Thursday, October 1, 2026
79 ° Clear
79 ° Clear
After picking up a win on Monday night, the Philadelphia Phillies looked to extend their winning streak against the Toronto Blue Jays on Tuesday evening.
Since rejoining the Phillies at the end of April, Zack Wheeler has been just as dominant as he was prior to his season-ending injury last August. Wheeler entered his start Tuesday with a 5-1 record and a 2.31 earned run average in 50.2 innings of work.
Sending Wheeler to the mound, the Phillies' ace would be opposed by Toronto's Dylan Cease. A pitching duel would commence at Roger's Centre.
Wheeler picked right up where he left off from his previous start.
It was clear that he did not have his best stuff against the Jays but was able to gut through and still deliver a standout performance. A true ace can keep their opponents off the board even on an "off night," and Wheeler just did that.
Through 5.1 innings, Wheeler kept Toronto from scoring. That was until Jesus Sanchez stepped back up to the plate.
Sanchez took Wheeler deep for a solo home run. It was the only run allowed on the evening that the Phillies' starter would surrender. It was the seventh home run of the season allowed by the veteran starter.
Six innings of work would cap another quality starter for Wheeler. He allowed six hits, striking out five and allowed just the one run on Tuesday night.
The duo of Brandon Marsh and Bryson Stott pulled through in the first and ninth innings of Tuesday's matchup.
In the top of the first inning, Trea Turner would get the Phillies offense rolling with a one-out double. A wild pitch from Cease would advance the Phillies' shortstop to third.
With two outs, up stepped Marsh, who continued to pull through in big spots.
Marsh would earn a double of his own, scoring Turner and giving the Phillies a 1-0 lead.
The team would not score again until the ninth inning, thanks to another RBI double.
This time, Stott would be the hero.
Slicing a ball down the left field line, Stott would drive home his Las Vegas-born teammate Bryce Harper to give the Phillies a 2-1 lead.
With a 2-1 lead in the ninth, Jhoan Duran entered the ballgame.
Just one night after closing the door on his 16th straight save to start the season, Duran would try to add to the tally.
However, back-to-back singles would put runners at the corners with nobody out.
A stolen base would put the winning run in scoring position, making it the toughest challenge Duran has faced this season.
Issues with his pitchcom device led to two mound visits from Phillies translator Diego Ettedgui and catcher J.T. Realmuto. Duran and Realmuto got crossed up on a sign after the first visit, where Realmuto was luckily able to block the baseball.
However, he would not receive that same luck after the second visit. Duran would spike his next pitch in the dirt. Both runners would advance, tying the game at 2-2.
Brandon Valenzuela would drive home Daulton Varsho with a single, walking off the Phillies by a final score of 3-2.
