NEW YORK — Zack Wheeler threw seven scoreless innings against his former team, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the New York Mets 4-2 on Sunday to split a four-game series.
Wheeler, who signed a five-year deal worth $118 million in December 2019 after spending his first seven seasons with the Mets, allowed four hits, walked two and struck out eight. His final strikeout was his 130th of the season, lifting him past the Dodgers’ Trevor Bauer for the NL lead.
The Mets had runners at first and third in the first against Wheeler (6-4), who set down the next 11 batters. In the fifth, he retired Jeff McNeil on a flyball to center to strand runners at second and third.
Jose Alvarado gave up an RBI single to Pete Alonso in the eighth and Archie Bradley surrendered a one-out homer to Kevin Pillar in the ninth before recording his first save.
The Phillies, whose defensive miscues allowed the Mets to mount late comebacks in each of the first three games, took advantage of some rare misplays by New York — which entered Sunday with 37 errors, the second fewest in the NL — to aid their small-ball rallies against Marcus Stroman (6-6) in the second and third innings.
With one out in the second, Nick Maton walked and Ronald Torreyes singled. Wheeler bunted to advance the runners but reached safely when second baseman McNeil dropped Stroman’s throw. Odubel Herrera followed with a sacrifice fly.
In the third, Andrew McCutchen scored on Alec Bohm’s groundout. Maton, whose RBI single in the second inning Saturday ended an 0-for-22 drought, laced an RBI double and scored after Luis Guillorme threw the ball away on Torreyes’ infield single.
Torreyes and McCutchen each had three singles for the Phillies. Alonso had a trio of singles for the Mets.
Stroman, who exited his last start with a sore left hip after one inning, allowed four runs, two earned, on five hits in three innings.
MANAGERIAL MILESTONE
Joe Girardi won his 1,052nd game as a manager, breaking a tie with Jack McKeon for 57th place on the all-time list. Girardi is 13 wins shy of the next manager on the list, Frank Robinson.
UPON FURTHER REVIEW
Girardi and Mets manager Luis Rojas each won a replay challenge. In the second inning, Maton ran halfway home when a Stroman pitch eluded James McCann and was initially called out upon diving back to the third base bag. Girardi challenged and the call was overturned. In the seventh, McCutchen was ruled out after a replay review of his attempted steal of second.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Phillies: RF Bryce Harper (left calf) didn’t play, a day after he was hit in the left cap by a pitch from Jacob deGrom that bounced in the dirt.
Mets: 3B J.D. Davis (left hand) is expected to begin a rehab stint Monday with Triple-A Syracuse. … Rojas said several other injured Mets should play this week for Syracuse, including IF Jonathan Villar (right calf), C Tomas Nido (right wrist) and RHP Jeurys Familia (right hip). Familia threw a bullpen on Sunday.
UP NEXT
Phillies: RHP Spencer Howard (0-2, 5.59 ERA) starts against the Cincinnati Reds in a makeup of a game postponed by rain on June 2.
Mets: RHP Jerad Eickhoff (0-0, 0.00) makes his second start for New York against the Washington Nationals in a makeup of one of the games postponed in April by the Nationals’ COVID-19 outbreak.
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