The Dog Days: Zack Wheeler lasted 3 innings, Duran blew second save of the year, Phillies lost 8-7 to a Marlins team that lost 12-straight
The dog days of summer arrived in Miami on Monday night, and they arrived in the most miserable way imaginable. The Phillies needed a win in the worst way possible, riding a rough post-break stretch into a series against a Marlins team that had lost 12 games in a row.
Instead they watched Zack Wheeler get knocked out after three innings, rallied all the way back to take a lead, and then lost 8-7 when Jhoan Duran blew a save in the ninth. The Marlins snapped their 12-game skid on the Phillies’ backs.
The dog days, god dammit. The dog days.
The Phillies are now 3-7 since returning from the All-Star break
This one stung more than any of the others because they had the game won, gave it away, and did it against the worst team in baseball.
Zack Wheeler, making his 300th career start, lasted just three innings and gave up five runs on six hits, including two home runs, a double, and a triple. That three-inning outing matched the shortest of his entire seven-year Phillies career, alongside starts in June 2021 and April 2022.
This is not something Zack Wheeler does, obviously. Wheeler’s velocity and spin rates were down across the board from his season norms. His best fastball of the night was 95 mph, below his 95.2 season average, and for the game his fastball averaged just 93.5 mph, a drop of 1.7 mph from his season average.
When your ace is throwing nearly two ticks below his normal velocity, something is off, and the Marlins’ bats feasted accordingly.
To Wheeler’s credit, he still struck out six even with diminished stuff, because that’s how good he is but Mattingly wasn’t taking any chances.
After a dugout consultation with pitching coach Caleb Cotham and head athletic trainer Paul Bechheit, he pulled Wheeler after just three innings and 68 pitches. After the game, Mattingly revealed that Wheeler had been dealing with some nausea, and Wheeler insisted he was fine and that he was not hurt.
The frustrating part is that the offense did its job. Harper got things started with a two-run homer in the first inning on Wheeler’s 300th start, and after Wheeler left trailing 5-2, the lineup came alive.
Bryce Harper – RING IT
In the sixth, they hung four runs on reliever Cade Gibson to take a 6-5 lead, with Harper drawing a walk to start it and Bohm, Stott, Realmuto, and Crawford all contributing to the rally. They tacked on more in the eighth when Stott tripled and scored on a Realmuto sac fly to make it 7-5.
The bullpen was excellent too, right up until the very end.
After Wheeler exited, Kyle Backhus, Jose Alvarado, Jonathan Bowlan, and Orion Kerkering combined for five shutout innings to keep the Phillies in front. Everything was set up perfectly. Hand the ball to Duran, close it out, snap the losing skid, feel good going into the deadline.
Duran blows it and unfortunately, that’s just showbiz, baby
Duran gave up three runs in the bottom of the ninth and the Marlins walked it off, 8-7. It was just his second blown save in 26 chances all season, and he hadn’t allowed a run in 14 straight outings since his first blown save back on June 9 in Toronto.
So this wasn’t a pattern or a reason to panic about the closer, who’s been outstanding all year. It was just one bad inning at the worst possible time against the worst possible opponent.
That’s the dog days for you.
Your ace throws three innings with the flu, your bats bail him out, your bullpen throws five shutout innings, and then the one guy you trust the most gives it away in the ninth against a team that hadn’t won in two week
Baseball is a cruel sport and Monday night was a perfect example.
3-7 and the Deadline Can’t Come Fast Enough
The Phillies are now 3-7 since the break and playing genuinely uninspiring baseball at the worst possible time. The good news is the deadline is a week away and Dombrowski has been signaling he’ll be aggressive.
The better news is Wheeler says he’s fine and it was just nausea.
The Dog Days…
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