Zack Wheeler tosses another gem to defeat Tarik Skubal and Tigers going into the All-Star break

DETROIT — Warming up in the bullpen pregame, Zack Wheeler did not feel his best.

The Phillies right-hander’s pitches were erratic. He wasn’t himself. Afterward, he grilled his catcher, J.T. Realmuto, asking if he’d noticed anything.

But anyone watching, at home or at Comerica Park, would never have known what had been going through his head minutes before first pitch. Because Wheeler managed to pull off another masterful performance with six scoreless innings in the Phillies’ 5-0 shutout against Detroit.

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“That’s what makes him special,” Realmuto said. “Even when he doesn’t have his best stuff, he can still be very effective.”

There was plenty motivating Wheeler to turn in a strong final start before the All-Star break, and not only because it was a heavyweight matchup with two-time Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal. After his previous outing, Wheeler had publicly criticized MLB for not including him as an All-Star replacement. When the league later invited him on Friday, he declined, calling the belated offer “pure disrespect.”

He needed to back it up.

Wheeler had the best feel for his splitter, so he leaned on that more than usual. In a normal start, Wheeler uses the pitch at about a 14% clip. Against Detroit, he turned to it 27% of the time, only less than his four-seam. He recorded six of his 10 strikeouts with his split, stifling the Tigers offense to just two hits total — both singles.

“J.T. did a nice job of just mixing it in and just pitching to that strength today,” Wheeler said.

Realmuto also helped out his pitcher with his offensive performance. He scored a run in the third after getting hit by a pitch, and then delivered a three-run double during the Phillies’ rally in the sixth.

It marked his second straight game with a key RBI double.

“The guys in front of me are just doing a really good job of getting on base and putting a lot of pressure on the pitcher,” Realmuto said. “And then I think when you get in those situations, it’s about trying to do less, really trying to get a pitch over the heart of the plate, especially with runners in scoring position.”

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The Phillies worked long at-bats against Skubal, chasing him from the game before he could record an out in the sixth. He needed 27 pitches in the fifth alone, although he managed to strand a pair of runners in scoring position by striking out Trea Turner and Kyle Schwarber.

Harper started the sixth-inning rally. He won a 10-pitch battle against Skubal with a single that ticked the lefty’s pitch count up to 93 and ended his day. Alec Bohm kept the line moving with an infield single off reliever Keider Montero, one of three the Phillies legged out on Sunday.

Montero then intentionally walked Brandon Marsh after falling behind 3-0, loading the bases and setting the table for Realmuto’s heroics. He was then driven in by Stott, who hustled out an infield single, to cap a four-run outburst.

“It just ended up being one of those games that you’re really happy about your club and the way we played, and the small things that we talk about, coming into play,” said interim manager Don Mattingly.

Following the long half-inning, Wheeler wasn’t as sharp coming out for the sixth. He issued two walks, and went back to his splitter more often to try and get out of it. After taking Riley Greene to a 3-2 count, though, Wheeler turned to his usual bread and butter: his fastball. He beat Greene with a 95.1 mph four-seam to finish his outing.

“We’d thrown him a lot of splits, a lot of off-speed throughout the day. Wheeler’s got such a good fastball,” Realmuto said. “He’s typically a good fastball hitter, but I felt like in that spot he was going to be looking for something softer. And when a guy’s got a fastball as good as Wheeler, you can trust it in those counts.”

MLB All-Star Game in Philly

Baseball's biggest stars are descending on Philadelphia for the 96th All-Star Game at Citizens Bank Park on July 14. Follow all of The Inquirer's coverage here.

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After some recent struggles as a collective, the Phillies’ bullpen had a bounce-back performance to close it out. José Alvarado, Orion Kerkering, and Jonathan Bowlan combined to retire nine straight Tigers to seal the shutout.

Mattingly said postgame that righty Brad Keller, who has made just one appearance since returning from right forearm tendinitis on Wednesday, was “a guy we wanted to stay away from today,” but didn’t give specifics on why.

Alvarado’s performance in particular was a good sign after giving up four runs in his previous outing. He recorded two strikeouts in a clean inning, including pinch-hitting righty Eduardo Valencia.

The Phillies head into the break with a 54-43 record and some momentum. They have closed within two games of the Braves in the National League East.

“This for me is probably our best game of the year,” Mattingly said. “I mean, so many things went the way we wanted to go.”

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With one month left in the season, the Phillies are jockeying for playoff positioning in the National League. And things are about to heat up with a critical three-game series in Arizona. Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen joins Phillies Extra to discuss the wild-card race, the drama involving star second baseman Ketel Marte, and the 2023 NLCS, which left scars in Philadelphia that still haven't healed. Watch here.

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