The Phillies couldn’t afford to lose Zack Wheeler’s best career postseason start. But they did anyway.
Everything lined up perfectly. They secured the division title with five games to go in the regular season, earned a bye to the Division Series two days later and entered the postseason with just about every player on the roster healthy.
Ace Zack Wheeler, lined up to pitch Games 1 and 5 in the series, was everything the Phillies could have hoped for. He allowed only one hit through seven innings. He recorded 26 swing-and-misses, a career high. The late afternoon shadows helped, but Wheeler was on.