ARLINGTON — Zack Wheeler did what aces do on Sunday afternoon: He simply found a way to get the job done.
Still, there will be a lot of eyes on Wheeler and his right shoulder in the coming days and weeks.
After having his start pushed back two days due to some shoulder soreness following his last outing, Wheeler’s velocity was down across the board on Sunday — including on a first-inning cutter that Joc Pederson smashed for a two-run homer. Wheeler’s usual pinpoint control — something that has been missing of late — also eluded him once again.
Even without his best stuff, however, Wheeler grinded his way through five innings to earn the win in the Phillies’ 4-2 victory over the Rangers at Globe Life Field. He rebounded from Pederson’s first-inning blast by striking out the side in the second inning.
Despite three walks, those two runs would prove to be the only damage off Wheeler, who struck out seven and allowed three hits. The Phillies didn’t push him past the fifth inning, ending his day after 83 pitches (51 strikes).
Wheeler managed to earn his 10th win — and first since July 6 — despite all of his pitches being down more than a full mile per hour. The most significant dropoff was with his sinker, which averaged just 93.0 mph — down 2.5 mph from his usual 95.5. His splitter (2.2 mph), four-seamer (2.0 mph) sweeper (1.8 mph), cutter (1.8 mph) and curveball (1.3 mph) were also down.
