Zack Wheeler rises to occasion as Phillies blank Pirates 6-0

Zack Wheeler tossed seven shutout innings to outduel Paul Skenes as the visiting Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates with a 6-0 victory Sunday.

Wheeler (3-0) gave up just three singles and a double with a walk and eight strikeouts while lowering his ERA to 1.99 in five starts.

Bryce Harper and Bryson Stott hit home runs for the Phillies, who are on a four-game winning streak and moved to 24-23 after they were 9-19 when Don Mattingly replaced Rob Thomson as manager late last month.

The Pirates managed only five hits in the game while failing to score a run for the second straight day. Skenes (6-3) allowed five earned runs -- his most since Opening Day -- in five-plus innings. He yielded six hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.

Wheeler retired 12 of the 13 batters he faced in the first four innings, allowing only an infield single to rookie Konnor Griffin in the second inning. He gave up a single and a walk in the fifth but benefited from J.T. Realmuto throwing out Griffin attempting to steal second.

Skenes struck out the side in the first inning and was in control until running into trouble in the fifth. The Phillies' Adolis Garcia opened with a walk and moved to second on a single by Realmuto. Griffin made a diving stop for an out on a grounder to short by Crawford, but Garcia scored on the play to make it 1-0.

Trea Turner followed with an RBI single for a 2-0 lead.

In the sixth, the Phillies put three more runs on the board, starting with Harper's leadoff homer, his 12th of the year.

Bohm singled and Marsh doubled, ending Skenes' outing. Isaac Mattson came on and hit Garica with a pitch before Stott's twi-run double extended the lead to 5-0.

The Pirates appeared to score in the sixth inning on a home run from Brandon Lowe, but it was overturned on replay to a double on fan interference.

Stott's long home run against Dennis Santana in the eighth gave the Phillies a 6-0 advantage.

Jonathan Bowlan and Tanner Banks each logged an inning of relief for the Phillies to complete the shutout.

--Field Level Media