Skip to main content
Inside The Phillies

Phillies Win Series Against Orioles in Rubber Match Victory

The Philadelphia Phillies win a much-needed series against the last-place Baltimore Orioles as Philadelphia improves to 78-74 on the season.
Kade Kistner|
Bill Streicher-USA TODAY

It was Zack Wheeler night on Wednesday and it could not have come at a better time. Despite facing a historically bad Baltimore Orioles team, the Philadelphia Phillies struggled to drum up any offense in the three-game series.

After dropping the opener, the Phillies came back on Tuesday night to win in extra innings. With Wheeler on the mound Wednesday and the NL East on the line, they could not afford to lose.

Wheeler had a solid outing and despite being on a "soft" pitch count of 100 pitches, he was still able to pitch six innings of one-run ball. He compiled nine strikeouts and just two walks over the course of the evening. He lowered his season ERA to 2.79 and helped keep the Phillies in striking distance despite another lackluster offensive performance.

It took the Orioles scoring first in the sixth to kick Philadelphia's offense into gear, but once the team started going, they didn't stop rolling. 

Andrew McCutchen helped jumpstart the offense with a two-run moonshot in the bottom of the sixth that gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead. 

In the seventh, Jean Segura was able to get Matt Vierling home on a sac fly. Later that inning, J.T. Realmuto singled home Brad Miller, who doubled earlier in the inning, continuing his heroics from last night. 

Perhaps the most impressive half inning of the entire night was the top of the eighth. Both Vierling and NL MVP candidate Bryce Harper had incredible defensive plays to extinguish Baltimore. 

Vierling made the first out of the inning off of an incredible snag of a line drive. It was easily the defensive play of the game, and it set the tone for the rest of the inning. 

The third out of the top of the eighth came when Harper hosed Orioles catcher Pedro Severino at home with an outfield assist. The MVP chants could be heard from the  Citizens Bank Park crowd as the right fielder's campaign is stronger than ever. 

Things were looking very dicey for Ian Kennedy in the ninth. After getting the first two outs, he then issued back-to-back walks. Kennedy was finally able to shutdown the Orioles to secure a Phillies series victory after a mound visit to retire the final batter, Ryan Mountcastle.

At the time of writing, the Atlanta Braves are currently beating the Arizona Diamondbacks 3-1, meaning that making up any ground in the NL East race this evening is unlikely. 

Final Score: Phillies 4, Orioles 3 

What's Next?

The Phillies will host a four-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates starting Thursday. It is a must-win series for Philadelphia in order to keep their postseason dreams alive. 

Aaron Nola (8-8, 4.48 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound in the first game against Connor Overton (0-0, 0.00 ERA). 

Rain is scheduled in the forecast for tomorrow, so stay tuned to Inside the Phillies for all your game time information!

Make sure to follow Inside the Phillies on Facebook and Twitter!

Loading recommendations... Please wait while we load personalized content recommendations

Published
Kade Kistner
KADE KISTNER

Kade Kistner is the publisher and beat writer for Sports Illustrated's Inside the Phillies. An alumnus of Tulane University, Kade graduated in 2017 with a degree in Latin American Studies and a minor in Spanish. Upon graduation, Kade commissioned into the United States Navy and attended Naval Flight School in Pensacola, Fl. He served as a Naval Aviator and was stationed in Jacksonville, Fl.  During his time in school and the Navy, Kade began covering the MLB and NFL with USA Today, SB Nation, and Sports Illustrated.  Kade covered the New Orleans Saints, Texas Rangers, and numerous other teams within the Sports Illustrated network before launching Inside the Phillies, Inside the Astros, and Inside the Cubs. You can follow him on Twitter at @KadeKistner, or if you have any questions or comments he can be reached via email at kwkistner@gmail.com.

Home/Game Day