Cristian Pache’s heroics lift Phillies to franchise record-tying 13th straight road win

MIAMI — When Cristian Pache launched a two-out, pinch-hit, go-ahead home run to center field in the ninth inning on Friday night, the Phillies’ dugout erupted. Alec Bohm said it might have been the most electric moment of the season. It felt like a home game. Players started running on the field. Pache sauntered around the bases, and then throughout the dugout, greeting his teammates with glee.

A few minutes later, after Craig Kimbrel pitched a one-hit ninth inning to stay perfect in save opportunities, the Phillies won their franchise record-tying 13th straight road game with a dramatic come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Miami.

Pache got doused with ice water. Brandon Marsh was one of the players holding the cooler. It’s Marsh’s normal role, but in this moment, it felt particularly fitting. Marsh has been a Pache fan long before the Phillies acquired him from the A’s in March.

This might seem counterintuitive to some. Pache and Marsh split playing time in center field. That situation doesn’t always lead to friendship. But in this instance, it has. They don’t see each other as competitors. During the games Pache starts, he’ll go through an at-bat and return to the dugout after the inning to talk it through with Marsh. During the games Marsh starts, he does the same with Pache.

“We’re good together,” Marsh said. “It’s been awesome to go to work with him and have him be my partner and me be his partner.”

Pache, who was sitting in the visitor’s clubhouse a few lockers away, sensed that Marsh was talking about him. He smiled.

“La bestia,” he said in Spanish.

“It means the beast,” Marsh said. “I call him Pacheco. It just rolls off the tongue.”

It’s possible — likely, even — that no was more excited about the Phillies’ acquisition of Pache than Marsh. They played against each other in the double-A Southern League in 2019. Pache was playing for the Mississippi Braves, and Marsh was playing for the Mobile BayBears. Marsh was taken by the center fielder’s defense.

“I’ve always admired his game,” he said. “I’m a big fan of Pache. Even before we signed him, I remember sitting down going through YouTube at night, looking at defensive highlights of his. And now he has Phillies across his chest and he’s winning us the dang ballgame.”

It does seem a little surreal. Before Pache became a Phillie, he was known as a talented defender who was a liability at the plate. He didn’t make the A’s 26-man roster out of spring training this year. He had a .156 career batting average before this season. In his first week with the Phillies, his at-bats would bring on a sense of dread from the fan base.

But a lot has changed since then. Pache has worked hard with hitting coach Kevin Long. He’s staying back. He’s using his hips and his lower body more. He’s keeping his head still. But that’s not the only change.

He feels like he belongs here. When the Phillies were playing the Tampa Bay Rays, he joked with his teammates that he’d hit the ball out of the ballpark in Miami and jump around the bases. That wasn’t something he would’ve said a few months ago.

“He’s starting to open up a lot more,” said Alec Bohm. “He was quiet at first. But the last month or so, he’s been getting a lot more comfortable.”

“[My comfort here] is really important,” Pache said in Spanish. “I don’t feel pressure when I go to the plate. I don’t feel pressure when I play in the field. Even when I’m not in the lineup, I know I’m going to have an opportunity to play in the game, seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. And when they give me the opportunity, I’m going to give them the best of me.”

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The Phillies needed his best on Friday night. Their offense looked largely dormant until the top of the ninth inning. J.T. Realmuto, who had accounted for the Phillies’ only run with a sixth-inning homer, led off with a single. With one out, Bohm doubled in Realmuto. Josh Harrison, hitting for Darick Hall, struck out. With two out, manager Rob Thomson chose to pinch-hit Pache for his buddy Marsh.

On an 0-1 pitch, Pache took reliever A.J. Puk deep. As Pache rounded the bases, taking in the highlight of his career so far, Marsh felt goosebumps on his arm.

“Pacheco, he’s the man,” he said. “It couldn’t happen to a better dude. I’m so happy for him.”

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It’s been hard to know what to make of Zack Wheeler this season. He’s had outings where he’s looked like his dominant self, outings where the defense has hurt him, and outings where he just isn’t as sharp. Friday night probably was some combination of all three.

And it didn’t look like it would be that way initially. In the first inning, Wheeler struck out Luis Arraez, the major league’s top hitter, and made the .386 hitter look foolish. He did the same to Jesús Sánchez a few batters later.

But he wasn’t cruising the way he was on May 27 in Atlanta or June 8 at home. In the second inning, Wheeler allowed a single to former Phillie and current Marlins third baseman Jean Segura. After a double by Joey Wendle, Segura scored on an RBI single by Jacob Stallings.Dane Myers grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Wendle, and, just like that, the Marlins had a 2-0 lead.

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In the third inning, Wheeler got three quick outs, but in the fourth, Garrett Cooper tagged him for a solo homer to give the Marlins a 3-0 lead.

Wheeler retired the Marlins in order in the fifth, and allowed one hit in the sixth before handing the ball to reliever Jeff Hoffman. Wheeler finished his night having given up three runs on seven hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. He threw 101 pitches, including 70 strikes.

“I felt better,” Wheeler said of his outing. “That was a mistake to Cooper — I probably should have expanded just a little bit more on the outside fastballs, right on the black, mid-thigh. Right into his bat path. I’ve just got to be better in that situation. But overall, I felt better today.”

With the victory, the Phillies have won 13 straight on the road, tying the longest road winning streak in franchise history (April 17-June 2, 1976).

“It’s a good vibe,” Wheeler said. “Just riding it. Riding it as long as we can into the [All-Star] break and hopefully we can continue that afterwards. So we’re playing good baseball. Not making mistakes out there for the most part. Just being consistent is always the biggest thing I think. Everyone is on the same page, hitting, pitching, and bullpen. So when we do that, we’re winning games.”