MIAMI -- Zack Wheeler’s return to the Phillies’ rotation has gone as well as anybody could have hoped.
Maybe it’s gone better.
He helped the Phillies snap their 10-game losing streak in his season debut last Saturday in Atlanta. He helped the Phillies extend their winning streak to four games under interim manager Don Mattingly with another solid performance in Friday night's 6-5 victory over the Marlins at loanDepot park.
The Phillies’ rotation has been better since Wheeler returned.
“You feel the pressure,” Wheeler said. “It’s early in the season, but you feel the pressure. We’re a really good staff, and we’ve got to pitch like it. They pay us for a reason. We’re, I want to say, the core in a sense. So it starts with us putting up zeros and kind of making that statement when we go out there. So, yeah, it’s on us for the most part.”
The rotation had a 5.68 ERA through April 24, which ranked 28th in Major League Baseball. It hadn’t had a starter complete seven innings once. It had just six quality starts in its first 28 games.
But Phillies starters have a 3.16 ERA in six games since Wheeler’s return, which includes an opener in Game 2 of Thursday’s doubleheader. They have a 1.25 ERA under Mattingly, including the opener.
Jesús Luzardo pitched seven scoreless innings Tuesday night.
Cristopher Sánchez pitched 6 2/3 innings in Game 1 on Thursday.
Wheeler went six on Friday to help a depleted bullpen.
“Yeah, the goal tonight was to go seven,” Wheeler said. “Didn’t go there, but I went as far as I could. Obviously, those guys needed a break out there, so at least I did it a little bit.”
Wheeler allowed three hits, one run and two walks and struck out eight against the Marlins. His four-seam fastball didn’t have the zip it had in his season debut. It averaged 93.6 mph, compared to 94.7 mph in Atlanta.
“My body felt great,” he said. “But it felt like my body was just moving in slow motion a little bit. That’s why my velo was down just a hair. But I felt great. I still executed for the most part.”
Wheeler got into trouble in the first, when he allowed his only run. Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez crushed a two-out fly ball to center field. The ball hit the wall, then center fielder Justin Crawford’s glove, then flipped over the wall.
At first, it looked like a home run. But instant replay overturned the call, making it a ground-rule double. Lopez scored moments later, when Xavier Edwards doubled down the right-field line.
But Wheeler retired 16 of the next 19 batters he faced, allowing only one hit the rest of the way -- an infield single to Christopher Morel to start the fifth inning.
“I saw [Wheeler] here in Miami after [Jacob] deGrom one night,” said Mattingly, who managed the Marlins from 2016-22. “And I’m like, he’s better than deGrom. Throwing bullets. A guy that's coming back from what he went through last year, it’s early in the season. Probably the velo is going to keep ticking [up] a little bit as we go, but you still get swing and miss.
“And he knows what he's doing. He's not going to give in. It’s just been impressive to see what he can do, and you feel like it's just going to get better and better.”
The Phillies took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a run-scoring single from Alec Bohm and a run-scoring double from Crawford. They took a 6-1 lead in the seventh following a three-run homer from Bryson Stott. It was Stott’s first homer of the season.
“They can’t catch that one,” Stott said. “Actually, they could, but I’m not going to jinx that.”
The bullpen almost blew it. Jonathan Bowlan allowed three runs in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-4. Brad Keller allowed a run in the ninth, but still recorded the save.
It was the first time the Phillies have had a ninth-inning save opportunity since April 11.
“We’ve got to win ballgames,” Wheeler said. “You can't get too far behind. The Braves are a really good team, and they're already a good bit ahead. So we’ve got some catching up to do, but we're playing better baseball right now. And like I said, it starts with the staff.”