Sitting in the Phillies dugout pregame on Wednesday, Sosa said through team interpreter Diego D’Aniello that “a lack of focus” is why he did not run hard out of the batter’s box after sending a slider off the right-center field wall. Sosa took a few slow steps, watched the ball fly at first, and what could have been a triple ended up as a double.
The next three batters flew or popped out, and while Sosa stole third base, he was unable to score what would have been the tying run.
“I totally forgot to run the bases there, and I only focused on where the ball was going, and that’s what caused me not to get to third base, and that’s a big mistake that might have cost us the game right there,” Sosa said.
Sosa said he didn’t think the ball was hit out of the park. Typically, the utility player will skip once out of the batter’s box after hitting a homer, and he didn’t do that on Tuesday.
“It’s just a lack of focus and a lack of thinking about the running the bases there,” he said.
Interim manager Don Mattingly, who said after the game that he was “surprised” not to see Sosa wind up on third on the play, spoke to Sosa in a private conversation about the mistake.
“I respect the game a lot, and I try to show that,” Sosa said. “And that’s one of the things that I don’t tolerate from the game, the lack of hustle and not running the bases there, not running at full speed. I think that’s something I don’t want to happen again. … I think that’s something that shows no respect to the game, and I try to respect the game every time I play it. So I just leave it at that and say it’s not happening again.”
Brandon Marsh misread a hard liner from J.T. Realmuto and was doubled off at second base in the seventh inning in the Phillies’ loss on Tuesday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Mattingly also had a separate conversation with Brandon Marsh, who misread a hard liner from J.T. Realmuto and was doubled off at second base in the seventh inning on Tuesday. Mattingly said for the most part the players know where they erred, but it’s important to have the one-on-one conversations as a reminder.
“Make sure we’re thinking correctly. Most of the time, you’re asking about what they’re thinking in that situation,” he said.
It’s not the first time he’s had to have those conversations recently. During the Phillies’ West Coast trip last week, Mattingly spoke to Derek Hill about missing a stop sign from third base coach Anthony Contreras, and to Marsh about trying to advance to third on a grounder to shortstop.
“It’s unacceptable for me to take a step toward third,” Marsh said after the game. “It’s a huge mistake by me. Really no excuse. Just a really bad play on my part.”
While the recent blunders have been especially ugly, Mattingly remains confident that the Phillies will be able to clean up their act on the base paths. In fact, statistically the club is still one of the stronger baserunning teams in the league.
According to the StatCast metric of baserunning run value, the Phillies rank fourth in baseball with plus-8 baserunning runs created. Six of those are from stolen bases, while the other two are from non-steal plays where an extra base was taken.
The only teams ahead of the Phillies in this metric are the Diamondbacks (plus-11), Nationals (plus-9), and Brewers (plus-9).
A major contributor to the team’s overall success is Bryson Stott, who ranks third overall with a baserunning run value of plus-7 and is a perfect 24-for-24 on stolen base attempts.
“The Phillies have actually rated out over the last few years a really good baserunning team, one of the best in baseball,” Mattingly said. “This has been a good baserunning team, and not that it’s bad now, but I think you have to keep teaching, and keep making sure everybody understands what you look for in that situation, and hopefully you learn from it, and those mistakes don’t happen again.”
Latest on Cortes
Left-hander Nestor Cortes appeared in his first official game Tuesday since Sept. 3, 2025, pitching one inning for single-A Clearwater. He struck out two and allowed one run on one hit. His four-seam topped out at 91.4 mph.
“It was OK,” Mattingly said. “So [Wednesday’s] the day to see how he bounces back, and then what happens next.”
Bryce Harper took a planned off day from right field and was the Phillies’ DH on Wednesday.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Extra bases
Bryce Harper had a planned day at designated hitter Wednesday, with Kyle Schwarber playing first and Bryan De La Cruz taking over in right field. … Several Flyers players, including Cam York, Tyson Foerster, Owen Tippett, Christian Dvorak, Nick Seeler, and Noel Acciari were at Citizens Bank Park pregame on Wednesday, meeting Phillies and taking batting practice. … Zack Wheeler (12-5, 3.23 ERA) is scheduled to start Thursday’s series finale against the Astros, while Houston’s starter has not yet been announced. The Phillies will stay on turn for their upcoming series in Atlanta, with Aaron Nola, Jesús Luzardo, and Andrew Painter lined up for the three games against the Braves.
It all happened within a five-pitch span of the seventh inning Tuesday night in a 6-5 loss to the Astros, and it prevented the Phillies from gaining ground in both the division and wild-card races.
But it also exposed an insidious weakness. Because while the bullpen’s tendency to melt like soft serve and shortcomings on defense tend to be more glaring, baserunning is often an issue for the Phillies, too.
“There’s games that the small things cost you runs, chances,” interim manager Don Mattingly said after the Phillies remained four games behind the NL East-leading Braves and a half-game ahead of the Cubs for the top wild card. “It can cost you a game.”
Never more than in that seventh inning.
Trailing 6-3 after Andrew Painter dropped them into an early 5-0 hole, the Phillies led off with a double from Bohm. Bryson Stott got hit by a pitch before Marsh crushed a fastball 403 feet toward Monty’s Angle, the part of the fence in left-center that juts back from 387 feet to 409.
Daulton Varsho, the Astros’ Gold Glove-winner who ran around the Citizens Bank Park outfield when his dad was the Phillies’ bench coach in the early 2000s, tried to run it down but was unable to make what would’ve been a sensational catch.
Bohm retreated to second base as Stott approached the bag and didn’t start running until the ball hit the wall and ricocheted into center field. Instead of two runs scoring and Marsh winding up on third base, only Bohm scored, with the speedier Stott on his heels and held up at third.
Mattingly, who coached Varsho over the last few years with the Blue Jays, didn’t take issue with Bohm’s read. Still, instead of cutting the margin to 6-5 with nobody out and the tying run on third for J.T. Realmuto, it was 6-4 with the tying run on second.
“That one doesn’t bother me at all because, I mean, I’ve seen [Varsho] catch that ball,” Mattingly said.“He’s close enough that that one’s fine.”
OK, but it also left Marsh at second base when Realmuto scorched a 102.9-mph liner to shortstop Jeremy Peña, who dove to his right and snared it. Marsh, already almost halfway to third base, was easily doubled off at second.
“The double-play ball is, for me, a little bit more where you get away from your principles,” Mattingly said. “Score of the game, we’re down two there, nobody out. If the ball gets through, Stott scores, Marshy’s at third. First and third, nobody out, you like your chances that you’re going to get it tied up.
“So, your principles say ‘freeze.’ I was taught freeze, and a lot of organizations teach [go] back on that play. Just too aggressive.”
Marsh agreed, regrettably.
“It’s unacceptable for me to take a step toward third,” he said. “It’s a huge mistake by me. Really no excuse. Just a really bad play on my part.”
Edmundo Sosa celebrates after hitting an RBI double in the ninth inning.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Even though the expected batting average on Realmuto’s line drive was .710, according to Statcast?
“No, I’ve got to get back,” Marsh said. “First step’s got to be to my left there. No explanation other than I was just wrong and I have to clean that up and be better in the future if we want to be where we want to be at the end of the year.”
The Phillies rallied again in the ninth inning against Astros closer Josh Hader, but once again, baserunning contributed to their downfall. Edmundo Sosa didn’t run hard out of the box on a long drive to center field and wound up with an RBI double rather than a potential triple. The next three batters flew out to end the game.
NL wild-card standings
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
“I was watching the ball, so I didn’t see if he was going full speed all the way,” Mattingly said. “I was a little surprised, when I looked up, where he was at. … I was wondering why he really wasn’t as far as he should have been.”
If Sosa was on third, could he have scored on Derek Hill’s one-out fly ball to medium-depth right field?
“I’m not sure about that,” Mattingly said. “But I mean, that’s kind of [neither] here nor there at that point. I think, just in general, when you talk about the way you should play and things you should do on the field, that’s really more important than could he or should he have scored on the next play.”
Mattingly suggested that baserunning is lacking across the sport, not only among his team.
“It’s one of the things that I’ve noticed in the game all over the place,” he said. “Players are better probably now than they’ve ever been. Obviously pitchers are throwing harder and tougher to hit than they’ve ever been. Baserunning, for me, has kind of went a little backward in a lot of scenarios, not just here but all over the place.
“I think you should always learn from it. And you should always stay on it.”
Phillies shortstop prospect Aidan Miller took another incremental step forward on Tuesday in his return from his low back condition.
Miller’s rehab assignment was transferred from single-A Clearwater to double-A Reading, where he was scheduled to play seven innings on Tuesday night. The 22-year-old played just one game for the Threshers, going 1-for-2 with a double and a walk on Saturday.
On Tuesday, he was in the Fightin’ Phils lineup at shortstop, hitting No. 3 in the order.
Likely contributing to the decision is the fact that Clearwater’s regular season has already ended, with the Threshers playing their first playoff game on Tuesday. Reading has a week remaining before their postseason begins on Sept. 15, allowing for more regular game action.
But Miller will also be facing a higher level of competition in double A, one that he grew accustomed to in 2025 when he hit .259 with an .809 OPS for the Fightin’ Phils.
Miller is ranked the Phillies’ No. 2 prospect and No. 61 overall by MLB Pipeline, but at one point it looked like 2026 might be a lost season for him. A sore back that bothered him in spring training turned into a diagnosis of discogenic pain and facet inflammation in the lumbar spine, which was ultimately treated with a minimally invasive procedure.
Aidan Miller had an .809 OPS at double-A Reading in 2025.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
While the initial timeline announced by the Phillies was six to eight weeks to return to games following the June 5 procedure, Miller did not appear in a game until Sept. 5.
“As far as the long-term effects, positive, negative, I would let the [medical] experts speak to that,” farm director Luke Murton said on Phillies Extra, The Inquirer’s baseball podcast. “But I feel pretty confident, [based on] what we’ve been seeing lately, that he’s on the right trajectory to be with us and be a good player for a long time.”
The Astros’ Yordan Alvarez is making a run at the AL triple crown this season.David J. Phillip
Limiting Alvarez
The Phillies were surely glad to see the last of Ronald Acuña Jr. — at least, until they head to Atlanta on Friday — after his two home runs against them during the Braves series. But the Astros came to town on Tuesday with another star in tow in designated hitter Yordan Alvarez, who is having a career year.
Alvarez was penciled in Houston’s lineup in the No. 2 spot on Tuesday.
“What’s not the challenge of Yordan?” said interim manager Don Mattingly. “If you look at the numbers, he kind of handles all zones, all pitches. I just think you got to be really careful with him. He’s been this way for a long time. This year seems to be better than ever, but he’s always been a guy that you don’t feel like there’s a lot of places to go. You can’t do the same things over and over with him. He makes adjustments. So yeah, he’s a handful.”
Alvarez will continue his pursuit of the American League triple crown against the Phillies. If he can maintain his hold on the AL lead in batting average (.314), homers (38, tied for first with Tampa’s Junior Caminero), and RBIs (95, tied for first with Baltimore’s Pete Alonso), Alvarez would become baseball’s first winner since Miguel Cabrera in 2012.
Mattingly knows firsthand how difficult of an accomplishment that would be. He never won a triple crown in his 14 seasons playing for the Yankees, but he won the AL batting title in 1984 with a .343 average. In his MVP year in 1985, Mattingly led the AL in RBIs with 145 but finished fourth in homers (35) and third in average (.324).
“It just talks about his year, what he’s kind of balanced in everything, from average to his on-base [percentage], his power, driving in runs when they need him. So yeah, he’s just having a tremendous year,” Mattingly said. “He’s been a great player for me for a long time, and now I think you get a better view of it, because it’s more of a national thing with the triple crown in mind. You see it all the time on the scoreboards and things like that. So yeah, he’s having a great year.”
Extra bases
Infield coach Bobby Dickerson took over duties as the Phillies’ first base coach on Tuesday as Paco Figueroa is dealing with a hip injury. Figueroa was still in the dugout. … Cristopher Sánchez (16-5, 2.58 ERA) is scheduled to start Wednesday opposite Astros right-hander Hunter Brown (5-3, 3.31). … The Phillies announced that Flyers forward Porter Martone will throw out the first pitch before Thursday’s series finale.
He homered, he flapped, he Euro’ed, he curtain called. It was quite the weekend for Ronald Acuña Jr., the Braves’ right fielder and newest Philly villain.
Acuña is a five-time All-Star, the 2023 National League MVP, and, in many respects, Atlanta’s version of Phillies superstar Bryce Harper, from his sense of style to his sense of swagger. That was amplified during the four-game series against the Braves that began Friday, with supremacy in the NL East at stake.
When he took the field Friday, Acuña was disliked, perhaps because of his general excellence while playing for a rival team, perhaps more so specifically stemming from a leisurely home-run trot in Philadelphia in 2021.
By the time he departed Philadelphia on Monday he had two homers, two wins, and a target on his back. He was hitting .308 with 20 homers and 64 RBIs in 97 career games vs. the Phillies, among his best numbers against any opponent. Further, he gloated in his success and mocked Phillies fans.
It. Was. Awesome.
Can’t wait for more.
The Phillies visit the Braves this weekend but they don’t host Atlanta again until next season unless the teams meet in the playoffs. We pray for that sort of theater. It has always been worth the price of admission.
Not since Phillies killers Mike Piazza and Chipper Jones have Phillies fans had such a legitimate object for their derision, and neither of them had the gall to taunt the most passionate fan base in sports.
For years, the Phillies lacked a great player from another team they could legitimately loathe. Acuña is now that guy.
Fresh meat
Acuña left town with seven hits, among them two doubles and, most significant, two homers.
After the first homer, a 450-foot bomb off Zack Wheeler in the third inning Saturday, Acuña took his time getting around the bases. He’d cut the lead to 3-1, but he acted like he’d flipped the lead. He beat his chest at first base, flapped his arms at second base, Euro-stepped at third base, then sauntered home. That’s his home-run trot routine this season, but that didn’t make it any less deplorable. It took 29.51 seconds. Wheeler glared at him.
The second homer, a three-run blast off reliever Alex McFarlane on Sunday, was crushing. It tied the game, 4-4, in the eighth inning. Fully aware of the uproar his trot caused Saturday, Acuña poured it on Sunday. He stared into the Phillies’ dugout before beginning the journey. This time, he took 32.36 seconds to round the bases, his slowest of 16 trips this season and the third-slowest of his career 202 trips.
Ronald Acuña Jr. homered twice this weekend against the Phillies.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
“I love the fans from Philly because they boo me,” Acuña told reporters Sunday.
Acuña also had three hits in Friday’s win.
The two Braves wins assured that the Phillies, who trailed them by four games entering the series, could not make up ground in the NL East. Monday, his one-out walk in the ninth inning put the tying run on first base in a 1-0 game. Phillies starter Jesús Luzardo stranded him, to the delight of the 41,820 at Citizens Bank Park. Tragedy averted.
Luzardo logged the first complete game of his career, a shutout no less, but he did so with disaster just 270 feet from home plate.
The fans were delighted by the feat two outs later … but just imagine their angst if Acuña started another comeback and the Phillies had blown a second straight win.
Acuña’s trot Sunday led to questions before Monday’s game regarding how to approach the outfielder, whose hot bat had become a real threat again, and whose cocky attitude had rankled traditionalists.
“What are you going to do? Are we going to knock him down three times and that’s going to make him uncomfortable?” Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly said before the game. “That’s just not part of the game now.”
Saturday night, Mattingly, who is 65, acknowledged that baseball had long since legislated intentionally hitting batters who showboated.
“Today’s game, you see it all the time,” Mattingly said. “It’s more commonplace. Let the kids play, right? We started that.”
Ronald Acuña Jr. celebrates with teammates after helping the Braves beat the Phillies on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
That doesn’t mean everyone likes it … especially star pitchers.
“Our guy just rounds the bases that hits 50 here,” said Wheeler.
That might be true of the guy in question, Kyle Schwarber. He homered Saturday, and brushed off questions about Acuña’s home-run trot. He homered again Monday, but pointedly declined to become part of the Acuña narrative. He followed his shot in the eighth with a brisk scoot around the bags, and afterward scoffed at the notion that his home-run trots were now being scrutinized.
It most definitely is not true of the more significant guy, Bryce Harper.
Philly’s own
Harper made an art of the home run celebration since he entered pro ball as a teenager; he got into trot-trouble in the minors.
And nobody milks the moment like the guy they call “The Showman.”
After Harper made a baserunning error in Game 2 of the 2023 NL Division Series, Braves second baseman Orlando Arcia mocked him. So, when Harper hit two homers in Game 3, Harper stared down Arcia each time. Later that fall, in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series in Arizona, after he homered, Harper stared down Michael Phelps, who lives in the area and had thrown out the first pitch. Phelps is a 23-time Olympic gold medalist as a swimmer — and Harper’s buddy.
In March, Harper took 35.63 seconds to round the bases after his 432-foot home run for Team USA against Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic. It took him 5 seconds to even leave the batter’s box. He literally threw his bat 30 feet back toward the Team USA dugout. At third base, he paused to salute. As Harper approached home plate, he screamed into the camera and patted the American flag on his left sleeve. It wasn’t even a big-league game and it wasn’t a game-winner. It just tied the game, 2-2, and Harper and the Americans eventually lost.
If Harper is the Prince of Petty, he doesn’t own the most obnoxious trot in Phillies history, but he was there for it. In 2019, after the Mets hit J.T. Realmuto in what appeared to be a retaliation plunking, Rhys Hoskins took 34.22 seconds to circumnavigate the diamond, at that point the longest trot since trots began to be measured, and it was utterly provocative. It was the ninth inning, and it made the score 6-0. Harper had a front-row seat for that one, because it was Harper that Hoskins drove in.
How about the moment that turbocharged the recent Phillies playoff runs?
That was Hoskins’ third-inning, three-run, bat-slam dinger in Game 3 of the 2022 NLDS against … you guessed it — the Braves. Acuña watched that one from right field at the Bank.
💥 BAT ̶F̶L̶I̶P̶ SLAM 💥
The Phillies take a 4-0 lead thanks to this three-run home run BOMB from Rhys Hoskins.
So, yeah, the Phillies and their fans live in glass houses when it comes to criticizing somebody else’s home-run behavior.
And then …
If the Phillies sought revenge, Acuña barely gave them the chance to knock him down Monday. He occupied the designated hitter spot (perhaps protected from Phillies fans in right field), batted first in the order, and swung at the first pitch in his first two at-bats.
Not much drama. Not much satisfaction. Satisfaction arrived in the sixth.
Luzardo struck out Acuña on three pitches, and it was the moment the fans had been waiting for. After he flailed at a sweeper and jogged back to the dugout, fans erupted in cheers and mocked his failure by flapping their arms.
Flapping their arms?
A fans tries to get the attention of Phillies Jonathan Bowlan before the game against the Atlanta Braves.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo delivers a pitch in the first inning.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Bryce Harper waits for a pitch against the Atlanta Braves.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Luis Arraez reacts to flying out to end the sixth inning.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo faces the Atlanta Braves.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber hits a solo home run in the eighth inning.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber watches his solo home run in the eighth inning.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber flips his bat as he reacts to hitting a solo home run in the eighth inning.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto (left) and Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (right) embrace after the game.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies Kyle Schwarber (center) and Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo (right) embrace after the game.David Maialetti / Staff PhotographerPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher Jesus Luzardo reacts as he is showered with water after finishing the game.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
Yes.
Philly fans lost their minds Friday when Acuña flapped his arms as he rounded second base, assuming he was mocking their assumed Eagle fandom. Not so.
Most Braves players make that motion when they homer, just as most Phillies raise the index and pinky finger of their right hand as they round second during a home-run trot. Acuña also typically pantomimes a Euro-step basketball move near third base, and he did this, too — though in Philly this weekend, he performed the Euro less at Russell Westbrook speed than at Luka Dončić speed.
As for other historical villains in Phillies history, this sort of animosity is different from the hometown hatred directed at Scott Rolen, who declined a big contract extension and forced a trade to St. Louis, or Dick Allen, whose situation was complicated by racial tensions and his contrarian nature. J.D. Drew also is unique in that it was the Phillies’ hubris and obstinacy that cast him as spoiled and petulant in the late 1990s, when, in fact, he simply was greedy and anti-establishment.
Piazza, meanwhile, was a homegrown talent who represented the Dodgers’ and Mets’ superiority during a fallow Phillies era. His 44 home runs and 130 RBIs against the Phillies are the most he accrued against any team.
Similarly, Jones was the face of the best NL franchise for 20 years. He hit 49 homers against both the Phillies and the Mets, and his 1.036 OPS and .331 batting average are his best against any team that was in the NL his entire career (the Brewers switched in 1998).
For two decades, Jones was assaulted by chants of, “Laaaaaaa-ry,” his given name. For years, Piazza got straight-up boos. From now on, so will Acuña.
“ … Hold up, wait a minute, y’all thought I was finished?”
The line from Meek Mill’s “Dreams and Nightmares” felt even more apt the second time it boomed through Citizens Bank Park on Monday, as Jesús Luzardo warmed for the ninth inning for the first time in his career.
Earlier this season, he changed his walk-out song to the Philadelphia rapper’s signature track, a nod to the city that Luzardo officially adopted after signing a five-year extension in March. As the Phillies lefty walked back out to the mound for the ninth and final time against the Braves, the second verse played again. Most of the 41,820 in attendance were on their feet.
In reality, though, there had been no question, not in Luzardo’s mind, nor in interim manager Don Mattingly’s, that he would pitch the ninth. Even before Kyle Schwarber finally broke the scoreless tie with an eighth-inning homer to the second deck, it was always going to be Luzardo’s inning with the way he had been throwing.
Watching Schwarber’s swing put him in position for the win, Luzardo had just one thought: Go get a shutdown inning.
And while he issued his first walk of the game to Ronald Acuña Jr. — before that, Luzardo only had two three-ball counts all day — Luzardo fought back to strike out Drake Baldwin looking on a sinker. A fly out sealed the 1-0 win over Atlanta, the series split, and Luzardo’s first career shutout.
“Unbelievable game by him,” Schwarber said. “‘Efficient’ is a great word. But he keeps finding a way to keep getting better and better, which is awesome.”
Bullpen collapses contributed to the Phillies’ two losses against the Braves this series, and had put the rickety bridge from their starters to closer Jhoan Duran under a microscope. But although Luzardo had never taken the ball in the ninth before in his professional career, he made that a moot point on Monday.
Jesús Luzardo induced 12 swings-and-misses on his sweeper.David Maialetti / Staff Photographer
He limited Atlanta to just two hits. Despite racking up 12 strikeouts and 23 total swings-and-misses, Luzardo was extremely efficient, with 92 pitches through eight and 109 overall. His trademark sweeper was as effective as ever. In the second inning, Michael Harris II was fooled so badly that he chased a sweeper ultimately caught by J.T. Realmuto in the opposite batter’s box.
“We took advantage of an offense that’s very aggressive. They’re very good, and I think that’s what makes them good, is how aggressive they are,” Luzardo said.
Luzardo’s excellence gave his offense chance after chance to break through. But it took them until the eighth inning to take advantage. They left the bases loaded in the first inning, a missed opportunity that started to loom larger as Braves starter Grant Holmes began mowing through the lineup.
window.addEventListener(“message”,function(a){if(void 0!==a.data[“datawrapper-height”]){var e=document.querySelectorAll(“iframe”);for(var t in a.data[“datawrapper-height”])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data[“datawrapper-height”][t]+”px”;r.style.height=d}}});
Holmes retired 10 consecutive Phillies hitters, striking out the side in the third inning on three different pitches.
After Schwarber’s leadoff single to start the game, Holmes didn’t allow another hit until Brandon Marsh’s single in the fifth. The Phillies couldn’t advance him, and they also failed to cash in on Trea Turner’s double in the sixth.
Even so, Mattingly liked the Phillies’ at-bats.
“There was a lot of balls like ‘em when I marked my sheet: good at-bats, balls hit hard. There was a ton of them in there. We didn’t get a lot for it,” Mattingly said. “But still, I thought the at-bats were good. The approach was good. Their guy kind of dialed it in. I think after the first, he has the breaking ball going.”
But they finally got just enough in the eighth. With two outs in the inning, Atlanta manager Walt Weiss had a left-hander up in the Braves bullpen, but opted to leave righty Didier Fuentes in to face Schwarber. Fuentes had been carving up the Phillies since relieving Holmes in the seventh, but he made one mistake against the wrong hitter.
Schwarber powered a middle-middle fastball 415 feet to right field to break the stalemate.
“You’re trying to find a way on base,” said Schwarber, who hit three homers against Atlanta this series. “It’s not thinking slug. It’s not thinking anything like that. It’s just trying to find a way on, and obviously [he has] a really good heater and good other pitches, but leaves one [in the] middle and it’s just able to get the barrel there to it, and it takes off.”
It ensured that Luzardo’s spectacular outing didn’t go to waste. The lefty has completely rewritten the narrative of his season after a rocky start. A 1.31 ERA in August won Luzardo pitcher of the month honors, and he has already started out September even better.
“I think everyone dreams about being a guy that your team relies on,” Luzardo said.
When he walked back out for the ninth, Luzardo tried not to think about the potential shutout awaiting him after the third out. He instead tried to calm his adrenaline, and then focus on the game plan.
Luzardo wants to take a few mementos from the best performance of his career so far. But he won’t keep them for himself. He plans to save the game ball and give it to his parents, along with maybe the jersey he wore or the lineup card.
“I think I’m just a piece,” Luzardo said. “As a team, we win as a team. We lose as a team. So I think I wanted to go out and do my part, do my job, and help out any way possible to get the win.”
Tanner Banks is eligible to be reinstated from the 60-day injured list on Monday, but the Phillies want to give him more time to build up.
The left-hander has been on the shelf since July 9 with a left forearm strain, and has already made four rehab appearances for triple-A Lehigh Valley as he works to rejoin the major league bullpen. But the Phillies want to continue building him into the three-inning range, so he can be a bulk option for the major league club.
“He’s getting to the point where he’s pretty much ready if needed,” said interim manager Don Mattingly.
Banks has been efficient in his rehab outings. Across 6⅔ innings, he has allowed just two hits and one earned run. He is next scheduled to throw three innings or 40 pitches on Tuesday for the IronPigs.
“I think you can see how we’re building him right now, is that we would look at him as more of a length option; be able to come in, throw multiples, do different things like that,” Mattingly said. “We’re sitting with three lefties [José Alvarado, Tim Mayza, and deadline acquisition Brooks Raley]; they’ve all been actually pretty good lately. So it would be hard to say I got to force Banks into that, in one of those roles.
“But I think the way we’re building, is that he is a guy that can come into a game and throw two or three innings, if he’s been built up to a pitch count where you’re comfortable and he’s used to that.”
Tanner Banks had a 7.14 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in 29 major league innings when he went on the injured list on July 9.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Before his injury, Banks was having a down season and was even optioned in June. He had a 7.14 ERA and 2.00 WHIP in 29 major league innings in 2026, a stark drop-off from his 3.07 ERA and 1.01 WHIP in the majors in 2025.
“You just keep paying attention, who’s rolling and who’s getting their outs, things like that,” Mattingly said of his bullpen mix. “But this is our team. This is our club. Roles are semi-set, but I think you try to make decisions based on what’s best right now, and not necessarily how it’s been all year long.”
Nestor Cortes on Tuesday will see his first official game action since signing with the Phillies on Aug. 19. The left-hander is scheduled to be reinstated from the seven-day injured list and pitch for low-A Clearwater.
Mattingly said he wasn’t sure if Cortes would start the game for the Threshers, but he is scheduled to appear at some point. Cortes, 31, was signed to a major league deal as organizational pitching depth, but he has been on the injured list since Aug. 25 to give him time to build up. He last appeared in a game on Sept. 3, 2025, for the Padres before undergoing arm surgery that sidelined him for most of 2026.
Extra bases
Andrew Painter (3-8, 5.55 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday’s series opener against Astros right-hander Hayden Wesneski (4-1, 3.18).
The worst thing the Phillies can possibly do is allow Sunday’s misfortune to impact their handling of Alex McFarlane.
They have 22 days until the NL wild-card round begins. They will play 19 games before then. They don’t have any other options.
In a perfect world, McFarlane would not have been the guy standing on the mound in the eighth inning on Sunday afternoon. He would not have been the one watching his 100 mph, 1-2 fastball disappear over the outfield wall. He would not have suffered the indignity of seeing, feeling Ronald Acuña Jr. circle the bases, arms out like an airplane, dive bombing the Phillies’ division title hopes with a three-run home run that lifted the Braves to a 5-4 win.
It is not a perfect world. McFarlane was there for two reasons. One, he has the stuff to warrant it. Two, he is their best hope.
Nothing else matters at this point. With less than a month to go before the playoffs begin, the back of the Phillies bullpen consists of Jhoan Duran, Jonathan Bowlan, two guys who have shown that they can’t be trusted, and one guy who needs to show he can.
Interim manager Don Mattingly has no choice but to err on the side of the third guy. He needs to find out if McFarlane can handle the role.
There is a fun bit of trivia about McFarlane that is more quirky than significant but nevertheless provides an entry point to state the obvious: that the Phillies owe it to themselves, their clubhouse and their fans to spend the next month preparing McFarlane for a major postseason role.
Twelve games into his career, the 25-year-old reliever has already picked up four big-league wins. He ranks sixth on the team in that department — two behind Aaron Nola, one ahead of Andrew Painter — despite having yet to celebrate his first full month of major league service. McFarlane also has a page in the history books. Before him, no Phillies reliever had ever won four games in his first 11 appearances. In fact, over the last 60 years, only three had won two.
While McFarlane’s accomplishment is first and foremost a testament to the fluky nature of pitcher wins and their inadequacy as a measure of individual performance, deeper under the hood lies something real. It isn’t just his fastball that sits at 100 mph and has touched 102. By practically every measure of stuff and performance, McFarlane has been the second or third best arm in the Phillies bullpen since his promotion on Aug. 11. More importantly, those measures rank him among the upper tier of all big-league relievers, the realm in which legitimate postseason bullpens are constructed.
To get a sense of who a pitcher really is, you have to look at three different levels: the stuff itself, the hitters’ reaction to that stuff, and the end result. McFarlane has looked solid on all three levels.
Opposing hitters have swung and missed at 22% of Alex McFarlane’s pitches in the strike zone. Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
1. The stuff
You don’t need numbers to see true sizzle. But, good golly, McFarlane’s numbers are impressive. Only two relievers in the majors have bettered his 100.2 average fastball velocity since his promotion. One of those relievers is the Dodgers’ Edgardo Henriquez. The other is Jhoan Duran.
The spin rate on McFarlane’s fastball and slider both rank among the top 10 in the majors among relievers.
2. Hitters’ reactions
Herein lies the biggest reason to be excited about McFarlane. That paradox of pitching is that you have to avoid hard contact while also avoiding walks. Plenty of guys throw hard. The real question is whether a pitcher’s stuff is putting hitters at a disadvantage. Are they getting good swings? Are those swings producing good contact?
The pitchers who have the advantage are the ones who can throw their pitches in the strike zone and still miss a bat. McFarlane has done it better than almost everyone in the majors over the last month. Opposing hitters have swung and missed at 22% of his pitches in the strike zone. That ranks 12th among relievers, just ahead of the Astros’ Josh Hader.
Contact in the zone is an important metric for McFarlane, in particular. One legitimate question about his eventual bullpen ceiling is his lack of a pitch that hitters will consistently chase outside the zone. Take Duran, for example. This season, hitters have swung at 35% of his pitches outside the strike zone. Hader is at 41%. McFarlane’s chase rate is about 29%, which is middle of the pack among relievers. His slider has played quite well overall, generating a 50% whiff rate on swings. But hitters have been laying off roughly two of every three pitchers outside the zone. All of this is per Fangraphs’ pitch split data.
3. The results
You can get results without having stuff, and you can have stuff without getting results. But the most sustainable bullpen arms generally do both. That’s what McFarlane has done in his limited sample of big league innings. His strikeout rate is rather ordinary at 11 of 34 batters, considering his fastball. But he has yet to allow an extra-base hit, thanks in large part to his ability to keep the ball on the ground. His 56% ground ball percentage ranks 19th among 96 big league relievers who have thrown at least 10 innings over the last four weeks. Two of the six hits he’s allowed have been infield hits. In general, the quality of contact has been a big positive.
Likewise with his situational performance.
Before Alex McFarlane, no Phillies reliever had ever won four games in his first 11 appearances.Elizabeth Robertson / Staff Photographer
Toward the end of the Phillies’ recent West Coast trip, Mattingly and pitching coach Caleb Cotham decided to begin the McFarlane experiment in earnest. One night after they called on him to protect a one-run lead in the seventh inning against the Angels, the Phillies gave McFarlane his most significant opportunity yet. Leading the Diamondbacks 2-1 in the sixth inning, Aaron Nola allowed the first two batters he faced to reach base. That prompted a call to the bullpen. McFarlane was the choice.
Three batters later, the Phillies were onto the eighth. McFarlane gave up a long fly ball to Lars Nootbaar before striking out Nolan Arenado and getting Tim Tawa to ground out weakly to third base.
These are exactly the sorts of situations that Mattingly and Cotham should be seeking for McFarlane between now and the end of the regular season. They are the exact sort of situation they thrust him into on Sunday. Three-run lead. Must-win game.
It didn’t work out this time. McFarlane came on to face the 8-9-1 hitters. Austin Riley lined out, and then Mike Yastrzemski singled to center to bring the top of the order to the plate. Drake Baldwin doubled. Acuña did what he did. It happens. The key is finding out how McFarlane responds.
For most of the year, the biggest reason to doubt the Phillies has been their lack of a solution for Jose Alvarado’s regression and Orion Kerkering’s implosion. Kerkering may have rendered himself unplayable after a two-run eighth inning against the Braves in Friday’s 5-2 loss. In his last six appearances before Sunday, he’d allowed 12 of 30 batters to reach base with seven runs allowed and just four strikeouts.
At this point, Mattingly has little choice but to operate as if McFarlane will be the man who will fill the vacuum in the postseason. A lot will depend on his ability to continue to throw strikes. But for a team that has no other options, McFarlane is one that could break right in a big way.
There’s something about a rookie who throws 100 mph that thrills a jam-packed crowd. In September, amid a tightening pennant race, it can overstimulate even the public-address announcer.
Over to you, Dan Baker.
“Now pitching for the Phillies … number 71 … Aaalexxx McFaaaaaaarlane!”
To be fair, there was juice in the ballpark as the eighth inning began Sunday. Aaron Nola got not three but five outs in the seventh to hold a one-run lead before Derek Hill and Kyle Schwarber homered, leaving the Phillies six outs from shaving the Braves’ division lead to three games.
Baker kicked in extra oomph only to suit the mood.
If only McFarlane had met the moment.
Instead, making his 12th major-league appearance, the 25-year-old righty gave up back-to-back one-out hits and a game-tying three-run homer to arms-flapping, stutter-stepping Ronald Acuña Jr. that exposed the Phillies’ most-glaring flaw and put a crimp in their chase for a third consecutive NL East crown.
“It was a tough one today,” Nola said after a 5-4 loss shoved the Phillies back to five games out of first place with 19 to play. “No doubt about it.”
Said interim manager Don Mattingly: “It’s one of those where you feel like it’s a tough one.”
Jhoan Duran (right) gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of the Phillies’ 5-4 loss Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
OK, for the record, Jhoan Duran gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth on Ozzie Albies’ leadoff double and Austin Riley’s triple. It was only the second earned run allowed by the star closer since Aug. 1.
Before that, though, the worst fear of 42,793 paying customers at sold-out Citizens Bank Park — and the biggest concern for team officials — reared its head again. Because as well as the Phillies have played over the last three months, the bridge to Duran is as creaky as ever.
Jonathan Bowlan has emerged as the primary eighth-inning reliever, but Mattingly noted that “his stuff ticks down a little bit” when he pitches on back-to-back days. Orion Kerkering has faltered. José Alvarado is inconsistent.
The choice, then, with a 4-1 lead was McFarlane, who was still in double-A at the All-Star break but has the kind of big arm that leaves organizations dreaming that he could be an X factor in October.
McFarlane gave up a single on a first-pitch fastball to Mike Yastrzemski and a double to Drake Baldwin on a slider. He threw seven fastballs in a row — all 100 mph or more — to Acuña, the Braves’ best player and Public Enemy No. 1 these days in Philly baseball for his showboating home-run trot.
“That was the plan there,” McFarlane said. “Just trust [catcher Garrett Stubbs]’ calls and trust myself to make those pitches.”
Said Mattingly: “You feel like he beat him with most of those, and like the sixth pitch was the first one I felt like [Acuña] was on time. Maybe [go to] something different. But I’m just backseat quarterbacking.”
With a 1-2 count, McFarlane intended to put the seventh fastball above the strike zone. It wasn’t elevated enough, and Acuña drove it into the bleachers in left-center field.
Cue the boos. Watch the air leave the balloon.
Here, then, is the state of play in the NL East: By taking two of three in this four-game holiday weekend series, the Braves are assured of leaving town with no less than a four-game lead that would functionally be five games by virtue of winning the season series.
It appears the Phillies’ best path to the playoffs is the wild card, where they maintained a 4½-game cushion. They’re also still a half-game behind the Cubs for the top wild card, which brings a home series in the best-of-three initial round.
Oh, but think of what might have been if not for that eighth-inning collapse.
“I figured it was a good spot for Alex,” Mattingly said. “He’s been pitching well. You want to give him that shot. I think it was the right [move] for today. … Alex was rested. We felt like it was a good spot.”
Nola dazzled again, setting down the first 10 batters before allowing a one-out double to Acuña in the fourth. It wasn’t until the sixth that he gave up a run on a one-out walk, a single, and a sacrifice fly.
With Nola’s pitch count under control, Mattingly sent him back out for the seventh inning against the middle of the Braves’ order. And with one out, Mauricio Dubón doubled on a ball that Bryce Harper lost in the sun in right field.
Still, Mattingly stuck with Nola.
The sun blinded Alec Bohm on a foul pop down the first-base line with two outs. Nola regrouped to strike out Sean Murphy and hold a 2-1 lead. As Nola walked off the mound and reached out with his right hand to have it checked, the umpire almost had to get in line behind teammates who wanted to shake it.
Aaron Nola throws during the second inning against the Atlanta Braves on Sunday.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
But the Phillies were still three outs from Duran. And given the state of the bullpen, there aren’t three more difficult outs for them to get.
Now, they’ll find out how McFarlane handles adversity.
“I think we see how he responds, and I think I feel good about the way he’s going to respond,” Mattingly said. “It’s going to happen to everybody if you play long enough, so we’ll see. I think he’ll be fine. He’s been a kid that’s handled everything.”
Except blowing a three-run lead in the eighth inning.
“Just come to the field the next day, flush it, and just believe in yourself,” McFarlane said. “Understand that you don’t let that moment define you and just accept failure for what it is and continue to keep pushing.”
Jhoan Duran unleashed a sinking, 99-mph splitter for a game-ending groundout, clapped his glove three times, and shook hands.
Ho-hum.
But Duran’s 11-pitch ninth inning in Saturday night’s 4-2 victory over the Braves was notable in that it marked his 30th save. And a Phillies reliever hadn’t recorded 30 saves in a season since … checks notes … Jeanmar Gómez in 2016.
“He makes me feel good when I’m able to say, ‘OK, let’s go to Jo,” interim manager Don Mattingly said before Sunday’s game. “It’s nice to have that guy out there.”
Just to prove he’s human, Duran gave up the go-ahead run in the ninth inning of Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Braves. After Alex McFarlane allowed a game-tying three-run homer to Ronald Acuña Jr. in the eighth, Ozzie Albies doubled and Austin Riley tripled against Duran.
But Duran has been mostly automatic — 1.85 ERA, 99 strikeouts in 73 innings, 46-for-51 in save chances — since coming over at the trade deadline last season. The Phillies don’t take him for granted, though — and not only because they sent top-100 prospects Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel to the Twins to get him.
“When you feel like you have that guy that you can just hand him the ball in the ninth, it feels like it sets up the way we’re able to go get the ball to our bullpen,” Kyle Schwarber said. “He’s been so key for us.”
Duran converted his first 16 saves this season before a hiccup June 9 in Toronto. His only other blown save came July 27 in Miami. In 51⅓ innings, he has allowed one homer, a solo shot to pinch-hitting Kyle Manzardo that decided a 1-0 loss to Cleveland on May 22.
Phillies closer Jhoan Duran has allowed one homer in 51 1/3 innings this season.Monica Herndon / Staff Photographer
In fact, Duran’s dominance prompts the question of whether he’s having the best season ever by a Phillies closer.
Pitching in a bygone era for relievers, Jim Konstanty logged 152 innings, won 16 games and saved 22, and was named NL MVP for the 1950 Whiz Kids. Steve Bedrosian notched 40 saves and won the Cy Young Award in 1987. Brad Lidge famously went 48-for-48 in save chances, including the postseason, and threw the clinching pitch of the 2008 World Series.
But based on ERA, walks/hits per inning pitched, and opponents’ batting average, there’s only one instance of a Phillies closer being as unhittable as Duran this season:
Billy Wagner, 2005: 1.51 ERA, 0.837 WHIP, 87 strikeouts, 6 homers, .165 average
The Phillies likely will ask Duran to get more than three outs in postseason games. If anything, though, his presence amplifies the Phillies’ need to bridge the gap between the starter and their star closer when they have a lead in the seventh and eighth innings.
Jonathan Bowlan has taken over as the primary setup man, although lefty José Alvarado could also be in the mix, especially against pockets of left-handed hitters. McFarlane faltered for the first time Sunday as his role increases, especially given Orion Kerkering’s inconsistency.
But there’s no question about the ninth inning.
“I was excited at the beginning of this year to be able to get [Duran] from the start and really feel like we can get him where he needs to be,” Schwarber said. “And he’s been that guy since we traded for him. We’re lucky to have that guy at the back end.”
Phillies top prospect Aidan Miller played in his first game of the season Saturday night for low-A Clearwater.Jose F. Moreno / Staff Photographer
Miller time
Top prospect Aidan Miller doubled off the left-field wall in his first at-bat of the season Saturday night for low-A Clearwater.
More significantly, he stayed off the injury report after the game.
“I know he got a hit — he got a double — and I know he was swinging the bat pretty good in the live [batting practices],” Mattingly said. “I don’t think any of that’s what you’re really searching for. You’re searching for him being on the field, bouncing back, all that kind of stuff, and being able to progress. I think that’s what we’re looking at.”
Miller, a 22-year-old shortstop, was sidelined since spring training by a low back condition that required a spinal procedure in June. He played five innings at shortstop in his first game, also drawing a walk and committing an error.
The Phillies could keep Miller in Clearwater for the Florida State League playoffs, which begin next week, before moving him through the system. Double-A Reading is closing in on an Eastern League playoff spot; triple-A Lehigh Valley’s season runs through Sept. 21.
Barring a setback, Miller is tentatively slated to play in the Arizona Fall League, although rosters haven’t been announced yet.
“I didn’t hear anything bad coming out of [Saturday night],” Mattingly said. “So, we’ll see where it goes.”
109.1 mph double for Aidan Miller in his first AB of 2026!
Veteran lefty Nestor Cortes, who signed a minor-league contract last month, is scheduled to pitch next week for Clearwater in a Florida State League playoff game, according to Mattingly. The 31-year-old had surgery last November on a torn tendon in his throwing arm. The Phillies took a flier in hopes that he can help down the stretch and in the postseason. … Jesús Luzardo (13-5, 3.02 ERA) is scheduled to start the series finale at 1:05 p.m. Monday against Braves righty Grant Holmes (9-5, 3.62).
Zack Wheeler tried to get Ronald Acuña Jr. to fish for a two-strike splitter in the dirt. No luck. He threw back-to-back sinkers. Both were fouled off.
OK, then. How about a heater?
Wheeler dialed up 97 mph — his fastest pitch Saturday night — on the outside edge and struck out the Braves star to end the fifth inning. And it would’ve been just another out in a 4-2 Phillies victory save for one thing: Did you catch Acuña’s arms-flapping stutter step around the bases after homering two innings earlier?
“It doesn’t really bother me all that much,” Wheeler said of Acuña’s typical home-run celebration. “He can do whatever he wants. He hit a home run, so it’s up to him to do what he wants.”
“Our guy just rounds the bases,” Wheeler said, referring to Kyle Schwarber, “and he hits 50 here.”
And …
“For sure, it gives you a little more motivation,” Wheeler added. “I really wanted to strike him out right there and kind of get him back, so to speak.”
OK, put aside the Acuña drama (don’t worry, we’ll come back to it), and here’s the most significant thing from a victory that nudged the Phillies back to four games behind the division-leading Braves: Wheeler allowed one run on three hits and two walks, struck out nine, and lasted six innings after escaping a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the first.
In other words, he looked like himself again.
Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber hit his 41st homer of the season in the fourth inning Saturday night.Yong Kim / Staff Photographer
Was there a doubt? You bet there was.
Two weeks ago in Seattle, Wheeler endured the worst start of his worst six-start stretch in seven seasons with the Phillies. It was so bad that he wondered if he was tipping pitches.
A scuba-level dive into his biomechanics revealed that he was holding his glove 2 inches lower than usual and over-rotating through his delivery, causing erratic command. And even after he held the Angels to one run in six innings last Sunday, he wasn’t convinced that he’d completely shaken his issues.
Then, Wheeler gave up back-to-back singles and a walk to the first three Braves batters, and, well, you could feel the anxiety over the status of the Phillies’ $42 million ace creeping back to DEFCON levels.
“It was not, ‘Oh, here we go again,’” Wheeler said. “It was just, now it’s time to bear down. I was feeling good. I just got myself in a little jam right there, so I decided to get myself out of it.”
After dangerous Michael Harris II fouled out, Wheeler threw a two-strike fastball to Mauricio Dubón that clipped the outer edge of the plate. After umpire Todd Tichenor called it a ball, Realmuto challenged. The call was overturned.
One pitch later, Wheeler was out of the inning.
“It was kind of gutsy of J.T. to challenge it there in the first, but it worked out for us,” Wheeler said. “He has a really good idea of the zone. I think his challenges have proved that. So, yeah, it was gutsy, but it was good.”
“Huge,” interim manager Don Mattingly added. “To be able to get that punch right there, you talk about leverage, right, in different spots? Sometimes it’s the first [inning], and that was a big one.”
Another gutsy play: Schwarber’s decision to tag up at second base and take third on a fly ball to deep left field. Not known for his speed, he slid in ahead of the tag, then scored on Luis Arraez’s single.
“It’s early in the game there and wanted to put some pressure on the defense, make them make the perfect play,” said Schwarber, who tacked on his majors-leading 41st homer in the fourth inning. “Obviously it’s a roll of the dice. But it’s a chance that you want to take there.”
The Phillies scored twice in the first inning before Acuña robbed at least two runs with by tracking down Bryson Stott’s bases-loaded drive to right-center. It was 3-0 when Acuña took Wheeler deep in the third — and flapped his arms like Swoop.
“Today’s game, you see it all the time,” Mattingly said. “It’s more commonplace. Let the kids play, right? We started that. That’s what you get. I’m sure it still irritates guys to a point.”
Mattingly said Wheeler “did kind of turn it up a little bit after that.” In fact, Wheeler retired 11 of the next 12 batters, allowing only a two-out walk to Dominic Smith in the fourth inning. He chalked a lot of it up to his splitter, which felt good in the bullpen and produced seven of his 19 swings and misses.
And Wheeler certainly appeared to glare at Acuña after the inning-ending strikeout in the fifth. They’ve dueled often over the years, with Acuña hitting five homers and Wheeler striking him out 16 times in 55 at-bats.
“I mean, he’s a really good player,” Wheeler said. “You make a mistake like I did, he can put it in the seats, so you’ve got to be careful with him and pitch smart.”
It helps, too, when Wheeler is back to being one of the best pitchers in baseball.
“That’s the Wheeler that we all know,” Schwarber said. “Every time he takes that rock, you feel like you’re going to get a performance like that. And sometimes you can take it for granted because you don’t realize how lucky you are to have performances like you see tonight.”
