Zack Wheeler's Shaky Outing Draws Concern on Twitter as Astros Top Phillies in Game 2

The Houston Astros scored three first-inning runs en route to a 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in Game 2 of the World Series on Saturday from Minute Maid Park.

On Friday, the Phils overcame a 5-0 deficit to win 6-5 in 10 innings to take the series opener. They faced another 5-0 gap this time around but could not do much damage off Astros starting pitcher Framber Valdez and relievers Rafael Montero and Ryan Pressly.

On the other baseline, the Phillies needed all they could get out of starting pitcher Zack Wheeler after five relievers combined for 5.2 scoreless innings the night before.

However, this ended up being an off-day for the 2021 All-Star, who allowed five runs (four earned), six hits and three walks while striking out three.

Wheeler went 12-7 with a 2.82 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 163 strikeouts in 153 innings over 26 regular-season starts. He followed that up with a 1.78 ERA over four National League postseason series starts alongside 25 strikeouts in 25.1 innings. Philadelphia went 3-1 in playoff games during Wheeler's starts.

But it didn't work out Saturday. Jose Altuve, Jeremy Peña and Yordan Alvarez led the game off with back-to-back-to-back doubles for a 2-0 lead. Alvarez later scored on an error.

Wheeler never allowed a runner past first over the next three innings, but Alex Bregman delivered the big blow with a two-run homer for a 5-0 edge.

The Phils got one back in the seventh and another in the ninth but could not get closer.

In hindsight, the Phillies would have probably needed Wheeler to be near-perfect to beat the Astros on Saturday after their own strong pitching performance, but Houston ended up getting to him.

MLB Twitter brought up Wheeler's performance during and after his outing, noting concerns about location as well as decreased velocity.

Game 3 of the best-of-seven series will occur in Philadelphia's Citizens Bank Park on Monday at 8:03 p.m. ET.