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Aug 12, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws against St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) during the third inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
It may be time to be concerned about Zack Wheeler.
Yes, it was hot out, and yes, he was coming off a 116-pitch outing. But after falling apart in the fifth inning of Wednesday’s game, he has now given up four or more innings in three of his last four starts (and the other only went two innings due to rain). Combined with another bad day from the Phillies’ offense, they dropped the rubber match of their series against the Cardinals by a score of 7-1.
Wheeler’s afternoon started off well, striking out the side in the first. But the Cardinals’ second inning began with an Alec Bohm error, and Nathan Church immediately doubled the run home to put the Phillies down 1-0.
Wheeler kept the Cardinals off the board in the third and fourth, but things went awry in the fifth. The Cardinals began the inning with a single by Cesar Preito. Wheeler got the next two hitters, and then suddenly couldn’t get an out. The Cardinals hit two singles followed by two doubles, and by the time the inning was over, they were up 5-1.
The Phillies’ offense was unable to keep up. Continuing the trend from Tuesday night, they hit into two double plays on Wednesday afternoon and were 1-8 with runners in scoring position.
The lone offensive highlight came in the fourth when Bryce Harper and Luiz Arraez (breaking a long hitless streak) led off with consecutive doubles to tie the game at one. But they only had one more hit the rest of the game.
It didn’t even matter that Jose Alvarado had another awful appearance. He could only record one out before being pulled thanks to walking three and giving up a single. He’s getting to the point of un-useability, and the Phillies might have to considered simply getting rid of him soon.
Next up, the Phillies will travel to Iowa to take part in the Field of Dreams game on Thursday against the Twins. If the Phillies still have dreams of making the playoffs, they need to hope that Wheeler can work his way out of this funk soon.
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