Wheeler, Hoskins lead Phillies past Cardinals
ST. LOUIS — Zack Wheeler took a one-hit shutout into the ninth inning and Rhys Hoskins homered twice as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 on Monday night.
Hoskins’ seventh career multi-homer game and second this season helped the Phillies improve to 3-1 against St. Louis.
Wheeler (2-2) struck out nine and edged Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright in a pitchers’ duel that took 2 hours, 22 minutes.
“I don’t think you’re going to see it that often. … It was cool to see an old-fashioned ballgame,” Phillies Manager Joe Girardi said. “It was neat to watch.”
Wheeler retired his first 14 batters until Paul DeJong’s opposite-field single to right ended the streak in the fifth.
“When the command is there, it makes it easier,” Wheeler said. “Me and J.T. [Realmuto] were on the same page. It was a lot of fun.”
The right-hander helped himself with some quick thinking in the sixth. After a walk to Justin Williams opened the inning, Wainwright popped up a bunt.
Instead of catching it on the fly, Wheeler allowed the ball to fall at his feet. He picked it up and started a 1-6-4 double play to end the threat.
“You could see how uncomfortable their hitters were,” Hoskins said. “A couple guys who did get on first said to me his stuff was exploding out of his hand. Huge performance by him.”
Wheeler was lifted after issuing a leadoff walk to Matt Carpenter in the ninth on his 114th pitch. Hector Neris got the save, but not before Carpenter scored on a groundout by Dylan Carlson.
The performance stopped a string of three rough outings by Wheeler in which he gave up 10 earned runs over 162/3 innings.
“When you have a couple subpar games, you want to get back out there on the right foot,” Wheeler said. “I wanted to get the W for us.”
MARLINS 8, BREWERS 0 Trevor Rogers pitched six spotless innings, Corey Dickerson finished a triple shy of the cycle and the Miami Marlins beat the Milwaukee Brewers. Dickerson drove in three runs, two against Brewers starter Corbin Burnes (2-2), who had only allowed one earned run over four outings this season.
BRAVES 8, CUBS 7 Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer and the Atlanta Braves woke up offensively after a grim doubleheader, overcoming a grand slam by Kris Bryant to beat the Chicago Cubs. GIANTS 12, ROCKIES 0 Anthony DeSclafani pitched a three-hitter, Evan Longoria had a two-run double and an RBI single after sitting out three games with a sore left hamstring, and the San Francisco Giants routed the Colorado Rockies.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
ASTROS 5, MARINERS 2 Jose Altuve had three hits and two RBI in his return after testing positive for covid-19, leading the Houston Astros over the Seattle Mariners. Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel both had three hits and drove in a run as the Astros won for the fourth time in five games after losing their previous three. ANGELS 9, RANGERS 4 Shohei Ohtani struck out nine after a shaky first inning on the mound, and also scored three runs and drove in two in a start like none since Babe Ruth 100 years earlier, as the Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers. A day after hitting his seventh homer to tie for the MLB lead, Ohtani (1-0) became the first home run leader to be the starting pitcher for a game since Ruth for the New York Yankees against Detroit on June 13, 1921.
A’S 2, RAYS 1 Sean Murphy homered, Sean Manaea got some key defensive help and the Oakland Athletics bounced back a day after their 13-game winning streak ended.
ORIOLES 4, YANKEES 2 Cedric Mullins hit two home runs and a double, Matt Harvey pitched six impressive innings and Baltimore beat the New York Yankees. Baltimore moved one game ahead of the last-place Yankees in the AL East.
INDIANS 5, TWINS 3 (10) Jordan Luplow hit a two-run homer in the 10th inning off Alex Colome, giving the Cleveland Indians the victory over the Minnesota Twins. ROYALS 3, TIGERS 2 Jarrod Dyson doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the fifth inning and the Kansas City Royals held on to beat the Detroit Tigers, completing a four-game sweep on the road for the first time in nearly 22 years.