After Wednesday night’s rainout, the Phillies initially announced Zack Wheeler would pitch the first game of Thursday’s doubleheader. But that plan only lasted 14 minutes.
Shortly after the decision was made, Wheeler called manager Rob Thomson with a request: “Is it too late to switch? I’d like to pitch the night game.” Thomson recalled telling reporters, “You’re Zack Wheeler. You can do whatever you want.”
Wheeler’s change set up a marquee pitching matchup with Braves ace and reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale. But as with last year’s award race, Wheeler came up short against Sale.
Wheeler lasted 5 1/3 innings and gave up six runs—four of them during a rough fourth inning—as the Phillies lost 9-3. Sale, meanwhile, dominated for six innings, allowing just two hits and guiding the injury-depleted Braves to a much-needed series finale win at Citizens Bank Park.
“I just lost my command a little bit,” Wheeler said afterward. “That’s what frustrated me. I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be. The first few innings were solid, then they got a few hits and it just spiraled quickly. Gotta move on.”
Wheeler began strong for the 36-20 Phillies, tossing three scoreless innings. He recorded a quick first inning, shattered Austin Riley’s bat in the second with a 97.9 mph sinker, and kept Atlanta hitless through three.
But in the fourth, soft contact hits by Marcell Ozuna and Matt Olson set up Riley’s two-run double. Then Ozzie Albies followed with a home run just over the right-field fence, and things unraveled from there.

“He fell behind in counts,” Thomson said. “They fouled off a lot of pitches and drove up his count. Even in the fourth, it wasn’t all hard contact—some broken-bat hits and a homer that barely cleared. But I thought he looked great early.”
Wheeler exited in the sixth with the bases loaded. Reliever Carlos Hernández allowed two inherited runners to score on a Luke Williams hit. Wheeler’s final line: six runs on four hits, with six strikeouts and four walks.
Sale, with his towering 6-foot-6 presence and tough arm angle, was in top form. He struck out eight over six innings, limiting the Phillies to two hits. It was a critical win for the Braves (26-29), who saw three players leave with injuries during the doubleheader. Sale notched his 2,500th career strikeout when he fanned Edmundo Sosa in the sixth, prompting Sosa to spike his helmet in frustration.
“He was excellent,” Thomson said of Sale. “He had great command, and that slider really pulled us out of the zone.”
Austin Riley homered again in the seventh off Joe Ross, extending Atlanta’s lead. The Phillies got two runs back in the eighth with a J.T. Realmuto groundout and a bloop single from Sosa, but the Braves tacked on another in the ninth. Trea Turner added an RBI single in the bottom of the inning, but Philadelphia never mounted a serious threat.
Wheeler admitted that while he doesn’t feel added pressure facing elite pitchers like Sale, he is aware of who’s on the other side.
“You always try to bring your best,” he said. “Sometimes, you need to dig a little deeper depending on who you’re up against. But games like this happen over the course of a season.”