Zack Wheeler tossed 6 2/3 strong innings, Alec Bohm hit an RBI double and the host Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins 4-1 in Game 1 of a best-of-three National League wild-card series on Tuesday night.
Game 2 is Wednesday in Philadelphia.
Bryson Stott and Cristian Pache each added an RBI single while Trea Turner had two hits and two stolen bases for the Phillies. Nick Castellanos also contributed two hits and an RBI.
Wheeler (1-0) gave up five hits and one run with eight strikeouts and no walks.
Craig Kimbrel threw a scoreless ninth inning, working around Josh Bell’s leadoff double to earn a save.
“It’s definitely a home-field advantage,” Turner said during a postgame interview on ESPN. “It’s been electric all year. In the postseason, it’s turned up a notch.”
Bryan De La Cruz hit an RBI single while Bell had three hits for the Marlins.
Miami starter Jesus Luzardo (0-1) lasted four innings, allowing eight hits and three runs with five strikeouts and no walks.
Luis Arraez singled with two outs in the eighth inning, but Philadelphia reliever Jeff Hoffman induced a soft grounder by Jorge Soler that led to a forceout.
Castellanos then hit an RBI double in the home half of the eighth for a 4-1 lead.
The Phillies had runners at second and third with no outs in the first, but Bohm lined out to right and third base coach Dusty Wathan opted not to have Kyle Schwarber tag up from third. Bryce Harper then struck out and J.T. Realmuto flied out to center to end the threat.
Jesus Sanchez singled to left to open the third for the Marlins’ first hit. Jon Berti struck out and Nick Fortes grounded into a double play.
“We had a chance a few times to score a couple runs, just couldn’t get the two-out hit,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “But I think the story was (Zack) Wheeler. He was just excellent.”
The Phillies went ahead 1-0 in the bottom of the third when Bohm ripped his RBI double down the third base line.
Philadelphia took a 2-0 advantage in the fourth thanks to a run-scoring single by Stott. Marlins center fielder Jazz Chisholm Jr. threw out Castellanos at home on the play. But Pache then hit an RBI single of his own for a three-run lead.
Bell doubled with one out in the seventh and Chisholm struck out looking. Jake Burger hit an infield single to put runners on the corners, and De La Cruz followed with an RBI infield single to close his team within 3-1. Jose Alvarado replaced Wheeler and threw a wild pitch but struck out pinch hitter Yuli Gurriel to end the inning.
–Field Level Media
