GDT 8/10/25 Philadelphia Phillies (Wheeler) @ Texas Rangers (Corbin)

[zambonir]

5 1/2 up just like that. We still got six against the Mets though, and a tough race with the Dodgers for the 2nd seed.

[donaldorc]

SWEEP! Great game!

[EDmuch]

That trade may make DD Executive of the Year!

[LoneStarPhan]

Another solid win. Wheeler did not seem dominate, but added four scoreless innings after the first, where he gave up the two-run home run. He kept them in it and the offense found a way to get enough runs. Fielding was pretty good again. Bader did catch that one that was clearly clearing the fence, saving a home run.

Another fine save for Duran. The hit was off the handle, blooped to the opposite field. Clearly, he does not let that bother him.

Finally, a sweep. A good start to the 3-city road trip. On to Cincinnati.

[Patchmk88]

Love the sweep!

[EDmuch]

Starting to look like a juggernaut with Duron sitting there waiting for the 9th.

[phillychuck]

He’s been lights out, and today it wasn’t the fastball or the splinker. The sweeper and the knuckle curve did most of the damage.

He’s got 4 pitches, make him a starter.

[VoteForKalas]

Bottom of the order does the job again.

Worried about Wheeler, they and he better figure out what is going on and get him ready for the playoffs. We'll need max Wheeler to achieve our goal.

Great job by the pen - seems to be Banks, Strahm, Duran is a formula Topper is testing out this series.

[EastFallowfield]

“I’m not concerned,” Wheeler said. “I’ve pitched at that velo before. It will come back.”

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6545729/2025/08/10/phillies-zack-wheeler-harrison-bader-injury-updates/

[Austinfan]

Wheeler was definitely working his secondary pitches, which suggests he's been preparing for the day his velocity would fall off and his 4 seamer would go from an out pitch to a "show me" pitch to set up his off speed stuff. Hopefully, that day won't come for a couple more seasons.

How does anyone hit Duran? He must not have much deception b/c hitters actually put the ball on his 102 mile FB, not good contact, but more consistently than I'd expect. That "splitter" to me looks more like a cutter, doesn't have the explosive drop of a good splitter, maybe he need to develop a slower version that dives? But the knuckle curve seems to serve that role.

[zambonir]

The nice thing is Wheeler only looks bad by Wheeler standards. And if he does need a break or even a short stint on the IL, we've got Nola. He might end being the ultimate x factor in October, if the performance is there. A rested proven starting pitcher, as good as an addition as the bullpen guys. If all goes well.

[phillychuck]

Here is a comparison of the fastball and splitter from the same launch trajectory. Oh my...

https://x.com/PitchingNinja/status/1938055366467625196

[owaistabish]

Another fine save for Duran. The hit was off the handle, blooped to the opposite field. Clearly, he does not let that bother him.

On to Cincinnati after 7 interleague series in a row....weird scheduling.

[Austinfan]

Most of his splitters weren't dropping like that, a bunch ended up belt high.
If he can consistently get that type of drop, lights out.
A sweeper with large horizontal movement as his fourth pitch? Aren't there laws against that?

[andyb]

He does not really need that type of drop on every splitter though. Just needs to show up in a different location as the fastball. What makes all this really effective is the spin on each pitch is in the same direction so it is hard for the batter to tell which pitch is coming from the spin and delivery..

Same with Sanchez and his changeup. If the spin and arm slot are similar the batter really has to guess which gives the pitcher a huge advantage.

[Philsmania]

Another fine save for Duran. The hit was off the handle, blooped to the opposite field. Clearly, he does not let that bother him.

On to Cincinnati after 7 interleague series in a row....weird scheduling.

Yes, our first game against an NL opponent after exactly four weeks of either the ASB or 21 straight games against AL opponents. Roughly 45% of our entire interleague slate took place over the past 24 days. Interesting, indeed.

[andyb]

Guessing the league really wanted to get the excess interleague schedule for everyone done before Labor Day. They need to have one interleague series at all times, but guessing it is only one in September because they loaded up in July and August on everyone else.

The Phillies' schedule was probably an extreme quirk but nothing more.

[EastFallowfield]

It was the longest streak of interleague games for any MLB team ever, it was said a few times while it was happening.

[Philsmania]

It was the longest streak of interleague games for any MLB team ever, it was said a few times while it was happening.

Good to know the 2025 Phillies made history for something.

[EastFallowfield]

Does anyone know how well Duran has done on back to back days over his career? (Not to mention he was warming up for the Friday game until all the insurance runs started happening).