Wheeler vs. – The Phillies and Pirates finish their three-game set at PNC Park on Sunday at 1:35 p.m. ET with Zack Wheeler facing Paul Skenes in their first regular-season matchup. With both pitchers carrying dominant early-season records and strong histories against these
It’s not often a season’s standout pitching duel lines up to close a rivalry series, but Sunday at PNC Park sets that exact stage: the Phillies and Pirates will conclude their three-game set with Zack Wheeler facing Paul Skenes at 1:35 p.m. ET.
For Wheeler, it’s a high-stakes test against a young star he hasn’t faced in regular-season action before.. The Phillies right-hander is 2-0 with a 2.55 ERA entering his fifth start of the season. coming off a Tuesday performance against the Red Sox in which he went 7 1/3 innings and allowed just one run.
Skenes, the Pirates right-hander and defending NL Cy Young winner, brings gaudy numbers of his own.. He is 6-2 with a 1.98 ERA and is coming off an eight-scoreless-inning masterpiece against the Rockies. allowing just two hits and striking out 10.. The two have both started the year in a way that makes scoring feel like it could come at a premium.
That expectation is reinforced by how each has handled this opponent before.. Skenes has made only two starts against the Phillies in his young career, both coming last season.. Across those outings. he went 0-1 but was dominant both times: 15 2/3 innings. one run allowed. an 0.57 ERA. and 16 strikeouts between the two starts.
Wheeler’s history against Pittsburgh is similarly striking.. He is 5-1 with a 2.38 ERA lifetime in nine starts against the Pirates.. His Sunday start also lands exactly one year after his last appearance versus them. when he allowed three hits over six scoreless innings in a 5-2 Phillies win.. Wheeler has allowed more than three earned runs to the Bucs only once and has allowed one or zero earned runs five times.
Skenes’ overall early-season profile echoes that sort of control.. Since a five-run outing on Opening Day. he has allowed more than one run just once and has held opponents scoreless four times. including in his past two starts.. His ERA sits at 1.97. the lowest mark among regular starting pitchers since his big league debut in 2024. with Tarik Skubal next at 2.34.
Still, even with two pitchers performing at a level that can flatten offenses, Sunday won’t be guaranteed quiet.. The Phillies will bring Kyle Schwarber into the matchup after he has already passed the 20-homer threshold this season and has been on a power surge of late that could challenge even Skenes.. Bryce Harper, meanwhile, remains a constant threat with a 1.099 OPS in May, setting up a power-versus-power showdown.
On the other side, Wheeler’s attention may be pulled in multiple directions. Pittsburgh’s Brandon Lowe has an OPS well north of .900 in May, and Ryan O’Hearn, Oneil Cruz, and Spencer Horwitz have also turned it on of late as the Pirates have produced the fourth-best OPS in the NL.
The standings add urgency beneath the marquee matchup. With both teams looking to climb into postseason positioning as the season unfolds, Sunday gives each a chance to test itself against playoff-caliber pitching—and potentially set the tone for the kind of run that brings October into view.
The pattern is clear across the pitching numbers: Wheeler and Skenes both enter on streaks of suppression—Wheeler off 7 1/3 innings and one run allowed. Skenes off eight scoreless innings with two hits allowed—and each has also posted prior success against this exact opponent. with Skenes holding Philadelphia to one run in 15 2/3 innings last season and Wheeler allowing three hits in six scoreless innings in a 5-2 win a year ago.
Sunday’s finale at 1:35 p.m.. ET doesn’t just pit two ace-level arms against each other for the first time in their careers—it also puts their recent form and head-to-head histories in direct conversation with the teams’ current power swings. where Schwarber and Harper meet a Pirates lineup that’s been producing a fourth-best OPS in the NL.
Phillies Pirates Wheeler Skenes PNC Park Rivalry Weekend Cy Young Schwarber Harper Brandon Lowe OPS