Phillies’ bullpen retires 12 in a row in win over White Sox
CHICAGO — This was the kind of afternoon the Phillies envisioned when they revamped their bullpen this winter.
Zack Wheeler was at 94 pitches through five innings and dealt with back tightness during a laborious third that saw the White Sox pick up six consecutive hits.
He exited with the lead and the Phillies’ bullpen kept it right there. Gregory Soto, Craig Kimbrel, Seranthony Dominguez and Jose Alvarado retired all 12 batters they faced with two strikeouts each inning in the Phils’ most dominant bullpen effort of the young season.
The Phillies beat the White Sox, 7-4, in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Guaranteed Rate Field.
“That’s clearly dominance,” manager Rob Thomson said. “From Soto to Kimbrel to Seranthony to Alvarado, no walks, pounding the zone, just high-quality stuff.”
Alvarado pitched the ninth inning for his first save of the year but Thomson said, as usual, that it was based on matchups. It does not mean Alvarado is now the closer. The White Sox top bat on the bench was left-handed-hitting Gavin Sheets, and if Alvarado faced more than three batters he would have had to deal with lefty Andrew Benintendi.
Of course, it would have been hard for Thomson to predict in the sixth inning that Soto, Kimbrel and Dominguez would set down nine in a row to allow Alvarado to have that pocket of the lineup. But with Alvarado, it doesn’t really matter.
“Just because of the matchups,” Thomson said. “We wanted Craig on the top of the order and then Seranthony in the middle. We can use Alvarado wherever we want, he’s that dominant.”
Alvarado legitimately might be the best reliever in baseball right now. He has a 1.22 ERA over his last 48 appearances with 82 strikeouts and 12 walks. His opponents have been totally overmatched this season. Control issues are seemingly a thing of the past. He’s struck out 18 of the 26 batters he’s faced in 2023 without a walk.
Soto has settled in since having a couple of erratic outings the first week of the season. He’s pitched 5 innings without allowing a hit or earned run in his last six appearances.
The Phillies staked Wheeler to a 3-0 lead in the first inning by jumping on Lance Lynn. Bryson Stott led the game off with a single to set a Phillies record with a 17-game hitting streak to begin a season. The Phillies singled three more times in the inning, including Alec Bohm’s two-run hit with two outs.
The Phils scored six of their seven runs with two outs. Josh Harrison had his best day as a Phillie with a two-run single in the third inning and a two-run homer in the seventh that served as much-needed insurance.
“Huge,” Thomson said. “Four RBIs, three hits, a homer, big homer to give us distance. He played great.”
Despite the big day, Harrison was not in the Game 2 lineup. The Phillies started Bohm at third base with Kody Clemens at first. J.T. Realmuto also had Game 2 off after picking up two hits earlier in the day.
Wheeler’s back tightness is worth monitoring. He received treatment on his back after the third inning and says it relieved the pressure. The White Sox swung through six of his final 11 pitches, though Wheeler’s fastball velocity was down to 92-93 mph in his last inning. He entered the day averaging 96.5.
“There were a couple things,” he said. “My command wasn’t the best today. My back started to tighten up during that longer inning. It was a grind. Just figured it out and was good to go after that. Just a lot of soft contact today. One of those days where you’re making your pitches but they’re putting the bat on the ball.”
The White Sox biggest hit off of Wheeler was Luis Robert’s two-run double. It came on a fastball right down the middle but Robert did not hit it well, blooping it into shallow right field.
“It wasn’t due to any significant exit velocity, for sure,” Thomson said. “He just kind of got dunked to death and it got his pitch count up.”
Wheeler was disappointed to complete only five innings and the Phillies remain one of just four in the majors to not have a starting pitcher record an out in the seventh. It’s a little easier to accept when the top four relievers are as locked in as they were Tuesday afternoon.
“Soto’s looking good, Alvy is what he is now, it’s a lot of fun to have those guys behind me,” Wheeler said. “You can just hand the ball over and feel comfortable giving it to those guys. Now it’s time for us starters to take a little pressure off of them and go deeper into games.”
