PHILADELPHIA -- Phillies ace Zack Wheeler left the mound and the ballpark on Wednesday night plenty steamed.
Interim manager Don Mattingly pulled him from a 10-6 victory over the Pirates at Citizens Bank Park, after he threw 104 pitches in 4 2/3 innings. Wheeler had retired the first two batters he faced in the fifth, then allowed three consecutive singles to cut the Phillies’ lead to five. Two of those hits were clocked at 63.4 mph and 72.6 mph, but Mattingly pulled him for left-hander Kyle Backhus, who hit the first two batters he faced.
The hook left Wheeler one out from his ninth win of the season.
“I was upset,” Wheeler said.
About what?
“Getting taken out of the game,” he said. “I feel like I’ve earned that.”
Wheeler said he had not talked to Mattingly about it. He said he wasn’t sure if he would. Mattingly spoke about Wheeler’s start before the right-hander addressed reporters in the clubhouse. Mattingly was still in a pitching planning meeting in his office as the clubhouse cleared, so he said through a team spokesman that he would address Wheeler’s comments on Thursday.
“I thought Wheels hung in there,” Mattingly said earlier. “Obviously, it was one of those nights that his pitch count got extended early in the game, didn't get ahead in the count as much as I'm sure he would like. Gave up some soft contact for hits that just kind of extended his innings and extended his pitch count.”
Wheeler allowed nine hits, four runs, one walk and struck out 10 batters. It was his shortest start since June 16, 2024, when he pitched 4 1/3 innings in Baltimore.
Wheeler is 8-1 with a 2.36 ERA in 13 starts overall.