ATLANTA — A few hours before the Phillies played Monday night at Truist Park, Dave Dombrowski went up to infielder Johan Camargo and congratulated him on being presented with a 2021 World Series ring by the Atlanta Braves.
“You need to win a second one this year,” Dombrowski said, a smile plastered across his face.
It was only small talk, a front-office executive chatting it up with one of his players. But after one-quarter of the season, it’s hard to like Camargo’s chances. The Phillies win a few games, lose a few more. They hover around .500, never getting on a roll.
But just when you think you’re out, they pull you back in, be it with an improbable 10th-inning comeback Sunday at home against the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers or an ensuing 7-3 victory over the Braves to open a weeklong road trip.
The Phillies are 20-22, 7½ games off the New York Mets’ pace in the National League East. But Dombrowski believes they are better than that, and, well, for ownership’s $240 million, they must be. For one thing, he expects the most expensive lineup in club history to score runs more consistently, even in an environment in which baseballs aren’t carrying as far across the league.
“I do think we’re going to score more runs on a consistent basis,” Dombrowski said, “as the weather warms up and some of the guys get their swings back.”
The second and third innings against Braves lefty Tucker Davidson were what Dombrowski has in mind. The Phillies didn’t hit a home run. But they strung together four hits and two walks and took advantage of the Braves’ shoddy defense to score six runs, three in each inning, and stake ace Zack Wheeler to a cushy lead.
Rhys Hoskins, as luckless as any Phillies slugger, delivered the big hit one day after taking out his frustration on a dugout trash can. He cleared the bases in the second inning with a double that split the gap in right-center field and rolled to the wall.
J.T. Realmuto, stuck in 2-for-28 (and 8-for-53) misery, slashed a two-out RBI triple inside the third-base bag and down the left-field line in the third inning before Roman Quinn lifted a two-run double that fell between Braves center fielder Adam Duvall and right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr.
Kyle Schwarber, doing his best impression of a leadoff hitter from the No. 6 spot in the lineup, saw 23 pitches, worked three walks, and scored twice in successive innings from the second to the fourth.
The Phillies could’ve had more, too. They finished 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position, left 10 runners on base, and failed to bust open the game enough that manager Joe Girardi didn’t need to use closer Corey Knebel in the ninth inning.
Still, they won in the unconventional fashion in which they are built. They accumulated a lead that was bullpen-proof, despite some mild cuticle-chomping, once Wheeler left in the seventh inning after 105 pitches.
“We’re not happy with our record at this point,” Dombrowski said. “That can get better. But I think we have a good ballclub. I think we realize that.”
Sometimes, like in the opener of a series against the defending World Series champs, they even play like it.
Wheeler deals
Wheeler was born less than five miles from Truist Park in Smyrna, Ga., and grew up in suburban Atlanta. He donated the scoreboard at the field at East Paulding High School, his alma mater. The Braves nearly drafted him in the first round in 2009.
And he sure does like pitching against his hometown team.
Wheeler dominated the Braves for most of the first 6⅔ innings. After getting out of a first-inning jam with a big assist on a throw from Quinn, Wheeler didn’t allow another hit until Austin Riley’s one-out double in the fifth. In between, he struck out eight of 10 batters.
Since 2020, Wheeler is 3-2 with a 1.87 ERA and 62 strikeouts in 53 innings over eight starts against the Braves.
But this was the best part for the Phillies: Wheeler’s fastball topped out at 97.6 mph, according to Statcast, and averaged 96.3 mph, better than his season average of 95.8 mph. It’s the latest sign that he’s back to his near-Cy Young form after barely pitching in spring training.
In his last five starts, Wheeler has allowed five earned runs in 32⅔ innings (1.38 ERA) and racked up 40 strikeouts. He’s scheduled to face the Mets, his former team, on Saturday night in New York.
Quinn throws 100
Fresh off scoring from second base on a booted infield grounder in Sunday’s breathtaking walk-off victory, Quinn was back in center field and still making an impact.
The Braves had a runner on second and one out in the first inning when Quinn charged Marcell Ozuna’s single and threw a one-hop strike to nail William Contreras at the plate. So what if Contreras is a slow runner. Quinn’s peg was clocked at 99.9 mph, the second-fastest outfield assist in baseball this season, according to Statcast.
