Phillies 7, Rockies 1: Four-game sweep gets 'em back to .500

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The Phillies completed a four-game sweep and forged their way back to the .500 mark in a 7-1 win over the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday afternoon.

Zack Wheeler turned in six shutout innings for his first win of the season.

Over the last five games, Phillies starting pitching has allowed just six runs in 30 2/3 innings.

The Phillies are 10-10 as they head to New York for three with a Mets club that has the best record in baseball at 14-6.

Big Wheel

Wheeler’s first 12 pitches of the day were strikes. He allowed just one hit, a leadoff triple in the third inning, and four walks over six scoreless innings. He struck out seven. His fastball continues to grow teeth. It topped out at 96.3 mph and averaged 94.8 mph. He threw 90 pitches and had 11 swings and misses.

Since joining the Phillies, Wheeler has started 11 day games at Citizens Bank Park. He is 8-2 with a 1.72 ERA in those games.

Big D

This one might have turned out differently if it weren’t for some excellent defense by Wheeler and second baseman Jean Segura early in the game.

After allowing the leadoff triple to Sam Hilliard in the third, Wheeler made a terrific snag of a hard comebacker by Alan Trejo. Wheeler looked the runner back to third and got the out at first. Wheeler then walked the next batter to put runners at the corners with one out. Connor Joe then stroked a hard-hit ball up the middle but Segura was positioned perfectly to steal a hit and turn a double play to end the threat.

At the plate

The Phillies scored an unearned run in the second, a small-ball run in the third and a big-ball run in the fourth.

The small-ball run: Roman Quinn led off the bottom of the third with a bunt single, stole two bases and scored on a sacrifice fly by Rhys Hoskins.

The big-ball run: Alec Bohm clubbed his second home run.

Though the Phillies had just four hits in the series finale, they scored 32 runs in the series. Ten of the runs were unearned as the Rockies played some of the sloppiest ball you’ll see.

Bullpen report

James Norwood got two big outs in the seventh to preserve a two-run lead after Brad Hand pitched into trouble.

Small D

Colorado’s defense was poor throughout the series. The Rockies made two errors Thursday that led to three unearned runs. They made five errors in the first two games of the series.

The Rockies’ sloppiness extended to the pitcher’s mound. They walked in two runs and hit a batter with the bases loaded in the seventh inning Thursday.

Harper update

Bryce Harper was the designated hitter for the 11th straight game. He is unable to play the field because of a right elbow strain. Harper did some light throwing on Tuesday and Wednesday and felt “achy.” He will remain at DH until the injury has healed. He will not throw again until Tuesday, at the earliest.

Up next

The Phillies will board the No. 7 train for a weekend series with the Mets at Citi Field. Here are the pitching matchups:

  • Friday night – RHP Tyler Megill (3-0, 2.35) vs. RHP Aaron Nola (1-2, 3.74)
  • Saturday night – RHP Taijuan Walker (0-0, 0.00) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (2-1, 3.47)
  • Sunday night – RHP Max Scherzer (3-0, 1.80) vs. RHP Zach Eflin (1-2, 3.20)
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