Bullpen taxed yet again in the Phillies’ 10-inning loss to the Miami Marlins

It’s no surprise that the Phillies’ bullpen has been stretched thin lately. Twelve games into the season, only five starters’ outings have gone into the sixth inning, and none have pitched into the seventh.

Now that wear and tear has started to show.

Andrew Bellatti and Gregory Soto have pitched in seven of the Phillies’ 12 games; Connor Brogdon and Seranthony Domínguez have pitched in six. José Alvarado made his fifth appearance on Wednesday afternoon in the Phillies’ 3-2 10th-inning loss to the Marlins, and, after a strong seventh inning, he was asked to come back out for the eighth.

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Alvarado doesn’t typically go multiple innings. But manager Rob Thomson wanted him to face hot-hitting left-hander Luis Arraez.

It did not go well.

Alvarado, who hadn’t allowed a regular-season earned run since last August, allowed a solo homer to Jorge Soler to tie the game, 2-2.

Alvarado retired Arraez, the next hitter, and exited the game. Domínguez and Soto tossed two scoreless innings after that to keep the game within reach. Soto looked particularly sharp. He allowed a walk to Jon Berti with one out but bounced back with consecutive strikeouts to end the top of the ninth. He started the 10th, struck Arreaz and gave way to Craig Kimbrel, who allowed the go-ahead hit, an RBI single by Bryan De La Cruz.

Marlins reliever A.J. Puk retired Cristian Pache, Bryson Stott, and Trea Turner in the bottom of the 10th inning to end the game.

Soto was credited with the loss because the ghost runner scored (an unearned run).

Initially, it seemed like Zack Wheeler was going to give the Phillies seven innings. He allowed just three hits through four innings but hit a snag in the fifth.Wheeler walked Jacob Stallings with one out and induced a forceout, but walked the next two batters to load the bases. Arraez flied out to center field, and Wheeler retired all three hitters he faced in the sixth. But it was a close call.

Wheeler said he felt positive about his outing overall, but had “no idea” why he struggled with his command in the fifth.

“I got over to first [base] and I was a little winded after that,” Wheeler said. “Because I got over there a little late so I had to sprint. The pitch clock is counting down so I had to keep going. But I tried to buy a little time with a new ball and stuff, tried to work it a little bit, but that’s kind of where it catches up to you. I had a couple of visits.

“It’s noted for future reference, how to go about it. I was trying to throw my cutter a little bit that inning and it was getting away from me. So I think if I would have executed that a little better that inning, I would have gotten out of there a little easier.”

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Wheeler needed 22 pitches to get through the fifth inning, which was a bit ironic, considering who the opposing pitcher was. Marlins starter Edward Cabrera allowed an MLB-leading 13 walks through 6⅔ innings heading into Wednesday. By the end of the fifth inning, however, Cabrera had just one walk, and Wheeler had three.

Part of this was because the Phillies weren’t giving Cabrera many chances to walk anyone. They swung at some pitches that were far out of the zone. For their efforts, they went 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The Phillies are 4-8 and went just 3-3 on their first homestand.

“Overall, I thought we played well,” said Thomson. “I really did. We had one bad game, but other than that, I thought we played well. We’re swinging the bats pretty well, playing good defense, and now it looks like our starting pitching is starting to come.”

“I think we’re playing a little better than what the record shows, but at the same time, the record speaks for itself,” said Wheeler. “You’ve got to go out there and win some games, jump out early, and keep adding on as the game goes. Us as pitchers, we need to stop walking guys, me included. Whenever guys get on base, it’s free passes, it makes it a lot easier for the other team. We need to cut down on the walks.”

The Phillies headed to Cincinnati on Wednesday night for a four-game series against the Reds starting on Thursday, and then to Chicago for a three-game series against the White Sox.

Second baseman Bryson Stott hit leadoff again and made the most of it. Stott, who is now batting .420, went 2-for-5 with an RBI, a double that knocked in Kody Clemens and gave the Phillies a 2-1 lead in the fifth. He leads baseball in multi-hit games with nine and has hit safely in all 12 games — a career-high hitting streak for him. That’s the longest hitting streak to start a Phillies season in 73 years. The last player to reach that number was Willie “Puddin’ Head” Jones in 1950 (who ended up hitting in 16 straight games).

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