Wheeler struggles, Phillies bullpen steps up to end long road trip with another series win originally appeared in NBC Sports Philadelphia
ANAHEIM – No pitcher, even one of baseball’s best starters and relievers, is good at it every time and that was the case with Zack Wheeler and Jose Alvarado to end the Phillies’ road trip.
Wheeler fell behind more often than usual and the Angels worked a plethora of deep counts against him, with 10 of the 22 batters he faced seeing six or more pitches. He lasted just five innings, passing 20 pitches in four of them.
Alvarado allowed three singles in the eighth inning of a one-run game, but the bigs minimized the damage in the same way he and Wheeler did Wednesday afternoon in the Phillies’ 2-1 victory.
With their ace lasting just five innings and Jeff Hoffman unavailable after appearing in three of the previous four games, the Phillies used Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering, Alvarado and Gregory Soto, in that order, to close out the victory. Soto tied third and went ahead at first with one out in the ninth, but struck out Jo Adell before Taylor Ward’s flyball died on the warning track to end the game.
Kyle Schwarber hit a two-out, two-run single up the middle in the top of the second, the tenth consecutive game the Phillies have scored first. He also got them on the board in Tuesday’s second inning with a three-run home run.
Schwarber’s hit on Wednesday proved to be the only offense the Phils needed to win another series. They did very little after that second inning, with just one more hit against Angels left-handed starter Patrick Sandoval. They struck out 18 times on the day, nine of them looking. Bryce Harper and Edmundo Sosa expressed frustration with home plate umpire Chad Whitson after erring on their third at-bat.
It wasn’t the most impressive game of the season, but a win is a win and the Phillies went 7-3 on their road trip through Cincinnati, San Diego and Anaheim to reach a 21-11 record. They have yet to lose a series since their second of the season, winning six and sharing two.
The Phils have Thursday off before starting a six-game homestand against the Giants and Blue Jays.
