Philadelphia Phillies ace starter Wheeler sets historic 0.58 ERA in June, strikes out 10 to shut out Padres to close the month

Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler is forcefully pursuing his first career National League Cy Young Award and is also targeting the starting role at the All-Star Game held in his hometown Atlanta.

In today’s 4-0 home shutout against the Padres, Wheeler threw eight scoreless innings, racking up 10 strikeouts, giving up just six hits and zero walks. This marks his third game this season with 10+ strikeouts and no walks, tying him with Logan Webb, Tarik Skubal, and two others for the Major League lead.

This victory capped off his legendary June: over five starts in the month, Wheeler posted a dominant 2-1 record with an astonishing 0.58 ERA. He became only the fourth Phillies pitcher since 1912 to throw at least 30 innings in a month with an ERA below 0.60, joining club legends like Cliff Lee (who did it twice in 2011) and Tommy Greene (0.29 ERA in 1991).

"In my 30 years of coaching, I've never seen such monthly dominance," said manager Rob Thomson. "He and Suarez (who posted a 1.30 ERA in June) are both strong contenders for the National League Pitcher of the Month. His control is pinpoint, velocity remains high—he’s simply unstoppable."

Phillies rotation stats for June

• Suarez: 6 starts, 3 wins, 2 losses, 1.30 ERA
• Sanchez: 5 starts, 2 wins, 1 loss, 1.85 ERA
• Luzardo: last 4 games with a 2.78 ERA

"The healthy competition within our rotation drives improvement," Wheeler said after the game. "Seeing Suarez pitch so well yesterday, I hope Sanchez performs even better than me tomorrow. We learn from each other and keep pushing our limits."

This veteran, who has twice finished second in the Cy Young voting (currently 8-3 with a 2.27 ERA this season), will compete with rising stars like Pirates’ Paul Skenes for the All-Star starting spot. "Being selected is a huge honor," Wheeler humbly stated.

When asked about the secret to maintaining peak form at age 35, he credited his catcher: "Realmuto understands my pitching style better than I do. I just follow his pitch-calling strategy and throw the ball where he directs."

Game highlights

• 3rd inning: Padres outfielder Jackson Merrill makes a spectacular catch, robbing Kepler’s three-run homer
• 4th inning: Phillies execute smart baserunning to break the deadlock
• Stott draws a walk and steals second base
• Marsh hits a ground ball toward first base
• Padres first baseman Aleez fields the ball behind the dirt area and throws low to pitcher Valderlon
• Valderlon races to first base but fails to beat Marsh
• Taking advantage, Stott dashes home, and the Padres catcher’s tag attempt is too late

"When I turned around and saw the dust flying everywhere, I knew Stott had made it!" Marsh recalled excitedly. He then stole second base, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and eventually scored the third run on Turner’s infield hit.

Thomson summed it up: "This is the kind of scoring you need against top opponents." And the rest of the job was perfectly handled by an ace like Wheeler.