Blue Jays 16, Phillies 4: The 1-2 punch of Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber on display

In an otherwise ugly spring training loss, the new duo at the top of the order showed off what they're capable of.

The Phillies' Kyle Schwarber smiles after hitting a first-inning two run home run that also drove in Trea Turner against the Blue Jays on Sunday.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

Published March 5, 2023, 4:10 p.m. ET

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Phillies shortstop Trea Turner led off Sunday’s game against the Blue Jays with a line drive single to right field, and advanced to second on a fielding error. Left fielder Kyle Schwarber stepped up to the plate after him, and crushed a home run 414 feet to center field.

It gave a glimpse of how the 1-2 punch of Turner and Schwarber could play out in the regular season during a 16-4 loss to Toronto. Of Schwarber’s 46 home runs in 2022, 31 of them were solo home runs. With a .355 career on-base percentage, Turner figures to be on base quite a bit, which would turn some of Schwarber’s solo home runs to multi-run shots.

On the mound: Right-handed starter Zack Wheeler made his second start of the spring. It did not go as well as his first start, when he allowed no hits and no runs through two innings, also against the Blue Jays. Wheeler allowed seven earned runs on seven hits with one walk and no strikeouts against the Blue Jays on Sunday, exiting the game after 1⅓ innings. He threw 45 pitches, 29 of them strikes.

Wheeler struggled to locate his pitches and was giving up some hard contact. Of the seven hits he gave up, five came off the bat at over 100 mph. Nevertheless, Wheeler wasn’t too concerned. He said he felt good, physically, and felt “rushed” due to the pitch clock and because he was throwing to a new catcher in John Hicks.

“It is what it is,” Wheeler said of his outing. “I just felt a little rushed. And throwing to Hicks for the first time, I was trying to get on the same page. So it was a little difficult out there today. But I felt good. Came out of it healthy. And the bullpen before the game was probably the best one I’ve thrown in a really long time, so that’s always a plus in spring. So take it with a grain of salt, just move on.”

As a whole, it was not a good day for Phillies’ pitchers, who gave up 16 runs on 18 hits. Four of those hits and six of those runs came from reliever Jake Jewell, who entered the game in the seventh.

Quotable: “That, (the pitch clock), and not being on the same page,” Wheeler said on why he felt rushed. “Trying to rush and feeling like I only had a few seconds to throw each pitch. So, I don’t know. It is what it is and next time out I’m sure it will be better.”

On deck: Phillies left-handed pitcher Michael Plassmeyer will take the mound against the Orioles at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Fla. at 1:05 p,m. Monday The game will be streamed on MLB.com.