was skyrocketing.”
Wheeler was disappointed in only completing five runs and the Phillies remained one of only four in the majors not to have a rookie pitcher score in the seventh. It’s a little easier to accept when the top four dwellers are locked in like they were on a Tuesday afternoon.
“Soto looks good, Alfie is what he is, it’s so much fun to have these guys behind me,” Wheeler said. “You can just hand the ball and feel comfortable giving it to these guys. Now it’s time for us rookies to take the pressure off them a bit and get deeper into the game.”
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