PHILADELPHIA -- Zack Wheeler had just issued his third walk of the inning and thrown his 101st pitch of the night.
With the bases loaded and only one out in the sixth inning, interim manager Don Mattingly emerged from the dugout and strolled to the mound. But after a talk with the Phillies’ longtime ace, Mattingly retreated -- and Wheeler stayed atop the mound.
“Do you have one more hitter?” Mattingly asked.
Wheeler told him he had more left in the tank. Mattingly told him he had one more hitter.
After falling behind 2-0 against Mets center fielder A.J. Ewing, Wheeler got him to hit a grounder to the right side. First baseman Bryce Harper corralled it and fired to second for an out, but the return throw to Wheeler covering first was not in time to complete a double play.
“I was a little tired,” Wheeler said after the Phillies’ 6-2 win on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park. “But I wasn't too tired to keep going. I'm gonna be honest -- I was honest with Rob [Thomson], and I'll be honest with him. I felt like I had more in me, so I told him I was good.”
Mattingly again emerged from the dugout at that point, this time to take the ball from Wheeler after 5 2/3 innings. It was the first time Wheeler did not complete six innings since his April 25 season debut, when the Phils eased him back following his thoracic outlet decompression surgery last September.
Reliever Jonathan Bowlan promptly struck out Marcus Semien to strand a pair of runners and preserve a four-run lead.
“I felt like [Wheeler] had gotten to that point,” Mattingly said. “ … And we liked where Bow was at coming in against Semien.”
All told, Wheeler allowed two runs off four hits and three walks -- all of which came in that sixth inning -- while striking out seven. It was only the third time in his seven seasons with the Phillies that Wheeler issued three walks in a single inning, and the first time since April 12, 2023.
“Felt good -- until that last inning, obviously,” Wheeler said. “Three walks there, kind of just fell apart. Just throw it away and move on.”
Still, Wheeler now has a 2.11 ERA through 11 starts -- by far his best ERA through 11 starts in any season of his 12-year career. His previous best through 11 outings was a 2.42 ERA in 2025.
All of that despite the fact that Wheeler still hasn’t regained his pinpoint command yet.
Along with the three late walks, Wheeler pitched himself into a lot of deep counts early in the game. Each of the four hits he allowed came while he was behind in the count, including a pair on 3-2 offerings.
“Zack's always kind of Zack, and you know he's going to keep you in there,” Mattingly said. “He did battle -- seemed like the first couple innings were a little bit long. But as the innings got shorter, it seemed like he got rolling.”
That came on the heels of issuing three walks in two of his previous three starts this month. Overall, though, his walk rate this season is right in line with his career average (6.9%), and only a touch higher than his incredible 2024 season (6.6%) -- the second campaign in which he finished as the NL Cy Young runner-up.
With the Phillies set to once again face the Mets next weekend at Citi Field, Wheeler’s next start will come against this same club.
“I got these guys again the next start,” Wheeler said. “So just start thinking about that.”