Kyle Gibson delivers, helps thin pitching staff

PHILADELPHIA » Nine games, eight days, three healthy starting pitchers.

That was the conundrum that awaited manager Joe Girardi and the Philadelphia Phillies Sunday. As if a doubleheader against the division-leading New York Mets, already seven games up in the standings, wasn’t daunting enough, the Phillies went into it scrambling for starting pitching.

That made the effort by Kyle Gibson all the more vital.

Hours after Zach Eflin and Zack Wheeler were placed on the COVID-related injured list, Gibson delivered six excellent innings to help the Phillies down the Mets 3-2, ending a four-game skid and getting their first win in eight days.

Gibson played the badly needed stopper role with aplomb. He scattered six hits, walked none and struck out three. He faced the minimum through five innings before running into trouble with four hits in the sixth that led to two runs.

After five walks to scuffle through 4.1 innings last Saturday in New York, Gibson’s command was pinpoint. He needed just 72 pitches to get 18 outs in a massive spot.

“I think we needed it,” Gibson said of the win. “I think we’re going to see how these next few days play out. But any time you can get a win, it’s important, especially when you’re coming off of a little bit of a streak like that where we had a couple of tough losses. Then you get news where you get two starters going down and you’ve kind of got to figure it out over the next week here.”

A bad Sunday could have dropped the Phillies nine games behind the Mets in the National League East, but the Game 1 win guaranteed they’ll start a sevengame road trip no worse than seven back. Given that Eflin was scheduled to start the second game, it was even bigger from Gibson.

Both Wheeler and Eflin were in the clubhouse as recently as Saturday, ahead of the postponement of that afternoon’s game for the second straight day. Their return requires clearance from MLB’s COVID-19 Health and Safety Committee, which varies based on vaccination status. Eflin, who battled COVID last year, is vaccinated. Wheeler’s status was unknown.

“We’ll figure it out,” Girardi said before the doubleheader. “One of them could be back. We’ve just got to wait and see what happens.”

Wheeler was due to start Tuesday, part of a threegame set in Seattle before four against the Dodgers in Los Angeles.

Gibson was aided by three double plays, including a 5-4-3 one started by Alec Bohm in the sixth after Starling Marte doubled and Luis Guillorme singled.

“Defense played awesome,” Gibson said. “They made a couple of really big plays in a few of the middle innings when I needed it, and it was just a great team win.” * * * Gibson was quick to credit the offense, which assembled three early run-scoring innings early against Max Scherzer. It started with Bryce Harper’s 390-foot bomb to right in the first inning, his third in five games.

“Hitters came out and did a really good job in the first four innings of putting a lot of pressure on Max and pushing solo runs across the board,” Gibson said of his fellow Missouri alum. “He’s not a guy that’s going to give you three- and fourrun innings, so you’ve got to work hard and capitalize on the opportunities he gives you, and we did a really good job of that.”

The Phillies had 10 hits against Scherzer, the most the Phillies have ever gotten off the three-time Cy Young Award winner. It’s only the 14th time in 404 career starts that Scherzer has allowed double-digit hits and the first time by the Phillies, the previous high of nine set in 2017 (with two hits each from blasts of the past Brock Stassi and Michael Saunders).

Scherzer entered having allowed only 16 hits in five starts this season. He was 16-4 with a 2.60 ERA in 27 career starts against the Phillies, including 9-1 with a 2.20 ERA in 13 games at Citizens Bank Park. Scherzer’s

teams – the Mets this year, plus the Dodgers and Nationals last year – had won his last 18 starts. His last loss was May 30, 2021. PHILLERS » Cristopher Sanchez was called up from Reading and started the second game of the doubleheader as the 27th man. Right-handed relievers Francisco Morales and Connor Brogdon were also promoted. … Bryson Stott’s second at-bat back in the big leagues resulted in an RBI single off Scherzer in the fifth to score Jean Segura. Stott was promoted Saturday with Didi Gregorius (knee) placed on the IL. It was the fourth single of the inning that only resulted in one run thanks to a base-running gaffe when J.T. Realmuto didn’t read a fly-ball single by Johan Camargo and stopped suddenly at third, Segura running up his back. Realmuto was tagged out in a rundown. … In just his third career game at first base, Camargo came up with a couple of key defensive plays. He started a 3-4 double play off Francisco Lindor in the fourth, erasing Brandon Nimmo’s leadoff single. He ended the fifth by digging out a low throw by Segura to retire Dominic Smith. … Kyle Schwarber is showing signs of busting out of his early funk. He’s 8-for-24 in his last six games with three home runs, five RBIs and six runs scored. He went 2-for-4 and scored on Harper’s RBI single in the third in Game 1.