The Toronto Blue Jays held on by the skin of their teeth to beat the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday night, and there was a lot to talk about postgame.
One of those talking points was Zack Wheeler and his routine of being very close to, if not off, the rubber on the mound when he pitches. That, of course, lit a fire under hitting coach David Popkins, who was eventually ejected in the fourth inning.
While Popkins’ ejection calmed the situation down for the rest of the game, Wheeler made it clear afterward that he wasn’t too happy with the Blue Jays’ complaints about him.
“I’m gonna keep doing what I do. I’ve been pitching over there forever, and I’m gonna keep doing it. You know, they’ve lost a lot of games over there, so they’re probably trying to pick some things up to complain about.”
The 36-year-old Wheeler allowed four earned runs and seven hits while striking out six and walking five across 5.1 innings pitched on the night. He saw his record drop to 10-3 with the loss to Toronto, now sporting a 2.69 ERA and a 132-28 strikeout-to-walk ratio across his 19 starts so far this season.
Wheeler was evidently frustrated after the loss, as the Phillies are clinging to the final wild-card spot in the NL with every game so important.
That being said, it’s not the first time a high-end starting pitcher has had choice words for the Blue Jays in recent years, as Cam Schlittler has notably taken jabs at his division rivals as well.
Toronto has proven time and time again that it’s not afraid of any pitcher, and that showed again on Friday as the offense had one of its better days at the plate in quite some time. They’ll now look to carry that momentum into Saturday’s contest against Aaron Nola.
Next: Insider Believes Gunnar Henderson Could Be Next to Leave Baltimore
