MIAMI — There was a time, shortly after Cristian Pache was acquired, when his at-bats would bring a sense of dread. Some fans suggested that a pitcher would have a better chance of getting a hit. The thought of manager Rob Thomson pinch-hitting that version of Pache was unfathomable.
But a lot has changed since then. Pache has worked hard with hitting coach Kevin Long. He’s staying back. He’s using his hips and his lower body more. He’s keeping his head still. And all of that work paid off in a big way — in the form of a game-winning two-run homer — in the Phillies’ 4-3 win on Friday night.
The Phillies’ offense looked largely dormant until the top of the ninth inning. J.T. Realmuto led off with a single, and Alec Bohm doubled in Realmuto following a Bryson Stott strikeout. Josh Harrison struck out, and with two outs, Thomson chose to pinch-hit Pache for Brandon Marsh.
He saw two pitches from Marlins reliever A.J. Puk and crushed the second, an 83.9-mph sweeper, 397 feet to center field. It was the first pinch-hit home run of his career.
With the win, the Phillies have now won 13 straight on the road, tying their longest road winning streak in franchise history (April 17-June 2, 1976).
Inconsistent outing for Wheeler
It’s been hard to know what to make of Zack Wheeler this season. He’s had outings where he’s looked like his dominant self, outings where the defense has hurt him, and outings where he just isn’t as sharp. Friday night probably was some combination of all three.
And it didn’t look like it would be that way initially. In the first inning, Wheeler struck out Luis Arraez and made the .386 hitter look foolish. He did the same to Jesús Sánchez a few at-bats later.
But he wasn’t cruising the way he was May 27 in Atlanta or June 8 at home. In the second inning, Wheeler allowed a single to former Phillie and current Marlins third baseman Jean Segura. After a double by Joey Wendle, Segura scored on an RBI single by Jacob Stallings. Dane Myers grounded into a force out to score Wendle, and, all of a sudden, the Marlins had a 2-0 lead.
In third inning, Wheeler induced three quick outs, but in the fourth, Garrett Cooper hit a solo home run to give the Marlins a 3-0 lead.
Wheeler induced three quick outs in the fifth, and allowed one hit in the sixth before handing the ball to reliever Jeff Hoffman. Wheeler finished his night after six innings, having given up three runs on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches and 70 strikes.
