Philly Leader

PHOENIX -- Zack Wheeler described his start on Friday night as, in his words, “Not my best.” Despite this self-assessment, Wheeler delivered a strong performance.

Wheeler pitched seven solid innings while Johan Rojas hit a game-tying double in the top of the eighth. However, Philadelphia’s rally fell short in a 3-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Bryce Harper homered during the game, which ended the Phillies’ three-game winning streak.

Wheeler has been consistently effective on the mound, allowing two or fewer earned runs in seven of his past eight starts. The Diamondbacks struck early with two runs on four hits within the first three innings. Wheeler then settled down and scattered three hits over his final four innings. He concluded with eight strikeouts and two walks.

“I just didn’t feel all the way there, but I finally got through it,” Wheeler said. “The first inning killed me a little bit -- some soft hits getting through -- and they put a run on the board.”

Wheeler leads the National League with 17 quality starts, and his ERA (2.78) and WHIP (1.00) rank fifth and eighth in MLB respectively.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson noted that Wheeler remained effective despite lacking control of his splitter, which accounted for nine of his 100 pitches on Friday. Only two of those pitches generated swings, both resulting in fouls.

When functional, the splitter is useful against left-handed hitters; however, Wheeler acknowledged it remains a work in progress.

“I think I threw one not in the dirt tonight,” he said. “It was kind of frustrating, but I also keep in mind that it’s still a new pitch for me and I’m just trying to fix it as I go.”

Even without relying heavily on his splitter, Wheeler utilized other pitches including his four-seam fastball, cutter, sinker, curveball and sweeper.

“It’s just about mixing it up,” Wheeler said. “J.T. [Realmuto] always calls a great game for me. I shook him off one time tonight, and that’s when Joc [Pederson] hit a home run.”

Harper’s home run in the seventh inning cut Philadelphia's deficit before Rojas tied it an inning later. The 23-year-old Rojas is expected to see increased playing time due to Austin Hays being placed on the 10-day injured list; he finished 2-for-3 on Friday night.

Tanner Banks and Matt Strahm handled pitching duties for the seventh and eighth innings respectively before Arizona's Adrian Del Castro drove Jeff Hoffman’s first pitch 416 feet to right field for a walk-off home run.

Despite this loss, Philadelphia has won four out of their last six games. With starting pitchers Taijuan Walker and Ranger Suárez nearing returns from injury lists, Thomson can continue relying on his rotation—especially with Wheeler's contributions.

“When they go out there you’re thinking you’re going to get six or seven innings out of them,” Thomson said. “That’s how effective they’ve been all year—and Wheels has been doing it for years now."

“He’s a heck of a pitcher.”

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