Irked by All-Star snub, Wheeler fans 14 as Phillies top Reds - ESPN

CINCINNATI — Zack Wheeler tied a career high with 14 strikeouts, Kyle Schwarber hit his major league-best 31st home run of the season, and the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Cincinnati Reds 4-1 on Tuesday night.

On a day when Major League Baseball announced that Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Braxton Ashcraft, St. Louis Cardinals closer Riley O'Brien and Phillies left-hander Jesus Luzardo were added to the National League All-Star roster, Wheeler went out and backed up his claim that he should have been on that list as well.

«For sure,» Wheeler said after the win, when asked if he was pitching with a little bit of an edge against the Reds. «That was a reminder for whoever needs to be reminded. So, it pisses me off, and it's kind of B.S. So, maybe if I wasn't necessarily right in there, I wouldn't be saying this. But I feel like I've earned it.»

Schwarber concurred.

«It just sucks that we have to deal with it,» he said. «We dealt with it last year, we dealt with it this year. When someone deserves it, someone that's putting up numbers deserves it, you want them to just get that nod.»

Wheeler (9-1) threw 104 pitches over seven innings. He allowed four hits, an earned run, but no walks. Jhoan Duran earned his 22nd save of the year, striking out all three batters in the ninth.

«You can point fingers everywhere,» Schwarber said. «We want that for Zack. You're only in this game for so long. And sure, we all want to win the World Series, we're all playing for each other, and the organization. But when it's all said and done, at the end of the day, you want to be able to look back, and feel like you have some things to put some feathers in the cap.»

A 36-year-old right-hander from Smyrna, Georgia, Wheeler has been selected as an