'Classic Wheeler': Righty K's 11 in Phillies' win over Bucs

PITTSBURGH -- Zack Wheeler expressed his disappointment a couple weeks ago when the first half of his season ended in Miami.

He had a 4.05 ERA at the break, although anybody who had watched him pitch knew he had pitched better than that. Still, Wheeler is an old-school pitcher with high expectations. So, while there might be truth in the modern metrics that indicate he pitched pretty well in the first half, he could not help but look at his ERA and cringe a bit.

But Wheeler is seeing better results since the break. He dominated the Pirates in Friday night’s 2-1 victory at PNC Park. He allowed three hits, one run, one walk and struck out 11 in 6 2/3 innings.

“Classic Wheeler,” Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber said. “He’s attacking the zone, he’s getting outs on the ground, he’s getting strikeouts and swings and misses. I can’t say enough about what he’s doing out there. When you get any outing like that from a guy, you know you’ve got a pretty good chance to win a baseball game.”

Wheeler is 1-1 with a 2.18 ERA in three starts since the All-Star break. He has struck out 26 and walked two in 20 2/3 innings. The only thing that stopped him Friday was a sudden downpour in the bottom of the seventh inning. Wheeler got to a 1-2 count to Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez when he simply could not throw another pitch.

“J.T. [Realmuto] threw two balls out to me and I already saw the shine on them when they were coming to me,” Wheeler said. “There wasn’t much I could do to hide it to keep it dry.”

The Pirates’ grounds crew tried to pull the tarp on the field, but the tarp literally got stuck. It left home plate and the entire first-base line completely exposed to rain. Wheeler threw a bit indoors, hoping to perhaps finish the seventh inning, despite having already thrown 90 pitches. Phillies manager Rob Thomson ended the possibility when it became clear the grounds crew would need extra time to fix the field.

Jeff Hoffman, Gregory Soto and Craig Kimbrel pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in relief, and every pitch counted because the Phillies seem to play nothing but close games these days.

“Another laugher,” Thomson deadpanned.

But another win. The Phillies are 22-12 (.647) in one-run games.

“As long as we’re winning games, it doesn’t matter,” Wheeler said. “It’s cool with us. Win series, win games, it doesn’t matter how it is. You’ve got to win close games throughout the season to be good. I think we’ve been doing that well.”

“Good teams got to win those games, right?” Schwarber said.

Schwarber went 2-for-2 with a double in the first, a two-run home run in the third and three walks. It was a good night for him. It was a good night for Wheeler.

But perfect? No, not perfect.

“To start the game with a guy in scoring position and then he tries to put a cape on and tries to steal third base, like an idiot,” Schwarber said, referring to his stolen base attempt of third in the first inning. “Dummy. Just go ahead and steal third base with Bryce Harper hitting. That makes sense.”

Schwarber shook his head in disbelief. He could relive the moment because the Phillies won.

“When you win close games, I think it’s good because it builds character and it shows a little bit of toughness of what you’re all about,” Thomson said. “It shows how these guys grind and how resilient they are. The more playoff-like games you play, I think you learn from them.”