Even a quality start not up to Wheeler's standard

PHOENIX -- Zack Wheeler said his start on Friday night was, in his words, “Not my best.”

It was still plenty good.

Wheeler pitched seven strong innings and Johan Rojas hit a game-tying double in the top of the eighth, but Philadelphia’s rally came up short in a 3-2 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field.

Bryce Harper homered in the loss, which snapped the Phillies’ three-game winning streak.

Wheeler has been masterful on the mound, allowing two or fewer earned runs in seven of his past eight starts.The D-backs struck early, notching two runs on four hits in the game’s first three innings, but Wheeler settled in after that by scattering three hits over his final four innings.

He finished 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 all MLB, respectively

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said the right-hander stayed effective on Friday despite lacking control of his splitter, which accounted for nine of his 100 pitches on Friday. Only two of those pitches generated a swing, and both were fouled off.

When it’s on, the pitch is a useful tool against left-handed hitters, but Wheeler admitted after the game 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 the back of my head that it’s still a new pitch for me and I’m just trying to fix it as I go.”

Even without the splitter, the 34-year-old has plenty of other pitches in his repertoire, 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 the one Joc [Pederson] hit a home run on tonight.”

Harper’s home run in the top of the seventh cut the deficit in half before Rojas tied it an inning later. The 23-year-old Rojas is set to receive a bump in playing time, given the recent move of Austin Hays to the 10-day injured list, and he passed his first test on Friday by finishing 2-for-3 on the night.

Tanner Banks and Matt Strahm worked the seventh and eighth, respectively, before Arizona’s Adrian Del Castro drove Jeff Hoffman’s first pitch a Statcast-projected 416 feet to right field to walk it off for the D-backs.

Even with the loss, the Phillies have won four of their last six games. As starting pitchers Taijuan Walker and Ranger Suárez near a return, Thomson can continue to rely on his rotation.

Especially with Wheeler in the mix.

“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 a few years now.

“He’s a heck of a pitcher.”