Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler pitches during the third inning Monday night against the Yankees at Citizens Bank Park. It was going to be one of those nights for him. (Chris Szagola – The Associated Press)
PHILADELPHIA — The best thing Zack Wheeler said about his performance Monday night was the most important thing. Asked how his back felt, Wheeler said, “Yeah, my back feels good, actually.”
As for what happened everywhere, he will try to downplay it.
The Phillies’ star starter was shellacked by the Bronx Bombers on Monday. The Yankees gave Wheeler seven earned runs and seven hits, three of them home runs, on their way to a 14-4 rout of the home team.
While much of the 44,000-plus crowd came to cheer on their heroes in blue, including Aaron Judge, who hit a pair of home runs, Phillies fans have to deal with a harsher reality.
Their peerless first-half sprinters have hit a slump down the stretch, losing nine of their last 13 games. Now, all of a sudden, the Phillies’ lead in the NL East is 65-41… well, they’re still eight games ahead of the Atlanta Braves, so all is not lost.
Not yet, anyway.
But for now, what can a manager do?
“I think we need to support them and remind them who they are,” said Rob Thomson. “We are a very talented club that is going through a difficult time at the moment and I really believe that we will get through this because we have so much talent.”
Wheeler’s talent was evident at least occasionally during this surprising blowout. He pitched just five innings, dropping his record to 10-5 and his ERA to 2.94 in the process.
“I made some mistakes, they hit them,” said Wheeler, who recently suffered a back injury that kept him out of the All-Star Game. “There were a couple of good pitches they hit, too. Like I say, sometimes you have to give them credit. They hit the mistakes and made us pay tonight.”
“It was one of those days where you just struggle and try to stay afloat and figure things out as you go along… I had my good times and my bad times, you just brush it off and move on.”
