PHILADELPHIA — Matt Vierling hadn’t played second base in a game before. Not in high school. Not in Little League. Never. But there he was, playing second base for nine innings of a major league game Saturday.
And nobody with the Phillies was the least bit concerned.
It worked out because, well, everything always works out for Rob Thomson’s Phillies. Star-crossed under deposed Joe Girardi, they have been flawless for eight days under their interim manager. So, to reinforce the trend, Vierling easily handled six grounders and Nick Castellanos drove in a run with an excuse-me, check-swing double in a breezy 4-0 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Thomson Turnaround continued, as the Phillies got another home run from rookie Bryson Stott and six sparkling innings from ace Zack Wheeler. That’s nine — count ’em, nine (eight since Thomson took charge) — wins in a row, the Phillies’ longest roll since a nine-game streak in the summer of 2011, the last year they made the playoffs.
OK, let’s not jump too far ahead. A team must have a winning record before it thinks about the postseason, and wait, what’s that? At 30-29, the Phillies are finally above .500 for the first time since April 12, when they were 3-2.
Absolutely everything is coming up Phillies. Castellanos gave them a 1-0 lead by punching a two-out single through the right side in the first inning against Diamondbacks starter Madison Bumgarner. Stott made it 3-0 by showing off his improved two-strike approach with a foot-down two-run homer in the second inning.
Wheeler scattered two hits through six innings, and when reliever Jeurys Familia got into a bases-loaded jam in the seventh, Andrew Bellatti bailed him out by getting Ketel Marte to line out to center field.
And then came Castellanos’ accidental double down the right-field line — the Phillies’ second check-swing double of the week after Didi Gregorius on Thursday in Milwaukee — to score Bryce Harper from first base and enable Thomson to keep closer Corey Knebel in the bullpen for another day. Rookie left-hander Cristopher Sanchez finished it off.
A little history: Thomson joined Pat Moran in 1915 as the only Phillies managers to win their first eight games. The Phillies went to the World Series in 1915.
More history: Thomson became the first major league manager to win his first eight games since Joe Morgan won 12 in a row after taking the reins of the Boston Red Sox in 1988. “Morgan Magic,” as it was known, turned the Sox from a 43-42 disappointment under John McNamara to an 89-win division champion.
There’s a long way from here to there for these Phillies. But given the way the last eight days have gone, feel free to dream.
Hot Wheels
Five days after his wife gave birth to a baby girl, Wheeler delivered another gem.
Wheeler scattered two hits and struck out eight batters in six walk-free innings, picking up where he left off after being named NL Pitcher of the Month for May. In his last eight starts, dating to April 28, the Phillies ace has allowed eight earned runs in 50 2/3 innings for a 1.42 ERA.
The Diamondbacks got only one runner into scoring position against Wheeler. But David Peralta was left stranded after his one-out double when Wheeler got Alec Thomas to fly out and struck out Geraldo Perdomo.
Second nature
Vierling was on the Phillies’ radar when he talked the coaches into letting him play the infield during the Florida instructional league. But by proving his versatility, he put himself in a better position to get called up last season.
Similarly, Vierling recently told Thomson that he took grounders at second base in Triple-A and would feel comfortable there, even though he had never played the position before in a game, not even in Little League.
Thomson doesn’t want to push Gregorius after a month on the injured list. And with infielders Nick Maton (shoulder) and Johan Camargo (knee) sidelined, he turned to Vierling, who handled six grounders, including the game’s final out.
“I came up playing shortstop,” said Vierling, whose brother, Mark, was the second baseman in their double-play combination at Christian Brothers High in St. Louis. “So I kind of have an idea on the fundamentals.”
Here’s what Vierling didn’t have: a glove. While he breaks in his infield glove, he’s borrowing one of Stott’s.
Up next
Ranger Suárez (4-3, 4.42 ERA) will start Sunday in the series finale against the Diamondbacks, who have not named a starter. The Miami Marlins visit for three games beginning Monday night.
