Wheeler turns page quickly after blip vs. Jays

TORONTO -- Zack Wheeler doesn’t struggle very often, but he’s been around long enough not to let bad starts consume him.

Wheeler allowed six earned runs over 4 2/3 innings as the Phillies fell to the Blue Jays, 8-2, on Wednesday at Rogers Centre. It was a rare blemish in what is shaping up as another dominant season for the 32-year-old right-hander. It also sent the Phillies (46-43) to their fourth consecutive loss.

But Wheeler knows there’s little to gain in dwelling on his struggles.

“As soon as I walked off the mound tonight I was like, ‘Alright, that’s done and over with. Hopefully, we can come back and win this game,’” he said. “Obviously, we didn’t, but for me, personally, it’s just flipping that page. It is what it is. I stunk tonight and put our team down pretty big.”

There haven’t been many nights like this. Wheeler hadn’t allowed a run through his first two starts in July, and he’s posted 11 quality starts in 17 appearances so far this season. Despite being snubbed from the National League’s All-Star roster, the righty has ranked at the top of pretty much every metric among starters this year.

But a Blue Jays lineup looking to prove itself amid a rough stretch and a managerial change seemed to have the book on Wheeler.

“I just wasn’t as crisp as I needed to be,” he said. “I felt kind of predictable today, but it happens sometimes. There are these games throughout the year.”

Wednesday marked just the second time this year that a team has managed two home runs off Wheeler.

The first came from Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who hit an impossible one-handed golfed ball on a pitch down and in that narrowly cleared the yard. The second one was one of many first-pitch fastballs that Wheeler couldn’t locate well enough, and Teoscar Hernández squared it just well enough to clear the wall.

All said, the Phillies’ reliable starter allowed seven hits, six runs, two homers and a walk, striking out four in a 91-pitch effort.

“Maybe it’s just being around a little while and having those kind of starts in the past, you just learn to move on pretty quick from those,” Wheeler said.

It was Wheeler’s worst start since April 17 against the Marlins, when he went just three innings and allowed seven earned runs.

“They worked him pretty hard,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “ … He started out really good, he was throwing the ball well, just started missing locations.”

Wheeler wasn’t aided in the slightest by his offense. The Phillies managed just two hits while striking out nine times on Wednesday, as the lineup continues to navigate a cold stretch during this road trip. Philadelphia sits one game outside of an NL Wild Card spot.

A bright ray of light streaming through the left-on-base holes has been Bryson Stott, who hit his second home run in as many nights on Wednesday to give the Phillies their only two runs of the game.

“He’s barreling up the ball with not much to show for it, but he’s had good at-bats,” Thomson said of Stott. “And when he’s taking pitches, seeing pitches and not chasing, that’s his game and that’s how we know he’s the guy.”

Still, two hits is simply not enough, especially against a high-powered offense such as Toronto. How, then, can the Phillies draw some inspiration from Wheeler and “turn the page” on these past four games?

“Off-days, a lot of times, come at the right time,” Thomson said.

Philadelphia will get a chance to regroup on Thursday, when the team has an off-day before heading for Miami for an important three-game division series against the Marlins ahead of the All-Star break.

As for Wheeler, if his track record is any indication, don’t expect starts like Wednesday’s to become any more frequent.

“He’s a competitor,” Thomson said. “He wants to win, and he expects to go deep into games every time out, so he’s probably a little disappointed. But I’m sure in his next start he’ll be right back at it.

“He’ll be ready to go.”