Zack Wheeler flirts with a no-hitter and Kody Clemens’ walk-off lifts Phillies to fifth straight win

This would have been one of the most disappointing Phillies losses of the season. Zack Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth ininng against the Detroit Tigers, only to see the game tied by the end of that inning and the Phillies trailing in the top of the ninth before winning, 3-2.

But in the span of six at-bats, the Phillies quickly changed the narrative that seemed to be unfolding. Down, 2-1, Bryce Harper lined a double to right field to start the bottom of the ninth. Trea Turner walked, and after J.T. Realmuto struck out, Bryson Stott singled to load the bases for Brandon Marsh.

Marsh’s sacrifice fly scored Harper and tie the game with two outs. Then Kody Clemens finished it off, lining a single to right field — against the team that traded him a few months ago — to score Turner with the winning run. The victory — their fifth straight — completed a series sweep of the Tigers.

“I had no ill will against the Tigers, but it does feel good after they trade you away and you end the game,” Clemens said. “It felt really good.”

The Phillies had been struggling at the plate to that point. While Wheeler was working on his no-hit bid, the lineup managed just three hits and one earned run over five innings against Tigers pitcher Reese Olson, who recently had been called up from triple A, where he posted a 6.38 ERA in 36⅔ innings. They went hitless against opener Tyler Holton, who pitched the first inning before Olson took over, and two relievers relievers — until the ninth.

The pressure was on after Craig Kimbrel allowed two hits, two walks, and one earned run in the top of the ninth. Because of Wheeler’s historic performance, Harper felt a little extra sense of urgency to turn things around.

“Anytime you’ve got Wheels going out there or Nola or anybody, you kind of have a little extra oomph about it,” Harper said. “You want to go out there and perform to the best of your ability, and Wheels threw the crap out of the ball tonight. Anytime he goes out there, he has a chance to do something special, and I thought he threw really well tonight.”

Despite the ninth-inning theatrics, the biggest takeaway from this series was the emergence of the Phillies’ starting pitching. Aaron Nola, Taijuan Walker, and Wheeler arguably had their best starts of the season against the Tigers (although Wheeler maintains that he felt best on May 27, when he held the Braves to three hits and no runs through eight innings).

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Nola took a no-hitter into the seventh on Monday. Walker took one into the fifth on Tuesday, and Wheeler took one into the eighth on Thursday. The Tigers are not an offensive juggernaut. They rank last in MLB in OPS (.638) and batting average (.221). But maybe facing a less formidable team was what Nola, Walker, and Wheeler needed to begin to show the consistency the Phillies need.

“We’ve talked about it,” Wheeler said. “We need to get going. We’re sort of what carries this team. Keeping runs off the board early — I feel like that’s what we’ve done a lot this season, is let guys score on us early, so it kind of puts a damper on the game, the vibe, and all of that stuff. So getting out there early, putting up zeroes, that always helps us.”

Wheeler did just that. He filled up the zone, induced soft contact, and plenty of swings and misses. He was efficient. His command wasn’t perfect, but he made it work.

“It wasn’t where I wanted it, but, at the same time, it was effective,” Wheeler said. “I was not trying to be pinpoint [with my command] tonight. I was trying to let my fastball work with its life that it has — throwing it up in the zone, kind of just letting it rip a little bit more. And just letting that play, rather than being perfect.”

The pivotal moment of his no-hit bid came with one out in the eighth. Jonathan Schoop hit a ground ball to third baseman Josh Harrison, who threw it to first base, but Clemens bobbled the low throw, and Schoop was safe.

Wheeler had a no-hitter going. Would it be ruled an error or a hit?

It was ruled an error, keeping Wheeler’s bid for history alive for one more at-bat. A few seconds later, Wheeler threw his 108th pitch, a sinker in the middle of the zone, and Tyler Nevin lined it to right field for a single.

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Wheeler then exited. Nevin’s single moved the tying run, Jake Marisnick — pinch-running for Schoop — to third. Seranthony Domínguez, who entered in relief of Wheeler, allowed a bunt single that scored Marisnick, ensuring that Wheeler, after all of his effort, would not get the win. Baseball can be cruel.

Nevertheless, it was a strong outing for Wheeler. Over 7⅓ innings, he allowed one hit, one unearned run, and one walk with eight strikeouts. Manager Rob Thomson said he probably would’ve let Wheeler go to 120 pitches if the no-hitter had been intact. But Nevin made that a moot point.

“He was really, really good, really efficient,” Thomson said. “If he had gotten through that eighth inning, that would have been a tough call.”