CHICAGO — Initially, it looked like the Phillies were on their way to an easy Game 1 win on Tuesday afternoon in the first game of a doubleheader against the White Sox. They scored three runs off White Sox starter Lance Lynn in the first inning, and two more in the third. Zack Wheeler retired six of the first seven batters he faced, but in the third with a 5-0 lead, he allowed singles to Lenyn Sosa, Elvis Andrus and Andrew Benintendi, and the bases were loaded with no outs.
Luis Robert doubled to score two runs, and Andrew Vaughn singled to score two more. By the time Wheeler walked off the mound in the third, the lead was down to 5-4 and he’d allowed four runs and six hits in a 36-pitch inning.
Wheeler wasn’t allowing much hard contact. Only two of the six hits he allowed in the third registered at 100 mph or more, according to Baseball Savant. But bad luck or not, the inning still whittled the Phillies’ lead from five runs to just one. It was no longer going to be an easy Game 1 win.
