Zack Wheeler’s easy win turned into a laborious no-decision.
The Mets right-hander was given every opportunity by manager Terry Collins to complete the fifth inning on Tuesday and put a cheapie “W” next to his name in the box score, but ultimately couldn’t finish the job.
Alarm bells are ringing after Wheeler issued a career-high six walks — bringing his total to 11 over his last 10 ¹/₃ innings — in the Mets’ 12-7 victory over the Yankees.
Wheeler’s final line included seven hits and five runs allowed in the no-decision. He entered the fifth inning protecting a seven-run lead, but recorded only one out. Daisuke Matsuzaka (1-0) was awarded the victory after allowing one run over 3 ²/₃ innings.
“It was just one of those nights I didn’t have it — that simple,” Wheeler said.
Jacoby Ellsbury walked leading off the fifth, and with one out Brian McCann singled. Alfonso Soriano’s broken-bat RBI single ended Wheeler’s night at 118 pitches.
In his previous start, against the Marlins six days earlier, Wheeler fired six shutout innings but walked five batters. He later indicated he has been struggling to command his slider for much of the season.
“We’ve got to get him back on track, because he can take over a game,” Collins said. “When we got the lead in the first inning tonight, it was 4-0, I thought, ‘This is the perfect game for this guy to really take control and say, this is going to be mine tonight.’ ”
The Yankees got three runs against Wheeler in the first inning. After Mark Teixeira delivered an RBI single, McCann hit a two-run homer that sliced the Mets’ lead to 4-3.
Brett Gardner’s RBI single in the fourth — an inning in which Wheeler walked two batters — pulled the Yankees within 7-4. But Derek Jeter’s double-play grounder allowed Wheeler to survive the inning.
“It’s an untold rule in baseball: Your team scores for you and you’re supposed to go out there and put up zeroes,” Wheeler said.
About the only break Wheeler received Tuesday was a scoring change by MLB that converted a single he allowed to Jorge De Losa on May 2 in Colorado into an error. The change dropped Wheeler’s ERA from 4.35 before the game to 3.89.
But with his brutal performance Tuesday, Wheeler’s ERA surged back to 4.53.