PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler struck out 11 in seven innings, Bryce Harper hit a three-run homer and Kyle Schwarber added a solo shot to help the Philadelphia Phillies complete a four-game sweep of the San Francisco Giants with a 6-1 win on Monday.
Harper went deep off Giants rookie Mason Black, spoiling the major league debut of the right-hander, who pitched into the fifth inning against the team he grew up rooting for.
“I hope he enjoyed it with his family and his teammates and everything else, because you only get one debut,” Harper said.
This season’s Phillies are winning as much as the teams Black cheered for as a kid.
The major-league-leading Phillies (25-11) won their sixth straight and have won 10 of 11 and 17 of 20 to open a three-game lead over Atlanta in the NL East. It’s the team’s best 36-game start to a season since 1993, when Philadelphia won 97 games and reached the World Series, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
The Phillies have also won 10 straight games at Citizens Bank Park, just two wins shy of matching the team record set in 2012. Philadelphia also set a franchise record with 11 straight wins against NL West opponents.
“I feel like we’re winning in different ways every night. And it’s a different player coming up huge, whether it’s a hitter, a pitcher. It’s never the same guy, which is nice,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “There’s not too much pressure on one player. We all feel like we play really well together and we have a lot of fun, and guys contribute on a nightly basis.”
Harper homered for the second straight game, and his eighth of the season made it 4-0 against Black (0-1). Black made his major league debut in front of his parents, younger brother, girlfriend and scores of friends and relatives who made the trip to watch him pitch against his boyhood favorite team.
The 24-year-old Black — named the seventh-best prospect in baseball, per MLB.com — was the Giants’ third-round pick in the 2021 draft out of Lehigh University. Black recorded a 1-2-3 first inning that included strikeouts of Realmuto and Harper, the latter caught looking at an 88 mph changeup.
Black gave up 8 hits, 5 runs and 3 walks. He struck out four in 4⅓ innings.
Wheeler (4-3) showed the rookie how it was done. He rebounded from an 0-3 start — he allowed six runs total in his first three starts — to win his fourth straight start. Wheeler allowed one run, walked one and lowered his ERA to 1.64.
“Wheels today did what Zack kind of does every time he goes out there. It was fun to watch and kept us in the game,” Harper said.
Matt Strahm tossed a scoreless eighth, and Orion Kerkering pitched the ninth to complete the five-hitter.
With shortstop Trea Turner out at least six weeks with a left hamstring strain, his replacements are starting to fill the void. Bryson Stott moved from second base to shortstop and made a great grab on a grounder by Wilmer Flores in the first to start an inning-ending double play. Whit Merrifield started at second and gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with an RBI single in the fourth.
Harper had a three-run shot in the fifth, and Nick Castellanos, who hit 37 doubles last season, hit his first one of the year later in the inning for a 5-0 lead.
Phillies third baseman Alec Bohm went 0-for-4, ending his hitting streak at 18 games.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
Source: www.espn.com