Phillies ride momentum of series sweep into opener vs. Marlins

The Philadelphia Phillies are showing signs of life under interim manager Don Mattingly.

The Phillies will go for their fourth straight victory Friday night when they visit the Miami Marlins in the opener of a four-game series.

Philadelphia parted ways with manager Rob Thomson on Tuesday morning after a 9-19 start to the season. Mattingly was promoted from bench coach -- and the early results have been promising.

The Phillies swept their three-game set with the San Francisco Giants this week, highlighted by an exciting doubleheader sweep on Thursday. Mattingly's club won both contests in walk-off fashion, with reliever Chase Shugart earning the win in each game.

Justin Crawford gave the Phillies the victory in the doubleheader opener with a run-scoring infield single in the ninth inning. Then, in the nightcap, Alec Bohm's sacrifice fly drove in the decisive run in the 10th.

"That's more like us," Bohm said after the Phillies became the first team in 22 years to record two walk-off hits on the same day.

Bohm and the Phillies will ride that momentum into Miami, where Zack Wheeler (0-0, 3.60 ERA) will make his second start of the season.

The 35-year-old right-hander made his 2026 debut Saturday against the Atlanta Braves, allowing two runs and three hits in five innings of his team's 8-5 victory in 10 innings. He had not pitched in the majors since Aug. 15 due to a blood clot in his right shoulder.

"You think about this moment," Wheeler said. "Me, I just want to get it over with. Just keep moving on, just the anxiety part of it. So yeah, I'm glad it's done, especially when you come out of the game kind of, you know, get that weight off your shoulders."

Wheeler is 12-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 26 career starts against Miami. He'll be opposed on Friday by right-hander Eury Perez (2-2, 4.60 ERA), who has faced the Phillies only once in his career. He held them to two runs in five innings in a no-decision in 2023.

More recently, Perez gave up four runs and seven hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 6-2 loss to the Giants on Saturday.

"It was a good overall outing," Perez said through an interpreter. "Just following the plan that I was given by my pitching coach. Maybe not the best outing, but we were out there competing through the whole game."

The Marlins enter this series feeling good after taking two of three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Liam Hicks and Esteury Ruiz homered in Wednesday's 3-2 triumph, while Sandy Alcantara tossed six effective innings. Miami will look to win three straight games for the first time since starting the season 3-0.

"For our group to ... finish (this road trip) the way we did -- to come get a couple in a row here and win a series," Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said Wednesday, "everyone will feel good ... and get ready for a big series with the Phillies."

This will be the first series between the Phillies and Marlins this season. Philadelphia went 9-4 against Miami in 2025.

--Field Level Media