Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler hasn't looked like an ace lately.
He was on the wrong end of history in Monday's loss to the Seattle Mariners when he became the first pitcher in franchise history to allow four home runs and five walks in a game.
"It's not where I want to be. We'll sit down tomorrow and kind of dig in and see what's really going on," Wheeler said postgame, according to MLB.com's Paul Casella.
Three of the four homers Wheeler allowed came against Cal Raleigh, with the other coming off Cole Young, who hit after Raleigh in the fifth inning. Wheeler started the fifth with his pitch count at 94 after already allowing six runs, seven hits, and five walks.
"He wanted to go back out, and I kind of wanted him to go back out," Phillies manager Don Mattingly said. "We were going to keep it short; we weren't going to let him go far. At that point, we're down 6-2 in the fifth, so kind of really need that inning. But didn't get there."
Wheeler's ERA over his past five starts - excluding his rain-shortened outing against the Baltimore Orioles on Aug. 2 - is 9.27. He didn't play for more than 5 1/3 innings in any of those appearances.
The 36-year-old, who was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome last September, said he is healthy and that an injury hasn't led to his struggles.
"That's why it's so frustrating right now," Wheeler said.
Philadelphia's nine-game winning streak came to an end against the Mariners.
