The Latest Breaking News from Zack Wheeler

PHILADELPHIA — The Saturday doubleheader was supposed to be the weird part of the Mets’ weekend trip to Philly.

NEW YORK — This time last week, the Mets had just wrapped up four wins in a five-game series with the Braves.

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper broke his left thumb in the fourth inning of a June 25 game in San Diego.

PITTSBURGH — Before the Phillies game against the Pirates on Thursday night, interim manager Rob Thomson told his players to not take their 40-58 opponents for granted. “Get the lead,” he told them. “Step on the gas pedal.”

PHILADELPHIA — When the Phillies swept the Marlins in Miami just before the All-Star break, they were playing pristine baseball. They committed no errors during that series. In their first game, they gutted out a 2-1 win despite an uncharacteristically shaky performance from closer Seranthony Domínguez. That didn’t feel like…

TORONTO — If there was ever a game to illustrate just how thin the margins are for this Phillies team, it was their 8-2 loss on Wednesday night. They had their ace on the mound in Zack Wheeler, who stepped into Rogers Centre with a 2.46 ERA. By the time…

Since Joe Girardi got fired, everything’s gone right for interim manager Rob Thomson. Two starters and an MVP got hurt, but the team kept on winning. Now the Phillies have a COVID vaccination crisis looming in the Great White North, but it looks like they’ll be cool.

Who starts Game 3?

ST. LOUIS — Rob Thomson wouldn’t bite.

The Phillies faced their biggest game in recent memory Sunday night. The visiting Cardinals sat just ahead of them in the playoff race, and they’d split the first two games of the weekend series.

It was July 3, too soon by any reasonable measure for scoreboard watching. But it was also Sunday Night Baseball, the last game of the day, so the opportunity facing the Phillies was hard to miss.