Braves end Zack Wheeler’s scoreless streak to split doubleheader with Phillies
Wheeler cruised through three innings before allowing four runs in the fourth. He has a 9.71 ERA in two starts against the Braves this season.
Edmundo Sosa threw his bat to the ground in frustration, and then slammed down his helmet for good measure.
He had swung through a slider in the dirt from Chris Sale to end the sixth inning, and in doing so helped the Braves lefty become the fastest pitcher in MLB history to reach 2,500 strikeouts.
Eight of those came at the Phillies’ expense in their 9-3 loss in the nightcap of Thursday’s doubleheader against Atlanta. The Phillies only managed two singles off Sale, one apiece in the first and second innings.
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“He’s always tough,” Kyle Schwarber said. “You never go into that at-bat thinking that it’s going to be an easy at-bat. He won a Cy Young last year, and you just have to try to fight and grind him and whenever he does make that mistake, try to get to it.”
Phillies starter Zack Wheeler stood toe-to-toe with Sale early on, holding the Braves without a hit until an uncharacteristic fourth inning. A softly-hit line drive from Marcell Ozuna opened up a rally for Atlanta, who went on to score four runs on consecutive doubles from Matt Olson and Austin Riley and a two-run homer from Ozzie Albies. All four hits Wheeler allowed came in the inning.
“His fastball was really good. As we got into the game, he just got behind the count quite a bit,” said Phillies manager Rob Thomson. “A lot of foul balls drove his pitch count up. But even in the fourth inning, it was a couple of broken-bat base hits, the ground ball down the line. Albies hits the ball, 94, 95 miles an hour, gets out of the ballpark. Those things happen.”
The Braves also snapped Wheeler’s scoreless streak at a career-high 26 innings. The streak had dated back to the fifth inning of his start against Tampa Bay on May 6.
“Kind of lost my control a little bit,” Wheeler said. “That’s kind of what I was upset about tonight. Wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be out there. First few innings were good, and then they got a couple hits, and it kind of snowballed on me quick.”
Consecutive walks with one out in the sixth inning ended Wheeler’s night, and Carlos Hernández took over. He gave up two straight singles to allow both inherited runners to score. Wheeler, who finished with six strikeouts and four walks, has a 9.71 ERA in two starts against the Braves this season.
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Wheeler said it didn’t add any extra motivation to pitch against Sale, who had beaten him out for the National League Cy Young Award in 2024.
“You’re pitching against the offense,” Wheeler said. “You know who’s on the other side and you always try to do well. But sometimes you got to step up a little bit more, just because you know who’s on the other side. But you’re going to have those games throughout the year. Just wasn’t mine today.”
The Phillies threatened against Sale in the fifth, loading the bases after Weston Wilson and Schwarber drew walks and Trea Turner was hit in the foot by a pitch. Alec Bohm grounded out to end the inning.
Joe Ross allowed a two-run homer to Riley in the seventh to up Atlanta’s lead to 8-0.
“I still trust all those guys,” Thomson said of his middle relievers.
The Phillies spoiled the shutout with two runs in the eighth off Braves reliever Michael Petersen. Schwarber ran out an infield single, advanced to third on a double from Nick Castellanos, and scored on a groundout from J.T. Realmuto. Sosa singled to drive in Castellanos, but the rally ended there when Wilson struck out looking.
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Brett de Geus, called up from triple-A Lehigh Valley to be the Phillies’ 27th player for the doubleheader, walked the bases loaded in the ninth and another Braves run scored on a groundout.
Bryson Stott doubled to lead off the bottom of the ninth, and was driven home by a Turner single. Bohm sent a fly ball deep to center that nearly brought the Phillies within four runs, but Michael Harris II made the catch at the wall to end the game.
Thomson said postgame that Bryce Harper had been unavailable off the bench with a bruised elbow after being hit by a pitch on Tuesday. Harper has not yet tried to swing a bat, but Thomson does not think at this point he will require a stint on the injured list.
“There’s still some swelling in there, and he’s still got some pain, so we want to knock that out before we run him out there,” Thomson said.