Aces Zack Wheeler, Sandy Alcantara open Phils-Marlins set

While aces Zack Wheeler and Sandy Alcantara have enjoyed plenty of success in their careers, both are looking to find a consistent rhythm this season.

Wheeler takes the ball Friday, when the Philadelphia Phillies welcome Alcantara and the Miami Marlins to town for the opener of a three-game series.

Wheeler (1-1, 4.07 ERA) finished second in National League Cy Young Award voting last season and logged two stellar outings to begin this season. However, his last two starts have seen the veteran right-hander allow nine runs, 15 hits and four walks over 11 1/3 innings.

He struck out just three in six innings in a 7-0 road loss against the St. Louis Cardinals last Sunday.

"Command wasn't really there today and hasn't been for a couple of starts now, so just got to dig into that a little bit and just figure out what's going on," Wheeler said after the start. "I don't think it's anything crazy. But (speed is) down a little bit and command's off, so just going to fix that."

Wheeler is 11-4 with a 2.73 ERA in 25 starts against the Marlins. The only current Miami player with double-digit plate appearances against Wheeler is Jesus Sanchez (6-for-17, .353).

Meanwhile, Alcantara (2-0, 4.70) has yet to complete six innings in any of his three starts. He gave up four runs, five hits and four walks in 5 2/3 innings in a 7-6 home win against the Washington Nationals on Saturday, striking out just one of the 25 hitters he faced.

"I'm the guy who likes to compete, who doesn't like to walk anyone, but today, I walked four people, so I've just got to focus on my next bullpen and try to get more ahead in the count," said Alcantara, had not pitched in more than a week after leaving the team for the birth of his daughter.

Alcantara has made 19 career starts against the Phillies - his most against any opponent. He is 6-8 with a 3.40 ERA against them.

Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber, Alec Bohm and Trea Turner all have lifetime batting averages of at least .300 against the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner.

Philadelphia is coming off a four-game series split with the San Francisco Giants. The Phillies captured the series finale 6-4 on Thursday behind Cristopher Sanchez, who struck out a career-high 12 over seven innings.

The Phillies did lose Nick Castellanos to a hip flexor, but manager Rob Thomson said after the game that Castellanos "should be good to go" on Friday.

Miami was swept at home by the Arizona Diamondbacks, capped by a 6-4 defeat on Thursday. Rob Brantly singled three times for the Marlins, while Javier Sanoja and Xavier Edwards each collected two hits and scored a run.

Marlins third baseman Connor Norby (oblique) made his season debut and went 1-for-5.

"I think (Norby's) first at-bat was a little antsy," Miami manager Clayton McCullough said. "I think he was really aggressive, and to be expected. For him, this is kind of like Opening Day this season. The last couple of at-bats, he started to settle, to slow things down a little bit, let the action come to him, which I think that's just very normal for anyone that missed the start and now is just getting back into it."