Phillies’ Zack Wheeler battles heat — and Don Mattingly
Pitcher angry he was pulled; offense delivers
Delaware County Daily Times: https://tinyurl.com/285wtxd9
Originally published July 1, 2026
PHILADELPHIA — In sweltering heat that took your breath away, Phillies right-handed ace Zack Wheeler labored through 4⅔ innings. The expected pitchers’ duel between him and Pirates righty Paul Skenes, the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner, never materialized Wednesday.
Phillies manager Don Mattingly, with a three-run lead, pulled Wheeler after 104 pitches with two men on in the fifth. Reliever Kyle Backhus promptly plunked the next two batters and Wheeler ended up charged with four runs on the night.
“I was upset at getting taken out of the game,” Wheeler said brusquely, adding that he should have been given a chance to finish the fifth. “I feel like I’ve earned that.”
Despite his troubles and some shaky Phillies defense, Wheeler struck out 10 while walking just one, though he allowed nine hits. Orion Kerkering (6-0, 2.62 ERA) picked up the win with 1⅔ flawless frames of relief — quelling a Pittsburgh rally in the seventh before Jhoan Duran took over in the ninth — as the Phillies downed the Pirates 10-6.
“I thought Wheels hung in there,” Mattingly said. “Obviously, it was one of those nights that the pitch count got extended early in the game. He didn’t get ahead in the count I’m sure as much as he would like. Gave up some soft contact for hits that just kind of extended innings, extended his pitch count.
“So it was just one of those nights. I don’t know if the heat’s got something to do with this game at all, but obviously it’s a situation where you’re not dealing with perfect weather out there.”
Wheeler (8-1, 2.36) beat Skenes in Pittsburgh on May 17 (6-0) with seven shutout innings.
Regarding Wednesday’s matchup: “I think it was a grind for both of us,” Wheeler said. “Just happy to get that done. It was the first really hot game of the year, so it takes a little getting used to. But once you get that one out of the way, it makes it a little easier for the rest of them.”
Skenes (6-8, 3.62 ERA) hasn’t won since May 12 against the Rockies. The Phillies roughed him up for seven earned runs over four frames Wednesday. They scored in four different innings, including multiple runs in the second, fourth and eighth.
What Wheeler, Backhus and righty Seth Johnson couldn’t get done in the early and middle innings, the Phillies’ bats made up for. In two games against Skenes this year, they’ve now tagged him for 12 earned runs.
“(Skenes’) stuff is good,” Mattingly said. “Pretty much every time out, he’s gonna have good stuff. But we just kind of kept going. Our club’s not really afraid of anybody. It doesn’t matter who the guy is. We’ve got guys who have had success in their careers.”
Trea Turner stayed hot at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs. Brandon Marsh went 2-for-4 with a homer, walk and two runs. Gabriel Rincones Jr. was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs. Alec Bohm homered and scored twice, and Bryce Harper added a two-run double.
“This kind of game tonight, you never really felt like you had enough (runs),” Mattingly said. “So to continue to score was huge. … A lot of good things — obviously Trea continues to roll, Harp big hit, Rincones was on all night, Bohm, Marsh. … We just kept scoring.”
After a terrible start this season, Turner’s bat has finally come to life over the past two weeks. In his last 14 games, he’s slashing .350/.381/.948 with 10 RBIs and 18 runs scored. He’s helping provide the right-handed punch they’ve needed.
“I’m not missing mistakes,” Turner said. “I feel like I’m getting in some better counts. I feel like I’m driving off-speed pitches a little bit better and then just kind of using the whole field, really. I feel good again.
“I felt like the two-strike swing came around in Washington, and then I felt like I could mess around and make some adjustments and fall back on that and rely on that. I’ve gotten a lot of two-strike hits in the last couple weeks. That was a big thing for me, so now I can kind of get in (deeper) counts and do some different things. Today I abandoned the leg kick after the first at-bat — felt like I was flying open a little bit — and made a good adjustment.”
Turner said a key to the Phillies’ success is the entire lineup getting involved and picking up the pitching staff.
“I feel like recently, we kind of keep adding (runs),” Turner said. “That’s the difference in the games. You don’t know what’s going to happen. You gotta keep adding on when you can. … “Maybe a few weeks ago, we wouldn’t do that. I felt like everybody did their job today.
“It’s been an extended period of time now where we’ve been putting up a lot more runs, been a lot more dangerous. It’s more than just Kyle (Schwarber), Bryce and Marsh kind of doing everything. It’s nice to have the other six guys contributing in the lineup. Just keep rolling, keep doing what we’re doing and keep stacking up wins.”
The Phillies (49-38) remained 2½ games behind the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves (50-34) who beat St. Louis 5-1 on Wednesday.
Follow Christiaan DeFranco on X and Threads at @the_defranc.