The Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 6-0 victory Sunday, the report says, as Zack Wheeler delivered seven strong innings and Bryce Harper homered off Paul Skenes. The win pushed the Phillies to 24-23 overall and marked their first time above .500 since April 7, while improving to 14-4 under interim manager Don Mattingly, per the report.
Wheeler allowed four hits, struck out eight and walked one in the outing, and is listed at 3-0, the report says. His ERA was noted at 1.99 over six starts since returning from an injured list stint related to surgery to remove a blood clot from his upper right arm. Jonathan Bowlan and Tanner Banks each worked an inning to close out the five-hitter.
Offensively, Harper opened the sixth with his 12th home run to make it 3-0, the report says. Later in the inning Bryson Stott hit a two-run double off reliever Isaac Mattson; those runs were charged to Skenes, who was pulled after Alec Bohm singled and Brandon Marsh doubled. Justin Crawford produced the first run with a groundout in the fifth, and Trea Turner followed with an RBI single.
Skenes was charged with five runs in five-plus innings, tying a career high, the report says. He yielded six hits, struck out seven and walked one, and his career-best scoreless innings streak ended at 20 when the Phillies put up a two-run fifth. The Pirates dropped their fourth game in five, per the report.
Mattingly praised the approach against Skenes, saying, “I thought we battled…we just fought him,” per the report. Turner added that the club feels good about its play and emphasized focusing on the games ahead, as Philadelphia has won seven of eight and is 16-5 since Wheeler’s activation after an 8-18 stretch on April 25; the team remains eight games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, the report says. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
