Rob Thomson pulled Zack Wheeler, and the Phillies couldn’t survive his mistake

HOUSTON — Two bottles of Gatorade, one blue, one orange, rested atop a table in a press conference room when Rob Thomson entered late Saturday night to get on with his winter of reckoning. He touched neither bottle, and he expressed no regret for his decision to lift Zack Wheeler in the sixth inning of Game 6 of the World Series and trust the Phillies’ hopes for a championship to José Alvarado. No regret for the move he never should have made.

Yes, out came Wheeler after 5⅓ dominant innings, the Astros finally putting runners on first and third against him in the sixth despite never hitting a ball hard off him all night. In came Alvarado, left-handed, with a 100 mph fastball, to face Yordan Alvarez, left-handed, with 37 home runs during the regular season and two more during the postseason. And, on a 2-1 fastball that came in at 99 mph, out went the baseball to the deepest part of Minute Maid Park: 450 feet to dead center field, over the pine-green batter’s eye.

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So much for the Phillies’ season. So much for the goodwill and trustworthiness Thomson had built since replacing Joe Girardi as manager five months ago. Game 6 still had more than three innings to go, but once Alvarez’s blast disappeared into the crowd, the ballpark started rocking with sound and the Phillies were dead men walking, the Astros’ 4-1 victory a formality, Thomson’s magic touch with his in-game decisions abandoning him at the worst of times.

“I thought Wheels still had really good stuff,” Thomson said. “It wasn’t about that. It was just that I thought the matchup was better with Alvarado on Alvarez at that time.”

Wrong. Wheeler had great stuff. For all the concern ahead of Saturday about his subpar start and declining velocity in his Game 2 loss, he was his old self again after six days’ rest.

“He had lightning bolts coming out of his hand,” catcher J.T. Realmuto said. “His fastball was really good. It was probably the best I’ve seen it this season.”

Two hits, one walk, five strikeouts, no runs, a fastball that hovered at 98 mph and danced from one side of the plate to the other: With everything on the line, Wheeler was never better … until Martín Maldonado not-so-subtly guided his left elbow into a fastball … until Jeremy Peña skipped a broken-bat single through the infield … until Thomson started shuffling to the mound to do the one thing that was sure to buoy the Astros’ spirits, to get them believing that this minor rally could develop into something major. Until Zack Wheeler realized that he wasn’t pitching anymore.

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“I was just caught off guard,” he said. “It is what it is, right?”

Those clipped but cutting quotes from Realmuto and Wheeler were telling. They might not sound like much, but they were every bit as far as any player could or would go to criticize Thomson. Understand: None of the Phillies wanted to or was going to tee off on him. For one thing, with the way they hit — or, more accurately, didn’t hit — in this series, the regulars in the lineup have plenty to answer for themselves. The Phillies set a major-league record for strikeouts in a World Series, with 71, and from Rhys Hoskins to Nick Castellanos, from Bryce Harper’s rough series to Kyle Schwarber’s white-flag bunt attempt, the lineup’s all-or-nothing approach finally tipped toward nothing against a terrific Astros pitching staff.

For another thing, Thomson had done too much to earn the players’ respect and affection for them, and the clubhouse was full with enough goodwill that Wheeler couldn’t even bring himself to turn a side-eye toward Alvarado.

“He’s been nails for us all year in those situations,” Wheeler said. “He’s definitely the guy to go to in that situation.”

Was he? Already in the series, in Game 4, Alvarado had entered in a similar situation — bases loaded, scoreless tie — and hit the first batter he faced with the first pitch he threw. Already, he had allowed a winnable game to get away from him and the Phillies. Already, Thomson had said Saturday afternoon that Ranger Suárez, who shut out the Astros over five innings in Game 3, was available to pitch that night. Already, Thomson had said that he would “react to what I see,” from Wheeler, “velocity, stuff, how the ball’s coming off their bats, and then just move on.”

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But pulling Wheeler in that situation isn’t a decision that a manager makes in that instant, in that context. It’s a decision that a manager makes at 3 p.m. and sticks to despite whatever circumstances might arise. Circumstances such as Wheeler retiring Alvarez twice without incident. Circumstances such as Wheeler throwing just 70 pitches before encountering his first bit of true trouble. Circumstances such as the Phillies struggling so much just to put the ball in play, let alone score any runs, and needing an extraordinary effort from their ace — and getting one.

“That was a key moment in the game, and that was a momentum swing,” Thomson said. “I thought Alvarado had a chance to strike him out.”

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Of course he had that chance. But as untouchable as Alvarado can be and has been, he also walked five hitters in 11⅓ innings this postseason. As hellacious as his stuff is, he doesn’t always control it. That 99 mph fastball to Alvarez, bisecting the plate, was a bad pitch to a good hitter, and Suárez wasn’t incapable of achieving the same goal that Thomson was determined to seek: He struck out five Astros in 5⅔ innings in this series, without the roller-coaster ride Alvarado tends to take everyone on.

That was the real choice for Thomson in the sixth inning of Game 6: Do I stick with Wheeler, or do I go with Suárez? Do I trust my ace, or do I turn to the most reliable available pitcher I have? Thomson did neither, and he and his players spent Saturday night watching the Astros celebrate. A sweet season with such a sour ending. A decision that turned out to be the costliest mistake that Rob Thomson could make.