Philadelphia Phillies Ace Doesn't Blame Fan Favorite For Poor Outing

The Philadelphia Phillies dropped a surprising game with their ace on the mound, but he didn't shy away from taking the blame.

Apr 13, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies catcher Garrett Stubbs (21) / Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Sleepy, early afternoon finales on Sunday can always produce some whacky results as some of the best players sit out.

That's what the Philadelphia Phillies were hoping to avoid as Kyle Schwarber and J.T. Realmuto were sidelined with a couple bumps and bruises that manager Rob Thomson gave them a day off to heal.

With their ace Zack Wheeler on the mound, there was still high confidence they'd be able to close out the lowly Miami Marlins and get a sweep before heading north to face their rival New York Mets.

Instead, the Phillies dropped the game in extra innings following an unusually poor outing from the star right-hander.

Wheeler was asked what happened and took blame for not being sharp instead of taking the easy route and blaming his performance on backup catcher Garrett Stubbs who was filling in while Realmuto took the day off.

"I throw with J.T. all the time but it's not the end of the world. (Stubbs and I) were both on the same page for the most part but it's just different scenarios where I like to do certain things and he's just not used to it. But this one wasn't on Stubby at all, it was on me, I threw a lot of balls. That's on me," he said according to Corey Seidman of NBC Sports Philadelphia.

The ace has had a couple of eyebrow raising outings this year, but really none since mid-April.

Over the course of a long season, even the best starting pitchers are bound to have stinkers and that's what Philadelphia can chalk this one up as, despite it coming against a poor team like the Marlins.

While they would have liked to have completed the sweep, they still kept their unbeaten streak in their past 11 series alive with an 8-0-3 record during this span.

The Phillies will head to face the Mets as they hold a two game lead in the NL East division.