Mattingly Magic: Phillies improve to 4-0 under Donnie Baseball

MIAMI – The starting pitching issues that plagued the Phillies during the first month of the season and fanned the flames that ultimately led to Rob Thomson’s ouster as manager are slowly subsiding.

The Phils won their fourth straight game under new skipper Don Mattingly on Friday night when they beat the Miami Marlins, 6-5, under the big top in Little Havana. In three of those wins, the Phillies have received a quality start.

Not bad considering they had just six quality starts (and a 5.80 ERA as a starting staff) in the first 28 games.

“It seems like over the last few years, starting pitching has been the strength of this team,” Mattingly said after the win, which was harder than it should have been after the bullpen struggled in the final two innings. “There were times this year where it wasn’t as good as you’d like, but it’s starting to work itself out.”

Zack Wheeler authored Friday night’s quality start – following Jesus Luzardo on Tuesday and Cristopher Sanchez in the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader – with six innings of one-run ball. He allowed just three hits, two of them which came in the first inning as the Marlins scored their first run of the game on back-to-back two-out doubles.

Other than that, Wheeler was sharp. He walked two and struck out eight in his second start since concluding his recovery from surgery to alleviate thoracic outlet syndrome. Wheeler has been slow building velocity in his return, but his fastball reached 94.7 mph in this one and he got seven swings and misses on the pitch.

After the bullpen picked up 10 innings in the second game of Thursday’s doubleheader win over San Francisco, Wheeler felt an obligation to go deep into the game.

“The goal was to go seven,” he said. “I didn’t get there. I went as far as I could. Those guys (in the bullpen) needed a break. Hopefully I gave them one.”

In two starts, Wheeler has pitched 11 innings and allowed just three runs. What’s more, he seems to have jump-started a struggling rotation. Phillies starters have a 3.16 ERA in six games with Wheeler back. In one of those games, the Phils used a reliever as an opener, but you get the picture. Wheeler has made a difference. And just in time. The Phils entered Friday night 9 ½ games behind first-place Atlanta in the NL East.

“We feel the pressure,” Wheeler said. “It’s early in the season, but we feel the pressure. We’re a really good staff. We’ve got to pitch like it. They pay us for a reason. You could say we’re the core, in a sense. It starts with us putting up zeroes. It’s on us for the most part. We’ve got to score runs, but at the same time, (the pitchers) have to limit them.

“We’ve got to win ball games. We 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 it starts with the staff. We have that standard with our staff of being the best in baseball, if not right up there. We need to keep our guys in games because we have a really good lineup and it looks like they’re getting going also.”

The offense, which started to warm in Thomson’s final days, continued to heat up under Mattingly, who was back in Miami, where he managed the Marlins for seven seasons from 2016-2022.

The Phils rallied for a couple of two-out runs against Miami starter Eury Perez in the fourth inning. Bryson Stott drew a two-out walk to keep the inning alive and warming Alec Bohm and rookie Justin Crawford had hits to drive home the runs.

In the seventh, Stott delivered a three-run homer against lefty Cade Gibson to cap a four-run rally and put the Phils up, 6-1. The Phils needed all of those runs because the bullpen struggled mightily in the final two innings.

The Phillies’ offense produced nine hits to help pick up Kyle Schwarber, who struck out five times. Schwarber batted leadoff as Trea Turner was rested.

Schwarber wasn’t the only Phillie who struggled with the bat. Number nine hitter Rafael Marchan left five runners on base when it was still a 2-1 game.

Catcher J.T. Realmuto, on the injured list with a sore back, went through a series of defensive drills before the game and could be activated during this series, maybe as soon as Saturday. The Phils could use him because they have not gotten much production from Marchan, the primary backup.

Marchan had a couple of chances to do damage and both times came up empty. He popped out with runners on second and third to end the top of the fourth. Later, the Phils loaded the bases with one out in the sixth against the lefty reliever Gibson. Marchan worked a full count before grounding into a 5-4-3 double play to end the threat. The double play left Marchan staring at a 0-for-13 stretch and dropped his season batting average to .080.

Mattingly had two right-handed bats on the bench in Turner and Felix Reyes. He did not hit for Marchan because Wheeler was still in the game.

“I’m not going to change catchers with Wheels going back out,” Mattingly said.

Behind the plate, Marchan worked well with Wheeler, and that’s an important part of the equation.

After Wheeler departed, the bullpen was a mixed bag. Orion Kerkering pitched a clean seventh. Jonathan Bowlan had trouble in the eighth and was tagged for three runs as the Marlins made it a 6-4 game. Jose Alvarado struck out Christopher Morel with two men on base to get out of the inning and preserve the two-run lead. Brad Keller had trouble throwing strikes in the ninth and gave up a run, but ultimately got the final out to seal a one-run win. It ended up being a lot closer than it should have been because the bullpen had issues, but a win is a win, and after their slow start, the Phillies need to pile them up.

They are 13-19 now. Can they make it five straight under Mattingly on Saturday afternoon?

Andrew Painter (1-2, 5.25) pitches against right-hander Max Meyer (1-0, 3.30).