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 put the Phillies in line to extend their winning streak to four games with another solid performance in Friday night's 6-5 victory over the Marlins at loanDepot park.
Coincidence or not, his return to the mound has settled the Phillies’ troubling starting pitching problems.
Wheeler allowed three hits, one run and two walks and struck out eight in six innings 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.
But Wheeler knows how to pitch, and he showed it.
He got into trouble in the first inning, 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.
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. They had six quality starts in their first 28 games.
The Phillies’ rotation had a 5.68 ERA through April 24, which ranked 28th in Major League Baseball. They hadn’t had a starter complete seven innings once.
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. Jesús Luzardo pitched seven innings on Tuesday night. They have three quality starts in four games under Mattingly.
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.
But the Phillies’ bullpen almost blew it. Jonathan Bowlan allowed three runs to score in the eighth to cut the lead to 6-4. Brad Keller allowed a run in the ninth.
Rookie Andrew Painter hopes to keep it going on Saturday afternoon. The South Florida native will be pitching at the Marlins’ ballpark for the first time.