Phillies can’t overcome Zack Wheeler’s second-inning struggles in loss to Yankees
Zack Wheeler had to battle. The right-hander wasn’t at his best. He hit three batters and walked two more across a laborious 5 2/3 innings on Sunday afternoon at Yankee Stadium. Two of those hit batters came back-to-back in the bottom of the second inning when the Yankees got to Wheeler for four runs.
The Phillies weren’t able to overcome Wheeler’s rough second inning. They lost their series finale in the Bronx, 4-3, leaving with a series win following back-to-back wins on Friday and Saturday.
Power was a big part of the Phillies’ two wins this weekend. They outscored New York 21-9 in their victories, hitting 12 extra-base hits. The power was still there Sunday; the Phillies hit three home runs. But they were all solo shots, and outside of those three long balls, the Phillies recorded just two more hits. Both hits were singles.
Nick Castellanos and Otto Kemp each homered against Yankees starter Carlos Rodón in the top of the second, giving their club an early 2-0 lead. Kemp homered against Rodón again a few innings later for the first multi-homer game of his big-league career. Kemp’s first homer went the other way to right field. His second went to center field.
The 2-0 lead given to Wheeler didn’t last long. He allowed a single to Giancarlo Stanton to begin the bottom half of the second inning. Wheeler would hit those back-to-back batters — Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jasson Domínguez — following Stanton’s single to load the bases. Ryan McMahon was up next. The newly acquired Yankee pulled a grounder down the first-base line just out of the reach of Bryce Harper for a two-run double to tie the game.
Austin Wells poked a sacrifice fly to left field to give New York the lead two batters later. Trent Grisham followed with an RBI single to plate McMahon.
Wheeler faced eight batters in the second inning. He fired 29 pitches in the frame, struggling to get them around the plate with consistency. Lack of command remained for the rest of the afternoon. Wheeler’s day concluded after throwing 103 pitches, 59 of which were strikes.
The Phillies (60-45) will now fly to Chicago as they begin a three-game series on Monday against the White Sox ahead of this week’s trade deadline.