Derek Hill’s jaw-dropping catch keeps Phillies in front and Zack Wheeler delivers 2-1 win over Mets

NEW YORK — Zack Wheeler stood on the mound, looked out to center field, and, well, LOL.

For real. He laughed out loud.

How else was the Phillies ace supposed to react? Given the level of ridiculousness of the catch that Derek Hill just made — sprint to the warning track, perfectly timed leap, hang in the air, and reach over the wall to take a two-run homer away from Mets star Juan Soto — even super-intense Wheeler couldn’t stifle a chuckle.

“I mean,” Wheeler said later, “that won us the game right there.”

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Well, technically, it would take Trea Turner‘s go-ahead single — which drove in Hill, by the way — in the seventh inning to decide the Phillies’ 2-1 victory Friday night. Maybe that was because it took a while for them to pick up their jaws from the turf after Hill’s first-inning catch, which was every bit as good as home-run robberies get.

So, you bet Wheeler laughed. And right fielder Brandon Marsh chest-bumped with Hill. In the dugout, players tipped their caps. Some even went to watch it again between innings.

“I had a pretty good view, and that was unbelievable,” interim manager Don Mattingly said. “The replay was almost even better.”

Said Marsh: “Probably one of the best catches I’ve ever seen ... in person, for sure.”

The Phillies won their fourth game in a row and, at 46-36, climbed to a season-high 10 games over .500 after a 9-19 start. They also deepened their rival’s misery. The Mets fired manager Carlos Mendoza, then dropped their seventh straight game while fans chanted to fire president of baseball operations David Stearns.

But there’s no telling how much differently the series-opener would have gone if not for Hill’s catch.

Staked to a 1-0 lead on Bryce Harper’s single, the third consecutive hit to begin the game against Mets rookie lefty Zach Thornton, Wheeler gave up a leadoff single to Carson Benge before throwing an 0-2 fastball to Soto.

And then, well, maybe Hill can take it from here?

» READ MORE: The Phillies still need a right-handed bat. Let’s take an early dive into some options before the trade deadline.

“Honestly, I ain’t got much on that,” he said. “I just kind of blacked out on it. Just kind of pure instinct and whatnot. But I knew I had a chance because the wind was kind of knocking things down a little bit. Marshy was giving me some good comms on the side, letting me know where the wall was.”

Ever made a catch like that before?

“Not quite like that one,” Hill said. “Minor leagues and stuff like that a couple times, but no, this atmosphere was a little different. And obviously the guy [Soto] I did it against makes it a little bit cooler.”

Everything, it seems, is going Hill’s way. When he lost a fly ball in the twilight in the sixth inning, Marsh raced over from right field to catch it.

“I just see him coming across like a freaking bull,” Hill said. “I didn’t see it at all until it hit his glove. I was like, ‘Oh, cool. Thanks, dog.’”

Consider it the cherry on top of a charmed week for Hill, acquired by the Phillies two weeks ago from the White Sox after right fielder Adolis García tore the lat muscle near his right shoulder and needed season-ending surgery.

Hill came up as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Washington, and down to his last strike, smashed a go-ahead two-run homer to fuel a 5-4 victory.

One night later, he came off the bench and picked up two hits, including a two-run homer in a five-run ninth inning in a come-from-behind 10-5 victory.

And now this. After taking two runs off the board in the first inning, Hill led off the seventh with an infield single and scored the go-ahead run on a two-out, two-strike single by Turner.

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Could the Phillies possibly ask for any more from a part-time player who has bounced from the Tigers to the Mariners, Nationals, Rangers, Giants, Marlins, White Sox, and now Phillies since 2022?

“No, it’s been good,” Mattingly said. “It’s good to see, and he has integrated great with our club. I think just personality-wise, work-wise, he’s professional, the way he goes about his defense, everything. Really good.”

Speaking of which, Turner is percolating after a rough first half. The reigning National League batting champ finished with two hits for the fourth game in a row and is 8-for-20 to hike his average to .235 and his OPS to .625.

If Turner is turning the corner at the plate, he would represent a more impactful addition than anyone the Phillies could get at the trade deadline.

“I think Trea’s fine,” Mattingly said. “I mean, when do we decide that he’s [back]? When he’s getting two hits a night for 10 straight days? He’s getting his hits.”

Wheeler, meanwhile, is rolling in a remarkable comeback after having a rib removed last September to treat thoracic outlet syndrome. In his 12th start, he allowed one run on four hits in seven innings to leave his ERA at 2.03.

But what if Hill doesn’t make that catch?

“It’s the best one I’ve seen in person,” Wheeler said. “I knew [Soto] got it, so I looked back and he’s on a dead sprint towards the wall. I’m like, ‘Man, he’s about to go get this thing.’ Sure enough he did.”

Back in the dugout, Wheeler gave Hill a hug.

“I’m not gonna say it won us the game, but it won us the game,” Marsh said. “It was a special, special play.”

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Ricky Bottalico spouts opinions each day on sports-talk radio and the Phillies' television pre- and postgame show. But before all that, he had a solid career as a relief pitcher, even representing the Phillies in the 1996 All-Star Game at Veterans Stadium. With the baseball world set to descend on Philly again in a few weeks, Ricky Bo joined "Phillies Extra" to re-live his All-Star experience. Watch here.

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