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Zack Wheeler is the lone member of the Philadelphia Phillies’ rotation who isn’t scheduled to pitch this week against the New York Mets.
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That’s probably fine by the Mets, who surely are tired of being haunted by former players thriving elsewhere.
The Phillies (84-68) will continue their pursuit of the top wild-card spot in the National League on Thursday night when they visit the Mets (69-83) in the opener of a four-game series.
Aaron Nola (6-10, 4.69 ERA) will start for the Phillies against Nolan McLean (11-9, 3.24) of the Mets in a battle of right-handers.
Wheeler (13-5) scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings as Philadelphia posted a 3-0 victory over the Washington Nationals on Wednesday to earn a split of a two-game series.
The Mets continued reeling Wednesday, when former New York slugger Pete Alonso homered to give the visiting Baltimore Orioles a lead they’d never relinquish. The Orioles won 7-1 to complete a sweep of the three-game interleague series.
Wheeler’s longest scoreless start since May 17 came at the perfect time for the Phillies (84-68), who won for just the second time in six games. The result was crucial for Philadelphia, which saw its rotation take a hit with the loss of All-Star Jesus Luzardo, who was placed on the 15-day injured list Tuesday, retroactive to Sept. 12, due to left shoulder inflammation.
With Wednesday’s victory, Philadelphia remained a half-game behind the Chicago Cubs in the race for the top wild-card berth and home-field advantage in the best-of-three series. The Phillies also stayed one game ahead of the San Diego Padres.
“This time of the season is cool — it’s special,” said Wheeler, who is 82-42 with a 2.92 ERA since leaving the Mets for the Phillies following the 2019 season. “This is where you want to be, and these games really, really matter. It’s fun competing in these types of games, these atmospheres.”
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The atmosphere for the Mets was surreal throughout Alonso’s homecoming series. Alonso hit a team-record 264 homers from 2019-25 but signed a five-year, $155 million deal with the Orioles in December.
Alonso was hitless Monday, when the Mets were eliminated from playoff contention in a 2-1 loss.
New York fell 7-5 in 11 innings Tuesday, when Alonso hit the 300th homer of his career — a game-tying, ninth-inning solo blast. He was serenaded with a standing ovation before he stepped out for a curtain call.
Alonso was cheered again Wednesday, when he hit the first of his team’s four homers in the opening three innings against Xzavion Curry.
“Unique is a fair descriptor of the last couple of days,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said Wednesday afternoon. “For us, I think we move forward with a great deal of confidence if we play winning baseball and give the fans something special to believe in. They’ll be right back in our corner cheering us every single day.”
Nola didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Friday, when he allowed two runs over 6 1/3 innings as the Phillies lost to the Atlanta Braves 6-5 in 11 innings. He is 11-11 with a 3.46 ERA in 32 career starts against the Mets.
McLean took the defeat Friday after giving up five runs over five innings as the Mets fell to the New York Yankees 6-4.
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He is 2-1 with an 0.47 ERA in three starts against the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
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This story was originally published September 17, 2026 at 5:36 AM.