Behind Wheeler and massive 7th inning, Phils beat Mets and grab sole NL East lead 

The Phillies poured on the runs in the seventh inning and extended a miserable run for the Mets on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.

Behind Zack Wheeler and a six-run seventh, the Phils earned a 10-2 victory over the Mets in the series opener. They grabbed sole possession of first place in the NL East and moved to 46-30 this season. New York dipped to 45-31 with a seventh consecutive loss. 

Wheeler tossed five scoreless innings, scattering four hits, walking three and striking out eight. 

The Mets loaded the bases in the top of the first inning through a Brandon Nimmo single and walks by Juan Soto and Pete Alonso. Wheeler prevented any immediate damage by inducing a Jeff McNeil double-play ball. 

While Wheeler’s command remained a bit worse than his excellent norm — he needed 61 pitches to complete three innings — the Phils’ ace otherwise mowed down the Mets. Over the third and fourth innings, Wheeler racked up five strikeouts. 

Mets righty Blade Tidwell fared well in the early stages of his second big-league start. He retired the first five Phillies hitters and threw strikes on 15 of his first 19 pitches.

Tidwell didn’t finish the fourth inning and the Phils pulled in front. 

Nick Castellanos and J.T Realmuto singled, Bryson Stott walked, and Otto Kemp got a bases-loaded opportunity with one out. He just about cashed in, hitting a chopper to third base, hustling to first and avoiding a double play. Tidwell exited and lefty Jose Castillo entered to face Brandon Marsh, who built the Phillies’ lead to 2-0 with an opposite-field RBI single. 

Wheeler wiped out a two-out Mets threat in the fifth inning. With Nimmo on second base, he appeared to have struck Soto out. However, Soto received a generous-looking check swing call to stay alive in the at-bat. Wheeler made sure it didn’t matter, throwing a sharp 3-2 sweeper that Soto whiffed at. 

After turning to their bullpen, the Phils’ advantage disappeared.

Alonso crushed a leadoff solo shot to center field off of Taijuan Walker and McNeil followed by smashing a middle-of-the-plate splitter over the right-field wall. Not Walker’s finest hour in a middle-relief role. 

Tanner Banks replaced Walker and provided some stability with 1 and 2/3 scoreless innings. Kemp chipped in a couple of nice defensive plays at first base, leaping to catch a Tyrone Taylor jam shot in foul territory and snagging a Soto one-hopper to his backhand side. 

Marsh kicked off the bottom of the seventh by lining a double down the left-field line. Trea Turner dinked a two-bagger to right, Alec Bohm and Castellanos kept the Phils’ rally rolling with base hits, and the game was suddenly much less tense.

The most memorable play of the inning was Stott’s one-out, bases-clearing double off the left-center wall. Realmuto was close to clipping Castellanos’ heels, but both slid in safely — simultaneously, almost — and the Phils went up 8-2. 

“I basically made a decision rounding third base,” Realmuto said. “In my head, I was like, ‘We’re either going to both be out or both be safe.’ Luckily, we both snuck in there.” 

Realmuto couldn't recall ever being part of a similar play as a catcher.

“It kind of felt like playing a Little League game,” he said. “Even getting back into the dugout, everyone was laughing and having fun with it. Just a different scenario than you usually see in a game. To be able to have that fun … it was a special moment.” 

When he nailed a two-run dinger in the eighth, Castellanos had the luxury of jogging around the bases.

“Hitting’s contagious and when you’ve got the momentum going like that and everyone's rolling, it’s a lot of fun,” he said.

The Phillies will try to lock down a series win Saturday night. Mick Abel (2-0, 2.21 ERA) is set to face the Mets’ Griffin Canning (6-3, 3.80 ERA).

Harper swinging again 

Bryce Harper took a step forward Friday in his rehab from the right wrist injury that’s kept him out since June 5. 

“I felt good today,” Harper told reporters pregame. “I threw and that felt good, and then I took 20 dry swings and 20 off the tee. Felt better than I thought it was, so I’m happy about that.”

Harper is unsure why his wrist pain returned, though he noted “there’s no structural issues” and he “won’t need surgery or anything like that.”

“We haven’t really gotten too many answers about it,” Harper said. “It’s been pretty sporadic I guess, trying to get some answers on stuff. Obviously, there’s a lot of inflammation in there. Just try to calm that down as best we can and do the best we can with that.”

He’s hopeful that the rest and rehab enables him to come back without pain. 

As for a return timeline, Harper doesn’t have anything firm yet. 

“I don’t know,” he said. “It’s the first day swinging a bat, so I’ve just got to see how it feels tomorrow, see if we can progress. Once we do, then I’ll ramp up and see where I am.”