Luck’s on the Phillies’ side in a 10-inning victory over the Blue Jays

Sometimes, you need a little luck. In the ninth and 10th innings of the Phillies’ 2-1 walk-off win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Wednesday, they got it.

In the 10th inning, with one out and Edmundo Sosa on second base as the ghost runner, Trea Turner drew a walk, and Bryce Harper hit a grounder straight back to Toronto reliever Tim Mayza.

Mayza snagged it and threw it to shortstop Bo Bichette at second base to start an apparent double play. But Bichette overthrew the relay to first base, and Sosa slide home safely to win the game.

The Phillies had gotten some luck in the ninth inning, too. They entered the inning trailing 1-0. Harper led off with a line single to center field. The next batter, Nick Castellanos, fouled off five pitches. One of them — a foul pop-up on the first base side — nearly was caught. Instead, with three Blue Jays sprinting toward it, the ball dropped onto the grass. Castellanos ultimately reached base on an infield single when second baseman Santiago Espinal’s throw pulled first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. off the bag.

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That put runners on first and second with no outs for Kyle Schwarber. Schwarber struck out, but J.T. Realmuto lined a double to left field to score Harper and tie the game.

The bases were loaded with two outs after Alec Bohm reached first on a fielder’s choice and Brandon Marsh was intentionally walked. But Sosa grounded out to send the game to extras.

Zack Wheeler’s outings this season have been a mixed bag. His strongest games have often been followed by games in which he has struggled. Take April 29, when Wheeler gave the Phillies six scoreless innings in Houston. In his next start, May 5, he allowed four earned runs in 5⅓ innings against Boston.

Aaron Nola and Taijuan Walker haven’t been consistent, either. But in Wednesday’s win, Wheeler provided a few reasons for optimism. His average fastball velocity was slightly up, from 95.8 to 96.2 mph. Even when it started to drop, his command remained sharp. Above all, Wheeler was able to pitch deeper into any game he has this season. He went seven innings, allowing three hits, one run (a home run by Brandon Belt in the fifth inning), and one walk with seven strikeouts.

“That’s our goal every time, seven [innings] or more,” Wheeler said. “That’s definitely more satisfying. That’s where I want to be.”

Manager Rob Thomson called it Wheeler’s best start of the season. Wheeler joked that because Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman was working quickly and effectively, he didn’t have much time to rest between innings.

“[It made] me a little bit more tired, too, because there were quick innings in between,” Wheeler said. “I felt like I would sit down and I’d have to go right back out there. But we battled and I can’t say enough about this group. We stayed locked in and got some timely hits when we needed them, and came out on the winning side.”

It seemed as if Wheeler was gaining momentum as the game went on. That was helpful to Thomson, considering the state of the Phillies’ bullpen. Hours before Wheeler took the mound, José Alvarado was placed on the 15-day injured list with left elbow inflammation.

Luckily for Thomson, the later innings went smoothly. Gregory Soto pitched a scoreless eighth with one walk and one strikeout. Seranthony Domínguez took the ninth, allowing one hit. Craig Kimbrel struck out two in the 10th and kept the game tied.

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For as good as Wheeler was, Gausman was slightly better. Gausman’s fastball velocity jumped from an average of 93.5 to 96.1 mph. He was spinning the ball more, too, and locating his pitches well. He allowed no walks in six shutout innings with three hits and nine strikeouts. Of Gausman’s 99 pitches, 74 were strikes.

In all, the Phillies struck out 13 times on Wednesday.

“I thought we did a nice job on him,” Thomson said. “We got his pitch count up fairly high [99 in his six innings]. The shadows were a part of this thing today. It was tough to see for the hitters. But his stuff was good. He’s a good pitcher, he really is. His fastball was touching 97, 98 mph. The split was really diving. But I thought we had decent at-bats off him. A lot of strikeouts, but we worked the counts. We battled and we fought and that’s what this team does.”

With two outs and a runner on second in the sixth inning, Matt Chapman hit a liner to deep right field. Castellanos, who has been working hard on his outfield defense with first base coach Paco Figueroa, tracked it down and made a jumping grab to rob Toronto of an insurance run.

“He’s really engaged. He’s really locked in,” Thomson said of Castellanos. “He and Paco have a great relationship. They’ve done a lot of great work out there. It’s night and day from when he came here. His jumps, his reads, his routes. He’s playing really well.”