Have you heard of Zach Eflin? No, not the Disney Channel star — that’s Zac Efron — but Eflin, the guy traded to the Philadelphia Phillies late in 2014 in salary dump that sent Jimmy Rollins and his bloated contract to Los Angeles. Elfin is 22 now, and tonight he out-pitched Gerrit Cole.
Elfin tossed a three-hit shutout Friday night in the Phillies’ 4-0 win against the Pirates in a series opener at PNC Park. It was Eflin’s second complete-game of the month. This one, a 100-pitch effort, nearly qualified as a “Maddux” — a complete-game shutout completed with fewer than 100 pitches.