ST. LOUIS — Rob Thomson wouldn’t bite.
Never mind that the Phillies and Cardinals were separated by .0007 of a percentage point in pursuit of a National League wild-card spot when they met Friday night. Thomson, the even-keeled Phillies interim manager, refused to elevate this four-game series above any of the other 78 games remaining on the schedule.
But when you haven’t made the playoffs in 10 years, an early July showdown against a fellow contender qualifies as a big series. So, consider the performances turned in by Zack Wheeler and Alec Bohm for what they were: clutch.
Wheeler delivered seven scoreless innings, outdueling longtime Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright in the process. Bohm homered in back-to-back at-bats after going a month without going deep. And the Phillies grabbed the series opener, 2-0, before an announced crowd of 41,100 who waited out the rain at jam-packed Busch Stadium.
The Phillies (45-39) moved into sole possession of the final wild-card spot, one game ahead of the Cardinals (45-41) with three left to play this weekend. And if the recitation of records and peeking at standings seems silly on July 8, well, that’s what happens when the playoff drought reaches a decade.
Maybe that’s why this series has a postseason feel. Or maybe it was because Wheeler and Wainwright squared off in the opener, just as they would in Game 1 of a best-of-seven series.
And neither ace blinked for five innings. Wheeler gave up back-to-back two-out hits in the first and the fourth but came back to record the third out. Wainwright got Nick Castellanos to ground into a first-inning double play, then gave up one hit over the next four innings.
The degree of difficulty for both pitchers was ratcheted up, too, considering the teams matched up only last week in Philadelphia. Wheeler blanked the Cardinals for seven innings last Sunday night and had to face the same hitters again five nights later.
Bohm hadn’t gone deep since his go-ahead homer June 7 against Milwaukee Brewers closer Josh Hader, a span of 107 plate appearances. But he led off the sixth inning by taking a hanging curveball from Wainwright deep to straightaway center field to put the Phillies up, 1-0.
Two innings later, Bohm did it again. This time, he blasted another Wainwright curveball out to left-center. It marked his first career two-homer game.
Wheeler turned over the 2-0 lead to Seranthony Domínguez in the eighth inning, who passed the baton to Brad Hand in the ninth. And with help from Kyle Schwarber, who hauled in Albert Pujols’ warning-track blast in the ninth inning, the Phillies closed it out.
In the midst of a 6-for-45 skid, and with Matt Vierling and Mickey Moniak on the roster, Odúbel Herrera got the start in center field and batted ninth.
Thomson explained that Herrera’s history against Wainwright (6 for 15, one home run) factored into the decision. Herrera went 1 for 2 with a single in the third inning.
