PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler was almost off the mound by the time Don Mattingly reached out his hand to take the baseball. The Phillies’ ace, the highest-paid pitcher in the sport, did not wait Wednesday night. He handed it off, like a quarterback to his running back, and marched to the dugout in the fifth inning. The fans treated Wheeler to a loud ovation, despite the pitcher’s streak of 53 consecutive starts with at least five innings pitched ending.He wanted to leave the field as quickly as possible.“Yeah,” Wheeler said. “I was upset.”About what?“Getting taken out of the game,” said Wheeler, who allowed four runs and struck out 10 in 4 2/3 innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.Would he have liked another chance at the third out in the fifth inning?“Obviously,” Wheeler said. “I feel like I’ve earned that.”Did he talk to Mattingly about it?“Nope,” Wheeler said.Will he?“I don’t know,” Wheeler said.And that was that. Mattingly, the interim manager with an absurd 40-19 record, has his first real fire to extinguish.Wheeler, who has a 2.36 ERA after his abbreviated outing in a 10-6 Phillies win, has always been playing from behind this season. He missed the first month as he recovered from surgery to correct thoracic outlet syndrome. He has been one of the best pitchers in the league since his return, a development often overshadowed nationally by harder throwers with gaudier statistics.The Phillies tagged Paul Skenes for a career-high eight runs. (Hunter Martin / Getty Images)One of them, Paul Skenes, pitched opposite Wheeler on Wednesday for the second time this season. The Phillies hung a career-worst eight runs (seven earned) on Skenes in five innings, raising his ERA to 3.62.“Skenes has garnered a lot of attention in his first few years and, obviously, deservedly so,” Mattingly said before Wednesday’s game. “But I like that Wheels is on that stage too, because I don’t think people quite realize how good this guy is.”Why?“I just don’t think they realize,” Mattingly said. “Within the industry, for sure. But, with fans, he’s a quiet guy. It’s not a lot of hype around him. He just kind of just constantly pitches well. And I just want to keep his attention talked about like other guys.”Wheeler might appreciate that. He probably would rather keep pitching.He entered the fifth inning at 86 pitches. It had been a grind in the suffocating summer heat. He retired the first two Pirates batters on 12 pitches. Esmerlyn Valdez hit a soft single to right. Ryan O’Hearn lashed a single to center. Pitching coach Caleb Cotham made a mound visit with Wheeler at 101 pitches.Wheeler broke Nick Gonzalez’s bat on the third pitch he threw him, but Gonzalez got enough of it to float a run-scoring single to center. Wheeler was at 104 pitches, matching his season-high (done twice before).He turned and saw Mattingly emerge from the dugout.Wheeler, 36, has never hidden his personal goals. He wants to win a World Series. He’d like to make as many All-Star Games as he can. He wants to capture an elusive Cy Young Award, which will be challenging to attain in 2026 because of the delayed start to his season.To Wheeler, every inning and every run matters. To the Phillies, Wheeler is a cornerstone they must protect at all costs.Wheeler bequeathed two runners to lefty Kyle Backhus, who promptly hit the first two batters he faced. That forced home one of Wheeler’s runs. By not completing the fifth inning, Wheeler missed out on his ninth win of the season. (Wins and losses might not matter to most Cy Young voters in 2026. Do not tell Wheeler.)Zack Wheeler had his shortest outing of the year but struck out a season-high 10 batters. (Hunter Martin / Getty Images)Wheeler ran his pitch count too high in the early innings. He struck out 10 batters for the first time since Aug. 2, 2025, which was notable because Wheeler has been thriving in 2026 without his typical strikeout rate.He is not as precise as he once was. He does not feature the caliber of fastball velocity he once did, but he’s navigated hitters with his deep arsenal. Wheeler has typically exuded grumpiness after most of his outings this season because the good results have not matched how he felt about the execution of his pitches.That’s what chasing greatness must feel like.No one tries to stand in the way of that, and it’s why Wheeler tends to call his own shots. Only J.T. Realmuto can catch him. Wheeler has his routine, and it is not for everyone. He had an understanding with former manager Rob Thomson, who would push Wheeler. Thirteen of his 24 starts in 2025 went at least 100 pitches. Wednesday marked only the third 100-pitch outing in 13 starts during 2026, which is understandable. The Phillies are more careful about how they handle Wheeler.Mattingly could say he afforded Wheeler several chances to escape the fifth inning. There are bigger fights to pick; the Phillies have played their way firmly into the National League’s postseason picture after a dismal 8-18 start before Wheeler was activated from the injured list.The two things are intertwined.Everyone expected a pitchers’ duel Wednesday night and, naturally, that did not happen. Skenes has a mountain to climb to repeat as the NL Cy Young winner. At least he has one. Wheeler, who has finished second in the voting twice, believes he must push the boulder as high as he can every time he steps on the hill.“I think it was a grind for both of us,” Wheeler said. “I’m just happy to get that done.”Sort of.