DETROIT — J.T. Realmuto’s batting average may have been oscillating around .200, but he still passed Don Mattingly’s eye test.
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Ahead of Sunday’s series finale against the Tigers, the Phillies interim manager said he’s noticed how his catcher often seems to come through in big moments.
“I’m not talking about ninth inning, two outs. I’m just talking about a part of the game that you got some guys out there, he gets a hit,” Mattingly said. “I know his average, it’s not huge, and things like that. But he’s gotten a lot of big hits for us.”
Realmuto backed up his manager’s statement a few hours later when he delivered a three-run double in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 5-0 win over the Tigers. It was his second double in as many games, both winding up in the left field corner at Comerica Park.
He provided some run support for another strong performance from Zack Wheeler to send the Phillies into the All-Star break on a high note. The right-hander turned in six scoreless innings and held Detroit to two hits. Wheeler outdueled Tigers lefty and two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal.
Wheeler lowered his first-half ERA to 2.13. He rejected MLB’s invitation to make him an All-Star replacement on Friday, believing the later offer to be “disrespectful.”
Wheeler mixed all of his pitches to strike out 10 Tigers. He has posted double-digit strikeouts in three consecutive games. When he got Spencer Torkelson to chase a splitter in the fifth inning, it marked Wheeler’s 1,198th strikeout in a Phillies uniform, which moved him past Jim Bunning for eighth place all-time in franchise history.
He even overcame bad luck, like when Bryson Stott’s throw went through the webbing of Bryce Harper’s mitt at first base. It allowed Zach McKinstry to reach on an error in the third, but Wheeler responded with back-to-back strikeouts and a groundout.
The Phillies worked long at-bats against Skubal, chasing him from the game before he could record an out in the sixth. He needed 27 pitches in the fifth alone, although he managed to strand a pair of runners in scoring position by striking out Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.
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Realmuto was hit by a pitch to lead off the third. He was driven home by a single from Schwarber.
Harper started the sixth-inning rally. He won a 10-pitch battle against Skubal with a single that chased the lefty from the game. Alec Bohm kept the line moving with an infield single off reliever Keider Montero, who then intentionally walked Brandon Marsh after falling behind 3-0.
It set the table for Realmuto’s heroics. He was then driven in by an infield single from Stott, capping a four-run outburst.
After some recent struggles as a collective, the Phillies’ bullpen had a bounceback performance to close it out. José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, and Jonathan Bowlan combined to retire nine straight Tigers to seal the shutout.
Ryan Howard was a three-time All-Star and champion of the 2006 Home Run Derby in his legendary run with the Phillies. With the baseball world coming together in Philadelphia for the 96th All-Star Game, Howard sat down with Phillies Extra to discuss his All-Star memories, his expectations for a Home Run Derby at Citizens Bank Park, his outlook on the Phillies’ season, Kyle Schwarber’s chances of breaking his single-season franchise mark for homers, and more. Watch here.
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