Phillies and Nationals move up doubleheader to Friday as storm moves up East Coast

Bailey Falter will start the 1:05 p.m. game followed by Noah Syndergaard in Game 2.

Bailey Falter will start Game 1 of Friday's doubleheader against the Nationals.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published Sept. 29, 2022, 1:53 p.m. ET

CHICAGO — The Phillies-Nationals doubleheader scheduled for Saturday has been moved up to Friday with rain expected to hit Washington as a byproduct of Hurricane Ian’s path up the East Coast.

The 7:05 p.m. game scheduled for Saturday was moved to 1:05 p.m. Friday with Bailey Falter getting the start. It will be followed by a 7:05 p.m. game with Noah Syndergaard scheduled to pitch. The 1:05 p.m. game Saturday will be played as originally scheduled, and Kyle Gibson will start it.

The Phillies sent Falter and Syndergaard to Washington on Thursday ahead of the team’s charter plane.

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Zack Wheeler will make his start at 1:35 p.m. Sunday. Interim manager Rob Thomson said Wheeler, who was activated off the 15-day injured list on Sept. 21, still will be on a pitch count, but declined to specify what it would be. This will be Wheeler’s last start of the regular season. He has said several times that he’d like to get to 90 pitches by the end of the season so he can set up for the playoffs (if the Phillies get there).

Syndergaard came out of the bullpen behind Wheeler in his last outing, on Sept. 21, and hasn’t made a start since Sept. 15. He threw a heavy bullpen session on Tuesday, but despite the atypical schedule, Thomson is still optimistic that Syndergaard will be able to give the Phillies some length on Saturday.

“We’ll see how it goes during the day; we’ll see how he feels,” Thomson said. “But he’s a big, strong guy. He might be able to give you 90-100 pitches like he normally would. And he had a really good bullpen the other day.”

Extra bases

Right fielder Nick Castellanos and shortstop Bryson Stott were out of the starting lineup Thursday against the Cubs with scheduled days off. Nick Maton got the start at shortstop, and Matt Vierling was in right. … Phillies prospect Andrew Painter was named Baseball America’s minor league pitcher of the year on Thursday. It is the first time the outlet has named a minor league pitcher of the year. Painter posted a 1.56 ERA across three levels in his first minor league season with the Phillies. Opponents batted .181 against him this season.