Phillies waste splendid outing from ace Zack Wheeler as bats go cold in Game 1 loss to Mets

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Zack Wheeler touched 99 mph as he threw all 11 of his pitches for strikes in the first inning Saturday, the Philadelphia Phillies' ace offering a tantalizing peek at his dominant playoff outing ahead.

Wheeler kept wheeling and dealing from there in the NL Division Series opener and stuck it to his old team, the New York Mets — nine strikeouts and a whopping 30 swings-and-misses over 111 pitches in seven shutout innings.

It was a bit of pitching mastery for the two-time All-Star.

“You can’t make mistakes in the playoffs,” Wheeler said.

Wheeler sure didn't make many, lifted after he held the Mets to just one hit with Philadelphia clinging to a 1-0 lead.

But once he left, the wheels fell off for the Phillies.

Maybe it was the five-day layoff for the NL East champions, a spell of down time that also doomed a pair of 100-win Braves teams each of the last two seasons dumped by the Phillies in the Division Series.

Maybe the Mets are just riding the kind of late-season wave the Phillies enjoyed each of the last two years on their way to deep playoff runs.

Whatever the cause, the Phillies failed to solve Kodai Senga or the four Mets relievers who followed him, as they quieted the heart of Philadelphia's batting order. All-Star relievers Jeff Hoffman and Matt Strahm folded in the eighth inning — five runs allowed after three straight batters reached following 0-2 counts — and let the Mets escape Saturday with a 6-2 win in Game 1.

“It was stunning, it was, to see Hoffy and Strahmy give it up like that,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “But that’s baseball sometimes. They haven’t done that since we’ve had them, really.”

Thomson also gave props to Wheeler, though.

The right-hander, who left the Mets in free agency following the 2019 season, forced 14 swings-and-misses over the first three innings and deftly escaped his only jam in the fourth when he got Jose Iglesias to ground into an inning-ending double play.

“He was pretty nasty,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “When you’re throwing 98 (mph) and locating the way he was locating, up at the top of the zone, you know, in and out, and then the sweeper, the split. I mean, unbelievable. He was pretty much unhittable today. And that’s who he is.”

Kyle Schwarber backed Wheeler with a leadoff homer, a Schwarbomb that lived up to its name when he socked Senga's third pitch into the second deck.

Schwarber, who hit 38 home runs in the regular season, including a record 15 leadoff homers, sent Phillies fans into a frenzy right away. Schwarber has 21 career playoff home runs in 66 games. That ranks fourth behind Manny Ramirez (29), Jose Altuve (27) and Bernie Williams (22).

Jimmy Rollins and Derek Jeter both had three career leadoff home runs during the playoffs.

From there, it was a dizzying repeat of the Phillies' anemic offensive collapse at home in Games 6 and 7 of the NL Championship Series last season against Arizona. Schwarber added a bloop single in the third inning but none of the next 19 Phillies got a hit.

All-Stars Trea Turner and Alec Bohm were each hitless in four at-bats. Bryce Harper walked twice and doubled, while Nick Castellanos was 1 for 4 with two strikeouts.

“As an offense, we wasted that start,” Harper said. “It's the same thing, man. Chasing balls in the dirt. Didn't work deep in the counts like we should have. We've got to understand what they're going to try to do to us and flip the switch as an offense.”

Philadelphia lost a Game 1 of any postseason series for the first time since the 2010 NLCS.

The Phillies won a Wild Card Series each of the last two seasons before they twice knocked out 100-win Atlanta teams in the NLDS. The Braves blamed a layoff as the root cause of their early exits, so the Phillies kept busy to avoid getting stale over five off days. The Phillies held an intrasquad scrimmage, took batting practice, had infield drills and pitchers' fielding drills as they tried to keep a routine as close to normal as it gets during the regular season.

Thomson didn't think the cold bats and ragged effort from the bullpen could be blamed on rust.

“I don’t think so. They pitched on Wednesday, and they threw the ball fairly well,” Thomson said. “I’d have to look at the tape. It’s probably about execution, and leaving some pitches in the middle of the zone.”

The Phillies have All-Star and new dad Cristopher Sánchez on the mound for Game 2.

“You can't harp on this one,” Harper said. “You've got to flush it, come back tomorrow. Sanchy on the bump, looking forward to that.”

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

New York Mets' Pete Alonso follows the flight of the ball after hitting a run scoring sacrifice fly off Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm during the eighth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Zack Wheeler pitches during the fifth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler reacts after New York Mets' Jose Iglesias hit into a double play during the fourth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler checks the runner at first during the seventh inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies second base Bryson Stott catches a fly out hit by New York Mets' Jose Iglesias during the seventh inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler acknowledges fans after the seventh inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm walks to the dugout after being released during the eighth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Matt Strahm is released during the eighth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies first base Bryce Harper rests during a pitching change during the eighth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper, second right, looks on from the dugout with teammates during the ninth inning of Game 1 of a baseball NL Division Series against the New York Mets, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Chris Szagola)

MASNAA BORDER CROSSING, Lebanon (AP) — Powerful new explosions rocked Beirut's southern suburbs late Saturday as Israel expanded its bombardment in Lebanon, also striking a Palestinian refugee camp deep in the north for the first time as it targeted both Hezbollah and Hamas fighters.

Thousands of people in Lebanon, including Palestinian refugees, continued to flee the widening conflict in the region, while rallies were held around the world marking the approaching anniversary of the start of the war in Gaza.

The strong explosions began near midnight and continued into Sunday after Israel's military urged residents to evacuate areas in Dahiyeh, the predominantly Shiite collection of suburbs on Beirut’s southern edge. AP video showed the blasts illuminating the densely populated southern suburbs, where Hezbollah has a strong presence. They followed a day of sporadic strikes and the nearly continuous buzz of reconnaissance drones.

Israel's military confirmed it was striking targets near Beirut and said about 30 projectiles had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory, with some intercepted.

The strikes reportedly targeted a building near a road leading to Lebanon’s only international airport, and another building formerly used by the Hezbollah-run broadcaster Al-Manar. Social media reports claimed that one of the strikes hit an oxygen tank storage facility, but this was later denied by the owner of the company Khaled Kaddouha.

Shortly thereafter, Hezbollah claimed in a statement that it successfully targeted a group of Israeli soldiers near the Manara settlement in northern Israel “with a large rocket salvo, hitting them accurately.”

On Saturday, Israel's attack on the northern Beddawi camp killed an official with Hamas’ military wing along with his wife and two young daughters, the Palestinian militant group said. Hamas later said another military wing member was killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon’s eastern Bekaa Valley. The aftermath showed smashed buildings, scattered bricks and stairways to nowhere.

Israel has killed several Hamas officials in Lebanon since the Israel-Hamas war began , in addition to most of the top leadership of the Lebanon-based Hezbollah as fighting has sharply escalated.

At least 1,400 Lebanese, including civilians, medics and Hezbollah fighters, have been killed and 1.2 million driven from their homes in less than two weeks. Israel says it aims to drive the militant group away from shared borders so displaced Israelis can return to their homes.

Iranian-backed Hezbollah, the strongest armed force in Lebanon, began firing rockets into Israel almost immediately after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, calling it a show of support for the Palestinians. Hezbollah and Israel's military have traded fire almost daily.

Last week, Israel launched what it called a limited ground operation into southern Lebanon after a series of attacks killed longtime Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and others. The fighting is the worst since Israel and Hezbollah fought a brief war in 2006. Nine Israeli soldiers have been killed in the ground clashes that Israel says have killed 440 Hezbollah fighters.

Iran’s foreign minister, Abbas Araghchi, told reporters in Damascus that “we are trying to reach a cease-fire in Gaza and in Lebanon.” The minister said the unnamed countries putting forward initiatives include regional states and some outside the Middle East.

Araghchi spoke a day after the supreme leader of Iran praised its recent missile strikes on Israel and said it was ready to do it again if necessary.

On Saturday evening, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “Israel has the duty and the right to defend itself and respond to these attacks, and it will do so.” On Lebanon, he said ”we are not done yet."

Israel’s military earlier Saturday said about 90 projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israeli territory. Most were intercepted, but several fell in the northern Arab town of Deir al-Asad, where police said three people were lightly injured.

At least six people in Lebanon were killed in more than a dozen Israeli airstrikes overnight and into Saturday, according to the Lebanese state-run National News Agency.

Nearly 375,000 people have fled from Lebanon into Syria in less than two weeks, according to a Lebanese government committee.

Associated Press journalists saw hundreds continuing to cross the Masnaa Border Crossing on foot, crunching over the rubble after Israeli airstrikes left huge craters in the road leading to it on Thursday. Much of Hezbollah’s weaponry is believed to come from Iran through Syria.

“We were on the road for two days,” said Issa Hilal, one of many Syrian refugees in Lebanon who are now heading back. “The roads were very crowded … it was very difficult. We almost died getting here." Some children whimpered or cried.

Other displaced families now shelter alongside Beirut’s famous seaside Corniche, their wind-flapped tents just steps from luxury homes. “We don’t care if we die, but we don’t want to die at the hands of Netanyahu,” said Om Ali Mcheik.

The Israeli military said special forces were carrying out ground raids against Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon. It said troops dismantled tunnel shafts that Hezbollah used to approach the Israeli border.

Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the war, according to the Health Ministry there, which does not differentiate between civilian and militant deaths. Almost 90% of Gaza’s residents are displaced, amid widespread destruction.

Palestinian medical officials said Israeli strikes in northern and central Gaza on Saturday killed at least nine people. One in the northern town of Beit Hanoun killed at least five, including two children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. Another hit a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least four, Awda hospital said.

Israel's military did not have any immediate comment but has long accused Hamas of operating from within civilian areas.

An Israeli airstrike killed two children in Gaza City’s Zaytoun neighborhood, according to the civil defense first responders’ group that operates under the Hamas-run government.

Israel's military warned Palestinians to evacuate along the strategic Netzarim corridor in central Gaza that was at the heart of obstacles to a cease-fire deal. The military told people in parts of the Nuseirat and Bureij refugee camps to evacuate to Muwasi, a coastal area it has designated a humanitarian zone.

It’s unclear how many Palestinians are in those areas. Israeli forces have often returned to areas in Gaza to target Hamas fighters as they regroup.

Mroue reported from Beirut and Lidman from Tel Aviv, Israel.

Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Flames and smoke rise from an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, early Sunday, Oct. 6, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)

Billboards with a picture of the late Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah are displayed on a Beirut airport highway, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

People take part in a performance during a protest against Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and call for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)

A man rides his bicycle next to a billboard with information about upcoming events marking the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)

Vehicles drive past a billboard showing the late Iranian Revolutionary Guard Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who was killed in Iraq in a U.S. drone attack in 2020, kissing forehead of slain Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A journalist documents the damaged buildings at the site of an Israeli airstrike, in the village of Temnin, Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A family cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

Families cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A girl who was wounded in an Israeli airstrike, lies in Rayak Hospital, in the village of Rayak, Bekaa Valley, eastern Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

People carry their luggage as they cross into Syria on foot, through a crater caused by Israeli airstrikes aiming to block Beirut-Damascus highway at the Masnaa crossing, in the eastern Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area next to a road near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises from a fire in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire after a rocket, fired from Lebanon, hit an area next to a road near Kiryat Shmona, northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israeli Iron Dome air defense system fires to intercept rockets that were launched from Lebanon, in northern Israel, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises following Israeli bombardment in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

An Israeli Apache helicopter fires a missile towards southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)

Smoke rises after Israeli airstrikes in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Saturday, Oct. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)