Phillies split doubleheader with White Sox, avert no-hitter in nightcap

CHICAGO — It’s hard to imagine the Phillies’ first two games in their three-game series against the White Sox going any more differently. In Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader, the offense put up five runs early, and Zack Wheeler allowed no hits through his first two innings, struggled in the third and was lifted after the fifth, but earned the 7-4 win thanks to Josh Harrison’s four runs batted in and four innings of shutdown relief.

In Game 2, the Phillies were no-hit by White Sox starter Lucas Giolito and reliever Kendall Graveman through seven innings, and managed just one hit in nine to split the doubleheader in a 3-0 loss. Phillies starter Bailey Falter allowed a three-run homer to Jake Burger in the first inning, but he gave up just one walk through his next five innings. By the end of the sixth inning, Falter’s pitch count was at just 78. He pitched seven innings, deeper than any Phillies starter this season. He held Chicago to three hits and three walks, and had three strikeouts.

Despite the dearth of any sort of Phillies offense, that length from Falter was a big deal. Because manager Rob Thomson used his best relievers in Game 1, he was stretched thin in Game 2. But Falter’s outing made that a non-issue. Thomson needed to use only one reliever on Tuesday night, right-hander Luis Ortiz.

“He gave us exactly what we wanted,” Thomson said of Falter. “Now, we’ve got a full bullpen [Wednesday].”

It’s something the Phillies will need more of from their starters over the coming weeks and months.

“It’s a lot of fun to have those guys [in the bullpen] behind you,” Wheeler said after the first game. “You can hand the ball over and feel comfortable giving it to those guys. Now it’s time for us starters to take a little pressure off of them. Go a little deeper into games.

“That’s what we’re working for. You always hate coming out of the game before the sixth or seventh. So, that’s one of my things, is trying to get to the sixth or seventh and give it to those guys. Just one of those days.”

Here are a few more observations from Tuesday’s doubleheader in Chicago.

Entering the nightcap, the Phillies had a combined 37 hits and 21 runs over their past two games against the White Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. But on Tuesday night, they managed only one hit — an opposite-field double by Brandon Marsh off left-hander Aaron Bummer to lead off the eighth inning. They struck out 12 times.

This has seemed to be somewhat of a trend with the Phillies. They scored 15 runs on April 10 against Miami, and followed that up with a four-run showing on April 11. They scored eight on April 14 in Cincinnati, and were shut out on April 15.

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“I think the pitcher has some stuff to do with it, too,” second baseman Bryson Stott said of the inconsistent offense. “Giolito was on his stuff tonight, and he just made better pitches than we did swings. That’s baseball. You’d like to score 16 runs a game and get 12 hits, but that’s just not what the game of baseball is. We had some good at-bats and got on base. I thought the quality of at-bats for the most part were there.”

Stott, who went 0-for-4 to end his franchise-record 17-game season-opening hitting streak, credited Giolito for his deceptiveness on the mound.

“He’s got a really good changeup, and he’s so tall [6-foot-6], you see it and it just never really gets to home plate,” Stott said. “I think a lot of us were out in front on it. And once that’s in your head, he can beat you with other stuff. He did a really good job.”

Because the Phillies’ starters weren’t pitching deep into games, the bullpen has looked fatigued. But on Tuesday afternoon in Game 1, the Phillies’ best relievers were nothing short of dominant.

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After Wheeler exited his start, Gregory Soto, Craig Kimbrel, Seranthony Domínguez and José Alvarado combined to give the Phillies four innings of hitless and scoreless ball. They struck out eight batters on 45 pitches. Of the eight pitches Domínguez threw, all eight were strikes.

“That’s clearly dominance,” Thomson said of the bullpen after Game 1. “From Soto to Kimbrel to Seranthony to Alvarado — I don’t know how many strikeouts they had, but no walks. They were just pounding the zone. Just high-quality stuff.”

This will not provide much solace to Phillies fans after they nearly got no-hit, but their defense has looked sharp to start the season — and looked even better in Game 2 on Tuesday. Alec Bohm made a diving stop at third in the first inning that held Eloy Jimenez to an infield single instead of an extra-base hit, and Stott made a sliding play in the fourth inning to rob Seby Zavala of a hit.

Thomson said after the game that Edmundo Sosa wasn’t in the lineup on Tuesday because his “back keeps acting up on him.” He said Sosa is day to day. Thomson added that they could have used Sosa on Tuesday in an emergency, but preferred to let him rest. ... Wheeler said after Game 1 that he felt some back tightness in the third inning, but he didn’t feel there was cause for concern. ... Bohm stretched his shoulder a bit after making that play in the first inning of Game 2, but Thomson said Bohm was fine.