Zack Wheeler and Jhoan Duran struggle as the Phillies fall, 8-7, on Marlins’ walk-off single

MIAMI — The sinker from Zack Wheeler clocked 91.3 miles per hour.

Javier Sanoja whiffed on it anyway, biting on the inside fastball. But the radar gun didn’t lie. Wheeler’s pitch, which has lived around 95 mph this season, had lost more than just a tick.

In fact, all of Wheeler’s pitches trended down on Monday against the Marlins. The sinker to Sanoja turned out to be Wheeler’s third-to-last pitch of the night. After Sanoja grounded out back to the mound on a sweeper that didn’t reach 80 mph, the Phillies opted to lift Wheeler after just three innings.

Even with a concerning performance by one of their aces, the Phillies managed to battle back against the Marlins. They were three outs away from handing Miami its 13th consecutive loss when another pillar of the pitching staff wavered. The Marlins walked it off, 8-7, on closer Jhoan Duran, handing him his second blown save of the year.

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Wheeler walked out to the mound in the first inning already with a two-run lead, courtesy of Bryce Harper’s home run. It evaporated almost immediately, starting with another defensive breakdown.

Otto Lopez led off the bottom of the inning with a single. When he stole second, J.T. Realmuto’s throw deflected off Bryson Stott’s glove and wound up with Trea Turner. His throw to third base then got away from Alec Bohm, and, propelled by the two errors, Lopez dashed home.

Because Heriberto Hernández homered two pitches later — on a 93.2 mph sinker — Lopez’s run was still charged to Wheeler. It was the first of five he would allow on Monday, the most Wheeler has given up in an outing since May 29, 2025. Over his three innings, the Marlins racked up six hits, including two homers.

Wheeler’s splitter was the only pitch that was somewhat effective, as he recorded four of his six strikeouts with it. His four-seam fastball averaged 93.5 mph, down from 95.2 mph, and it did not induce a single swing-and-miss.

When Don Mattingly brought in Kyle Backhus for the fourth, the Phillies were trailing, 5-2. The comeback rally started with a leadoff walk from Harper in the sixth. He was driven home by a single up the middle from Alec Bohm, and Bryson Stott kept the line moving with a single of his own.

Both Bohm and Stott scored, tying the game at 5-5, after Realmuto’s fly ball to right-center bounced over the wall and into the Phillies’ bullpen for a ground rule double.

The Phillies then capitalized on a defensive breakdown from Miami to take the lead. Justin Crawford found a hole in the left side of the infield, and Realmuto was holding at third until Hernández’s throw to the plate skittered between catcher Joe Mack’s legs and got stuck underneath the backstop padding. Since the ball was ruled out of play, both runners advanced, bringing Realmuto home.

The catcher drove in an insurance run in the eighth, with a sacrifice fly to center that scored Bryson Stott, who had tripled.

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The bullpen shut down the Marlins for five innings. Backhus covered two, while José Alvarado, Jonathan Bowlan, and Orion Kerkering bridged the gap to Duran. But the Phillies’ most consistent reliever was the one to struggle. Consecutive ground-ball singles brought the winning run to the plate.

Duran then hit Kyle Stowers with a pitch to load the bases, and Hernández sent the payoff pitch up the middle to tie the game. Griffin Conine delivered the walk-off single, snapping the Marlins’ losing streak at 12.