It was 96 degrees when Zack Wheeler threw his first pitch Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park. Some four hours later, the veteran pitcher was still hot under the collar. The Phillies, on the strength of three home runs, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates and defending National League Cy Young winne r Paul Skenes, 10-6. Battling the heat and unusually poor command, Wheeler was removed from the game after 4 2/3 innings and 104 pitches with his team ahead, 8-3. Wheeler had given up three straight two-out singles, two of them softly hit, and a run when manager Don Mattingly pulled him from the game. Wheeler appeared agitated as he left the mound. After the game, he admitted he was. “I felt upset,” he said. Why? “Getting taken out of the game,” he said. He wanted the opportunity to get one more out and complete five innings. “Obviously,” he said. “I feel like I’ve earned that.” Five innings would have qualified Wheeler for a win and given him a chance to clean up his own messy inning. As it turned out, lefty Kyle Backhus came in and hit two batters, resulting in a run that was charged to Wheeler. Wheeler was terse when asked if he’d spoken to Mattingly about the decision to pull him. “Nope,” he said. Will you? “I don’t know.” He then ended his postgame session with reporters. “Good?” he asked. “Thanks.” At least he said thanks. Moments earlier, in his regular postgame media session, Mattingly addressed Wheeler’s night. “I thought Wheels hung in there,” he said. “It was one of those nights that his pitch count got extended early in the game. He didn’t get ahead in counts as much as he would have liked. He gave up some soft contact that extended his pitch count. It was one of those nights. I don’t know if it was the heat.” Mattingly did not specifically address his decision to remove Wheeler. In actuality, Wheeler did have three chances to complete the fifth inning. Each time, he gave up a two-out single as his pitch count swelled. Surely, Mattingly will have more to say on the matter before Thursday afternoon’s series finale against the Pirates. The first mini-crisis of his time as Phillies skipper has arrived. Wheeler did admit to the game being “a grind.” Nonetheless, despite the poor pitch economy, he struck out 10. Wheeler’s outing was his shortest since June 16, 2024 when he lasted just 4 1/3 and gave up eight runs in a loss at Baltimore. After that, Wheeler reeled off 53 straight starts of five innings or more entering Wednesday night. The right-hander came into the game with an ERA of 2.03. He exited with an ERA of 2.36, still exceptional for a man coming off surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome. In 13 starts, Wheeler has a record of 8-1. One more out Wednesday night would have put him in line for his ninth win. Skenes gave up a career-high eight runs in four innings as the Phillies continued to give him problems. They tagged him for five runs in a 6-0 win in Pittsburgh on May 17. A season after leading the majors with a 1.97 ERA, Skenes is 6-8 with a 3.62 ERA. Amazingly, the Pirates are winless in his last nine starts. The Phillies had the second-most wins (18) in the majors in June. They scored 153 runs, also second-best in the majors, in the month. They kept piling up runs on the first night of July. They scored five times against Skenes in the second, added another one in the third and two more in the fourth as they improved to a season-high 11 games over .500. “This was the kind of game where you never really felt you had enough,” Mattingly said. “So to continue to score was huge.” Surging Trea Turner continued to swing a potent bat for the Phillies. He lashed a three-run homer on a hanging breaking ball against Skenes in the second inning. Turner is hitting .350 (21 for 60) over his last 14 games. Brandon Marsh continued his trek to the All-Star Game with a solo homer, his 15th, in the third inning against Skenes. Bryce Harper added a two-run double against Skenes in the fourth. Harper has driven in at least a run in seven straight games and has overtaken Kyle Schwarber for the team lead with 56 RBI. Alec Bohm capped the scoring with a two-run homer against reliever Dennis Santana in the ninth. Before that, the Pirates had made it a two-run game in the seventh. Orion Kerkering did an excellent job quieting things down before Jhoan Duran closed it out. On the way to the win, Bohm and Harper both made terrific defensive plays behind Kerkering. The Phils have won two of the first three in the series, which wraps up Thursday afternoon. Right-hander Alan Rangel will start against right-hander Jared Jones. ...read more read less