Zack attacks, says Phils ‘had my pitches’

Wheeler struggles early, Mets slide into break

Zack Wheeler was hardly his sharpest, but he said there might be more to it. In the first inning alone, the right-handed pitcher was charged with four earned runs off five hits in the Mets 8-3 loss to the Phillies on Sunday at Citi Field.

It was the Mets’ last game before the All-Star break (and one game after the reported Brodie van Wagenen meltdown).

In that first inning, Wheeler gave up singles to Scott Kingery and Bryce Harper, before throwing a 96 mile-per-hour, two-seam fastball to Rhys Hoskins, who launched the pitch into right field, al- lowing Kingery to score. It took pitching a double to J.T. Realmuto (who helped Harper and Hoskins score) and a single to Jay Bruce (who allowed Realmuto to score) for Wheeler to get his stuff in order for the rest of the inning and at least until the top of the sixth.

“Honestly I think they had my pitches. I was making my pitches and they were hitting them and that was weird, but that’s on me,” Wheeler said. “It’s frustrating, but you take good from it, you take the bad from it.” For the rest of the Mets offense, however, that 4-0 deficit put them in quite the hole to try to crawl themselves out of with Phillies’ starter Aaron Nola on the mound.

Not even the best of that offense could hit their way on base in the first five innings as Nola carried a no-hit bid into the sixth inning. Todd Frazier and Wilson Ramos were the only ones who could manage to get to first after being walked in the second inning.

Wheeler seemed more confident after the first, with help from the rest of the field. Dominic Smith reminded the Mets why they put him in left field, after he caught a ball Kingery hit foul into the left field stands for the first out of the second.

But Bruce, the former Met-turned-Phillie, would again get the best of his former ally in the top of the sixth. Wheeler looked unsteady as he started the inning by walking Realmuto. So when Bruce stepped to the plate and crushed one of Wheeler’s fastballs over the center field wall, the Mets task of coming back looked more daunting, down 6-0.

Wheeler was charged with six earned runs (one homer) off eight hits. He walked two batters, struck out seven, and dealt 104 pitches.

Nola’s surefire hold over the likes of Jeff McNeil and