Phillies' Zack Wheeler electric on the mound, shuts out Padres in series opener

PHILADELPHIA  - Dominating through eight scoreless innings, Philadelphia Phillies’ starting pitcher Zack Wheeler stymied the Padres’ batters with 10 strikeouts during Monday’s 4-0 series opener at Citizens Bank Park. 

Facing a two-time National League Cy Young runner-up over the past four seasons and the current NL strikeout leader, the Padres (45-39) only put up six hits, continuing their fail at significant production inside the batter’s box during the turning points of the game. 

The Padres left seven runners on base tonight and went 0-for-7 with RISP. 

"That was a good of pitching as I've seen all year," Padres manger Mike Shildt said. "A lot of life. A lot of life. Secondary pitches in properly for effect. He moved guys a little bit, made pitches (to) both side. Him and (Phillies catcher J.T.) Realmuto are obviously on the same page. I thought he was fantastic." 

Over their last four games, the Padres have gone a painful 1-for-34 with RISP. However, this isn’t anything new for this ball club, who have been dealing with a lack of offensive firepower since their 21-0 shellacking against the Rockies during the middle of May.   

It’s the little things that the Padres have lacked up until this point of the season. 

For example, the Padres best chance on offense was during the fifth inning when they had two runners on base following a lead-off single by Xander Bogaerts and Jake Cronenworth getting hit by a pitch. Bryce Johnson was set up to bunt with no outs to move both runners to scoring position but failed to deliver, which led to a double play by Trenton Brooks, who replaced Martín Maldonado, lining a ball 101 mph right at Bryson Stott.  

"Brooksie comes in and barrels one up," Shildt said. "Finds some grass, and it's a different ballgame." 

The Padres had another chance in the next inning with a couple of runners on base with two outs, but Gavin Sheets got caught looking at a 97 mph fastball at the corner to end that opportunity. 

Five different batters were called out on strikes and four of them struck out more than once including Jackson Merrill. who had three and went 0-for-4.

This was the second time during the month of June where Merrill struck out more than twice, and it's his fifth time in his career. 

The one of the very few bright spots in this game for the Friars came during the bottom of third inning when Merrill robbed Max Kepler of a three-run homer after completing an unbelievable leaping grab over the center-field wall. 

The other was Arraez and Bogaerts coming away with multiple hits in this game. Bogaerts finished 3-for-4 with a double and pair of singles. 

"I thought we strung together some really pretty good at-bats, quite frankly," Shildt said. "We scratched and clawed." 

As simple and repetitive as it sounds, the Padres cannot win games if they can’t score runs, which explains their tumble down the standings in the NL West along with losing hold of the last wild card spot, tailing the Cardinals by a game.

Splitting their 10 games, the team owns a 20-25 record when playing away from Petco Park and have an unflattering 15-29 against teams with a winning record this season. 

Making his first appearance of the 2025 regular season after suffering a left oblique injury during Spring Training, Padres pitcher Matt Waldron did not have the ideal start that he or the team were shooting for. 

The right-hander struggled to gain any sort of command on the mound through 4 ⅔ innings. He threw 104 pitches, giving up four earned runs on six hits, with three strikeouts, while also walking six batters.

One of the runs given up was a first pitch solo shot by Nick Castellanos (10) to the seat out in left field.

The Padres also threw a total four wild pitches this evening, three of them coming from Waldron and other from reliever Wandy Peralta. 

Waldron had a misplay during the fourth inning on Brandon Marsh's ground ball single. First baseman Luis Arraez fielded the one hopper away from his base but had to wait a second too long for Waldron to get to the bag after stepping off late from the mound. 

The culprit of this game doesn't fall on one person or one phase, but ultimately Padres' pitchers are forced into tough situations with the lack of run support, which calls for them to produce perfect outings and to have a very slim margin of error. 

With the loss, the Padres are now 7.5 games back behind the Dodgers in the NL West. 

Opening the month of July, the second game of the three game series will take place tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. The starting pitching matchup will feature right-hander Nick Pivetta (8-2, 3.36 ERA) and lefty Cristopher Sanchez (6-2, 2.79 ERA) for the Phillies. 

Pivetta in his last start dominated on the bump with seven scoreless innings on three hits with 10 strikeouts in the Padres 1-0 win over the Nationals. He faced the Phillies last season for Boston, where he went four innings, giving up four earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and four walks. 

Against the Astros in his most recent start, Sanchez allowed one earned run on five hits with 11 Ks through six innings in their 2-1 loss. He beat the Padres last season, going seven innings and allowed one earned run on six hits with six strikeouts.