Thank God for Phil Gosselin, who, if we go back over the past two weeks or so is now hitting somewhere in the neighborhood of about .947.

As the top of the Phillies’ lineup was turning in an effort that was the baseball equivalent of a six-inning fart noise, Gosselin, who needed his incredible summer surge to even make the Phillies Opening Day roster, took matters into his own hands.

He turned around an Alex Vesia fastball into the left field seats at 101.4 mph for a two-run homer.

It was a monster shot that resurrected a Phillies team that looked poised to limp its way to an 0-2 start. The blast broke a 1-1 tie in the sixth and put Zack Wheeler in line for the win in his Phillies debut.

“It’s been awesome. I was hoping to make the team out of camp, knew it was going to be an uphill battle. I’d really have to play well and force their hand a little bit,” Gosselin said. “I was able to do that. I’m really happy that Joe gave me a start here early on and keep it rolling.”

Gosselin, who reached base in all four of his plate appearances, would later add another homer in his next at-bat in the eighth inning. It was his first-career two homer game.

Phillies radio broadcaster Scott Franzke had a gem of a stat on the radio broadcast, noting that including summer camp at-bats, Gosselin has 12 hits in his last 13 at-bats.

After the game, Joe Girardi, who earned his first win as Phillies manager, joked that Gosselin is “24 for his last 12.”

Talk about a feel-good story. Gosselin has played on 12 different minor league teams (totaling 768 games) and has been back and forth between the big leagues and minors numerous times.

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a job guaranteed in spring training. This is my 11th year,” Gosselin said. “I don’t think one time they’ve ever been like, ‘Hey, you’re on the team.’ So, it’s always come down to the last few days. Just something you learn to live with and just try to play well and make the decision hard on them,” he said.

A study in perseverance. Good shit.

As for Wheeler, you couldn’t ask for much more from him in his debut. He activated his newly-acquired dad strength to induce four double plays and efficiently mow down an overmatched Miami lineup for seven innings.

Wheeler, who told reporters after the game that he saved a game ball for his newborn son, faced the minimum through four frames before briefly running into trouble in the fifth.  After retiring Harold Ramirez on a groundout to start the inning, he walked Brian Anderson and allowed back-to-back singles to Garrett Cooper and Miguel Rojas. Quickly, a game the Phillies were dominating was tied, 1-1.

However, that’s all Miami would get before Wheeler settled down and departed after the seventh.

His final line: 7IP, 5H, 1R, 4K, 2BB, 87 pitches (57 strikes)

Now for some other observations from the Phillies’ first win of the season.

Cream Rises To The Top?

After J.T. Realmuto grounded into a double play to end the fifth inning, the first four hitters of the Phillies’ lineup were a combined 1 for 22 to start the season.

In the seventh, after Andrew McCutchen grounded out, pushing the drought to 1 for 23, Rhys Hoskins worked a walked. Bryce Harper followed by dropping a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a single against Miami reliever Ryne Stanek.

That’s one way to do it. You know, they, whoever “they” are, say that sometimes all it takes is one hit to get things going. Turns out “they” are right.

Here, we learned that a baseball can’t break brick, because if it could, this ball would’ve done it.

In case you were wondering, yes, the fans located beyond the gates of Ashburn Alley immediately began chanting “Sign J.T.!”

And We (Almost) Let ‘Em Off The Hook

Marlins starter Caleb Smith was flat-out brutal on Saturday afternoon. He threw 70 pitches (only 36 for strikes) and lasted just three innings after issuing six walks. Still, the Phillies failed to make Smith pay. Not one of those six walks came around to score.

In fact, the first seven Phillies to walk didn’t cross the plate. It wasn’t until the eighth walk (Scott Kingery) that they finally made it hurt following Realmuto’s blast.

Typically, the baseball gods don’t go for this type of ungratefulness, so the Phillies got a much-needed reprieve today.

Rhys Hoskins Still Fighting It

Rhys Hoskins told reporters earlier this week that he’s moved his setup to a hybrid approach. I gave my take on those changes during the latest episode of Crossed Up: A Phillies Podcast (check it out here), but thesis is this: Rhys Hoskins looks off.

Even with his most recent changes, he’s still heavy off the front foot, he’s still flailing, and he’s still opening up early. It doesn’t look like he trusts his hands right now. I still wonder about the lingering mental effects of a miserable second half of last season in which he hit only .180 and posted a .679 OPS.

I do believe that there’s still a good hitter in there, but it’s evident that Hoskins is uncomfortable at the plate right now. With two on and two out in the second inning, Hoskins swung through a cookie 3-1 93 mph fastball. That’s a pitch that should’ve resulted in major damage. It didn’t, and instead, Hoskins drew a walk on the next pitch.

Which brings us to the Hoskins/two-hole thing.

I don’t think anybody would argue that Rhys Hoskins is ideally suited to hit second, but you see why he’s there right now.

Despite still fighting his swing, Hoskins has reached base five times (four walks) in two games, which, in theory, is what you want from the guys tasked with setting the table.

Sign J…Didi?

Obviously, the Phillies’ top priority should remain finding a way to retain the services of J.T. Realmuto beyond this season, but another pending free agent may be giving the team’s decision-makers something else to think about. Didi Gregorius homered for the second time in as many days, providing his team’s lone run off of a shaky Smith.

He also made this play, saving a run–and his gut–in the process. To fully appreciate the absurdity of it, note that Jesus Aguilar hit this baseball with a 104.9 mph exit velo, per MLB Statcast.