Phillies Take Three of Four
Max Meyer Throws a One-Hitter, Schwarber Strikes Out Nine Times, and the Phillies Still Take Three of Four.
Zack Wheeler returns from shoulder surgery and outduels Eury Pérez in Game 1. Meyer combines for a one-hitter in Game 2. Paddack gets tagged for six runs before recording a single out in Game 3. Aaron Nola and Bryce Harper’s solo home run shut the Marlins out 1-0 in the finale. The Phillies win the series 3-1 and Miami’s worst homestand of the season continues.
May 4, 2026 · By Wilson Alvarez · Series Recap · Business of Baseball · MiamiBusiness.com
TL;DR · 30-SECOND SUMMARY
The Philadelphia Phillies took three of four games from the Miami Marlins in a divisional home series at loanDepot park, May 1-4. Game 1 was a 6-5 loss where Zack Wheeler returned from blood clot shoulder surgery and struck out eight. Game 2 was the bright spot: Max Meyer combined with Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi on a one-hitter, striking out seven across seven innings in a 4-0 win. Game 3 was a disaster for Chris Paddack, who gave up six runs before recording a single out as the Phillies scored seven in the first inning. Game 4 was a 1-0 heartbreaker where Aaron Nola delivered six shutout innings and Bryce Harper’s solo home run in the third was the only run of the game. Kyle Schwarber struck out nine times in his first nine plate appearances of the series. The Phillies are now 298-247 all time against Miami. The fifth starter question has no good answer.
THE STATEMENT
The Philadelphia Phillies walked into loanDepot park having just fired their manager, having just installed Don Mattingly as interim, and carrying a 6-0 record under that new leadership. They left Miami 3-1 on the series and 9-1 under Mattingly. The Marlins pitched a one-hitter in Game 2. They also allowed six runs before recording a single out in Game 3. Those two facts live in the same four-game stretch, and together they tell you exactly where this team is in early May: capable of brilliance and susceptible to collapse, sometimes in consecutive games.
Wilson Alvarez · MiamiBusiness.com · loanDepot park · Phillies Series, May 1-4, 2026
| Team | W | L | Division | Context |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Marlins | 15 | 17 | NL East · 3rd | First home divisional series of 2026 |
| Philadelphia Phillies | 13 | 19 | NL East · 4th | 6-0 under new interim manager Don Mattingly · Zack Wheeler returning |
Historical H2H: Phillies lead all time 298-247 (54.7%) across 545 regular season games. Philadelphia also beat Miami 2-0 in the 2023 NL Wild Card Series. The Phillies’ longest winning streak over Miami is 7 games and has happened three separate times. This is a divisional rival that has historically owned this matchup. The Marlins entered this series 0-7 against a divisional opponent that had just changed managers mid-season. That is not a good recipe for a series win.
| GAME | DATE | SCORE | W / L / SV | KEY STORY |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | Fri May 1 | PHI 6-5 | W: Wheeler · L: Pérez · SV: Keller | Wheeler 6 IP 8 K returns from surgery · Stott 3-run HR Gm 7 · Lopez 🏅 2-for-2 |
| Game 2 | Sat May 2 | MIA 4-0 | W: Meyer · L: Painter · No Save | Meyer 7 IP 1 H 7 K · combined one-hitter · Edwards HR · Schwarber 0-for-4 (9 K in series) |
| Game 3 | Sun May 3 | PHI 7-2 | W: Luzardo · L: Paddack · No Save | Paddack 0 outs · 6-run 1st inning · Stott 3-run HR (2nd of series) · Attendance: 21,662 |
| Game 4 | Mon May 4 | PHI 1-0 | W: Nola · L: Junk · SV: Keller | Nola 6 IP 5 H 5 K 0 BB · Harper solo HR only run · Junk 5.1 IP 6 K valiant effort |
🏅 TRES “0” FIVE HITS HONOR · PHILLIES SERIES
Game 1: Otto Lopez · 2-for-2 with a ground-rule double and a run scored before exiting. No Marlin reached 3 hits. Lopez’s two-hit night in a loss — with a doubled overturned from a home run on an outfield deflection — earns the closest recognition in a game where the Marlins could not buy a timely hit. Honor withheld by hit count (did not reach 3), but Lopez’s quality at-bats are noted.
Game 2: No single batter reached 3 hits. The story was not the hitting — it was the pitching. Max Meyer held Philadelphia to 1 hit. Honor withheld. The game belongs to the arm.
Game 3: Edmundo Sosa · Philadelphia Phillies · 2-for-4 · 1 RBI. No individual Marlin or Phillie reached 3 hits. Stott had 2 hits and 4 RBI. Honor withheld across both teams. The 7-run first inning was the story, not any single hitter’s line.
Game 4: No batter on either team reached 3 hits. Bryce Harper’s 1-for-4 with a home run tells the story in one line. Honor not earned. The series produced zero Tres “0” Five winners across four games — a reflection of a series won on pitching and lost on pitching.
| Player | G | AB | H | AVG | HR | RBI | R | KEY MOMENT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Xavier Edwards 2B | 4 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 1 | 2 | 2 | HR Gm 2 · double Gm 1 · consistent series presence |
| Connor Norby 1B | 4 | 14 | 3 | .214 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 2 hits and RBI Gm 2 · walk-off RBI in 8th Gm 1 (Hicks sac fly) |
| Otto Lopez SS | 4 | 12 | 3 | .250 | 0 | 2 | 1 | Ground-rule double Gm 1 (HR overturned) · RBI Gm 1 · RBI Gm 2 |
| Esteury Ruiz CF | 2 | 5 | 2 | .400 | 1 | 2 | 1 | HR Gm 3 · 2 RBI · only bright spot in Game 3 |
| Agustín Ramírez C | 4 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Walk-scored Gm 2 · late RBI Gm 1 |
| Kyle Stowers LF | 3 | 11 | 2 | .182 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 runs scored across series · Gm 1 doubles |
| Jakob Marsee CF | 4 | 14 | 1 | .071 | 0 | 1 | 1 | Quiet series · caught stealing twice (Stubbs) |
| Pitcher | Gm | IP | H | ER | K | BB | RESULT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eury Pérez SP | 1 | 5.0 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 2 | LOSS (2-3) · 5 IP solid but outdueled by Wheeler |
| Carlos Gibson RP | 1 | 1.2 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | Stott 3-run HR in 7th · Sosa RBI · blew the game open |
| Lake Bachar RP | 1 | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Brief appearance |
| Max Meyer SP | 2 | 7.0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | WIN (2-0) · 83 pitches · career-high 7 IP · Marlins’ first one-hitter since 2019 |
| Anthony Bender RP | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Perfect inning |
| Andrew Nardi RP | 2 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Perfect 9th · completed one-hitter |
| Chris Paddack SP | 3 | 0.0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 3 | LOSS (0-5) · 0.0 IP · 0 outs recorded · 27 pitches · 6-run 1st inning |
| John King RP | 3 | 0.2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | Damage control |
| Tyler Phillips RP | 3 | 4.1 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4.1 innings keeping it manageable |
| Janson Junk SP | 4 | 5.1 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 0 | LOSS (2-3) · 1 run (Harper HR) · outstanding effort in a loss |
| SERIES TOTALS | 36.0 | 22 | 14 | 24 | 7 | Series lost 1-3 · Paddack crisis continues |
GAME 1 · FRIDAY MAY 1 · PHI 6-5 · LOSS · ATTENDANCE: 15,713
Zack Wheeler Returns From Shoulder Surgery and Outduels the Marlins in Front of 15,713
Zack Wheeler had a blood clot removed from his right shoulder in September. He missed the start of the 2026 season. On May 1 at loanDepot park, in his second appearance since returning, he went six innings, struck out eight, scattered three hits, and walked two. The Phillies are now 4-0 under Don Mattingly, who replaced Rob Thomson as interim manager. The Phillies are playing like a team with something to prove, and Wheeler’s return gave their rotation exactly the lift it needed for this trip to Miami.
Eury Pérez matched Wheeler across five innings, giving up only 2 earned runs on 4 hits with 6 strikeouts. The score was 2-1 entering the seventh. Then Edmundo Sosa singled off Carlos Gibson to make it 3-1, and Bryson Stott hit his first home run of the series — a three-run shot — to make it 6-1 before the Marlins could respond. The Marlins scored four in the eighth, including Otto Lopez’s RBI single and a Liam Hicks sacrifice fly, to make it 6-5, but Brad Keller closed the ninth and the Phillies took Game 1. Final: Philadelphia 6, Miami 5. There was also a notable play in the first inning when Lopez’s drive deflected off Crawford’s glove and the wall — initially signaled a home run, overturned to a ground-rule double on review. The Marlins did not let it rattle them. They did not win either.
GAME 2 · SATURDAY MAY 2 · MIA 4-0 · WIN · ATTENDANCE: 15,126
Max Meyer Throws Seven Innings, Gives Up One Hit, and the Marlins Pitch Their First One-Hitter Since 2019
GAME 2 STAR · MAX MEYER
7.0 IP · 1 H · 0 ER · 7 K · 1 BB · 83 pitches. The only hit was a single by Garrett Stubbs in the third inning. Kyle Schwarber, the NL’s leading home run hitter, struck out four more times, extending his loanDepot park strikeout streak to eleven consecutive games — a run dating back to his last two at-bats in the 2026 World Baseball Classic final held in this building in March. Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi each threw a perfect inning to complete the Marlins’ first one-hitter since 2019.
The business story from Saturday: 15,126 fans watched the best pitching performance of the Marlins’ 2026 season so far, and most of them went home knowing they had seen something worth remembering. Max Meyer in a career-high seven innings with one hit is the kind of afternoon at the ballpark that builds a fanbase one satisfied customer at a time. The Phillies were helpless against him. Andrew Painter, the opposing starter, could not find the strike zone with the bases loaded in the third and walked in two runs. Xavier Edwards hit a solo home run in the fifth. Otto Lopez and Connor Norby each had two hits and an RBI. It was a complete performance. Series tied 1-1 heading into Sunday.
GAME 3 · SUNDAY MAY 3 · PHI 7-2 · LOSS · ATTENDANCE: 21,662
Chris Paddack Records Zero Outs and the Phillies Score Six Before Most Fans Have Sat Down
The largest crowd of the series, 21,662 fans, came to loanDepot park on Sunday and watched Chris Paddack give up six runs before recording a single out. Trea Turner led off with a ground-rule double. Paddack then walked Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper to load the bases. Alec Bohm reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring one. Brandon Marsh walked in a second run. J.T. Realmuto hit a sacrifice fly for the first out of the inning — on pitch number 27. Bryson Stott then hit his second three-run home run of the series to make it 6-0. The entire sequence happened in under seven minutes of game time. 21,662 people watched it happen. That is not a pitching performance. That is a business catastrophe for a franchise trying to convince a market to pay attention.
Paddack is now 0-5 on the season. He has given up 5 or more runs in four of those five starts. Jesús Luzardo pitched into the seventh for Philadelphia and was excellent. Esteury Ruiz homered in the seventh for two Miami runs but the game was never in doubt. Tyler Phillips deserved better than 4.1 innings of cleanup work following a starter who recorded zero outs. The series went 1-2 in favor of Philadelphia heading into Monday.
GAME 4 · MONDAY MAY 4 · PHI 1-0 · LOSS · ATTENDANCE: 7,626
Aaron Nola Throws Six Innings Like Greg Maddux. Bryce Harper Hits One Home Run. That Is All Philadelphia Needs.
Don Mattingly compared Aaron Nola to Greg Maddux after the game. That is a high comparison for a pitcher who came in 2-3 on the season with a 6.03 ERA in his last two outings. But on Monday night at loanDepot park, Nola was precisely that: six innings, five hits, five strikeouts, zero walks, and the kind of efficiency that makes a manager look prescient and a lineup look helpless. The Marlins went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. They could not score a run off a pitcher who could not find himself just days earlier.
Janson Junk was outstanding in a losing effort — 5.1 innings, 5 hits, 1 earned run, 6 strikeouts, 0 walks. He was beaten by one swing: Bryce Harper’s solo home run in the third inning, a sweeper he connected on and sent 393 feet over the right-center wall. That was the only run of the game. Brad Keller pitched the ninth around two singles and earned his second save. Garrett Stubbs threw out both Jakob Marsee and Otto Lopez on stolen base attempts — the first time Stubbs had done that in his career. 7,626 people attended the Monday night conclusion of a four-game series that started with 15,713 on Friday. The stadium emptied as fast as the fan momentum did after Sunday’s disaster. Final: Philadelphia 1, Miami 0. Series to the Phillies 3-1.
Max Meyer · Starting Pitcher
GAME 2 LINE: 7.0 IP · 1 H · 0 ER · 7 K · 1 BB · 83 PITCHES · MARLINS’ FIRST ONE-HITTER SINCE 2019
In a series the Marlins lost 1-3, the one game they won was a masterpiece. Max Meyer held the Phillies to one hit across seven innings, and Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi combined for two perfect innings to complete a one-hitter. The game also featured Kyle Schwarber striking out four more times, running his loanDepot park consecutive plate appearance strikeout streak to nine. When the park was used for the WBC this spring, Schwarber’s struggles in this building started on that stage. They have not stopped since.
Dwight Gooden · New York Mets · 1984 to 1994 · 3× All-Star · NL Cy Young 1985 · World Series Champion 1986
In 1984, Dwight Gooden came to the mound at 19 years old and threw a one-hitter in only his second career start, striking out 11 and announcing to the National League that something uncommon had arrived. The principle of a young pitcher carrying a team in a single dominant performance — holding a powerful lineup to one hit across seven innings while his offense did just enough — is what Gooden embodied in his first great years. Max Meyer is older than Gooden was in 1984, but the performance on Saturday at loanDepot park belongs in the same sentence as Gooden’s early excellence: a pitcher who was better than the lineup he faced, in a series that his team needed him to be exactly that. The Marlins lost the series. They did not lose Game 2. That distinction matters.
THE BIG PICTURE
What Losing 3-1 to the Phillies Really Means — and What the Fifth Starter Problem Costs This Team
“You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”
Joe DiMaggio · New York Yankees · 1936 to 1951 · 13× All-Star · 9× World Series Champion · Hall of Fame 1955
Chris Paddack recorded zero outs on Sunday. That is not a starting pitcher. That is a liability in a rotation spot that costs the team the game before the lineup can respond. Paddack is 0-5 on the season and has a fifth-starter ERA that has caused more damage than any single hitter’s slump. The Phillies are 298-247 all time against Miami. They walked into this series under a new manager, carrying a hot streak, and they left 3-1 despite being held to one hit in Game 2. The difference between winning and losing this series was the fifth starter. It was that simple and that costly.
The good news is that this series also showed you what Max Meyer looks like when he is right. Seven innings, one hit, zero runs, against a Phillies lineup that came in hitting above .250 as a team. If the Marlins can find a fifth starter who gives them a chance to compete, this rotation from spots one through four is genuinely capable. Sandy Alcántara when healthy, Eury Pérez when his command is right, Max Meyer on his best day, and Janson Junk who took a 1-0 loss on Monday while pitching six strikeout innings. Those four can compete. The fifth spot is where series like this one get decided. Follow the full season at MiamiBusiness.com. Reach Wilson Alvarez at 305-386-6165 or info@miamibusiness.com. The game is always bigger than the score. In Miami, the story is always worth telling.
FROM THE PRESS BOX · WILSON ALVAREZ · MiamiBusiness.com
“Max Meyer held the Phillies to one hit on Saturday and the Marlins still lost the series 3-1. Kyle Schwarber struck out nine times in his first nine plate appearances and the Phillies still won three games. That is what a fifth starter who records zero outs does to a series — it makes everything else irrelevant. The good news is that the Marlins know who their top four are. The bad news is that Game 3 told you exactly what the fifth spot costs when it does not hold. The Phillies have owned this matchup for three decades. Right now, they own the fifth starter too.”
Wilson Alvarez · MiamiBusiness.com · loanDepot park · Phillies Series, May 1-4, 2026
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