Rhys Hoskins, Zack Wheeler lift Phillies over Cardinals

It is usually difficult to pinpoint one or two players that solely contribute to a Philadelphia Phillies victory. However, in Monday’s 2-1 road series opener victory against the St. Louis Cardinals, that was exactly the case.

The Phillies edge the Cardinals thanks to Rhys Hoskins and Zack Wheeler.

The Phillies had just six hits on offense — one-third of which came off the bat of Rhys Hoskins for solo home runs in the seventh and ninth innings. On the mound, right-hander Zack Wheeler put together perhaps his best start in a Phillies uniform — allowing only one hit, one run, and three walks, while striking out nine batters, spanning eight-plus innings.

Wheeler even carried a perfect game into the fifth with two outs, before allowing a single to Paul DeJong. Thanks to closer Hector Neris logging the final three outs in the ninth, albeit allowing an inherited runner to score, Wheeler earned the 50th win of his seven-year career — including his sixth win as a Phillie through 16 starts.

Hoskins, meanwhile, moved into the Major League Baseball lead for home runs with (8), passing the following nine players who have seven home runs each: Ronald Acuna Jr., Nick Castellanos, Willson Contreras, Nelson Cruz, Eduardo Escobar, J.D. Martinez, Ryan McMahon, Shohei Ohtani, and Fernando Tatis Jr.

Hoskins now has six home runs over his last six games, after slugging only a pair of home runs across his first 16 games in the 2021 season. Across his recent hot stretch, Hoskins has also produced nine RBI spanning his last 26 plate appearances, while also striking out 10 times and walking just once.

The five-year veteran surely looks like a different player this year, as far as plate approach goes. For the Phillies’ sake, perhaps him aiming for more extra-base hits rather than walks will only do the team good as it looks to qualify for the postseason for the first time in a decade.