Trea Turner was a triple away from hitting for the cycle, Kyle Schwarber blasted his 33rd home run, and Bryce Harper had three hits as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins 16-2 on Friday night.
Johan Rojas contributed with a career-high three doubles, and Kody Clemens also added three hits for the Phillies, who lead the NL East with an 85-56 record, eight games ahead of second-place Atlanta. The team set season highs for runs and hits, with 22.
Zack Wheeler (14-6) pitched six innings, allowing only one run. He gave up two hits and struck out seven, retiring the first 10 batters before Connor Norby’s single in the fourth.
“These types of games are tough, but you still have to pitch,” Wheeler said. “I’ll take whatever run support I can get.”
For Rojas, it was also his first career game with multiple extra-base hits.
“The most important thing is that we won,” Rojas said through a translator. “The rest will depend on how we compete. We always give our best.”
The Phillies scored seven runs in the first two innings against Marlins emergency starter Austin Kitchen (0-1). Harper, Bryson Stott, and J.T. Realmuto each had RBI singles in a three-run first inning, and Turner hit a two-run homer in a four-run second inning.
“Getting ahead early is always good, but every inning we had guys on base,” Turner said. “Good at-bats by everyone. Even if you can’t control everything, being relentless and competing throughout the game is really good.”
Realmuto had two singles and two RBIs before leaving the game in the fourth with a left knee contusion. He had fouled a pitch off his knee earlier but continued with a single. Garrett Stubbs pinch-hit for Realmuto, who was already planned to start on Saturday.
Otto López hit a run-scoring double in the fourth to put Miami on the board.
