A start that couldn’t have begun any better ended in a most frustrating way for Zack Wheeler on Tuesday night.
The 36-year-old right-hander set a club record by opening the game with seven consecutive strikeouts – including the 2,000th of his career — only to walk off the mound a victim of the oldest adage in baseball.
It’s a game of inches.
Ultimately, Wheeler was a happy man. His Phillies teammates rallied for three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 6-4, to lower their magic number for clinching a postseason berth to two.
Brandon Marsh, who has struggled throughout the second half of the season, drove in half of the Phillies’ runs with a two-run homer in the second inning and an RBI double in the eighth.
The Phillies could sew up their fifth straight trip to the postseason as soon as Wednesday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Maybe this is the year they get John Middleton’s bleeping trophy back.
“That’s what we show up for and grind for, obviously to win the day, but to also hold up that trophy at the end of year,” Marsh said. “We can’t look too far down the road. We’ve got a big game (Wednesday night) that we’ve got to take care of and hopefully put us in a good position to do that.”
In what was likely his final start of the regular season, Wheeler struck out 11 in 5 2/3 innings but couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead as the Brewers reached him for a single run in the fourth and two in the sixth.
Garrett Mitchell scored the Brewers’ run in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly. He initially reached base on a soft pop up that clanged off back-pedaling third baseman Bryson Stott’s glove and was ruled a hit.
Both of the runs in the sixth came with two outs after catcher J.T. Realmuto narrowly missed gunning down David Hamilton as he reached third base on the front end of a double steal.
After the double steal, William Contreras smacked a soft liner to center field to score two runs and tie the game. Contreras’ hit, on a first-pitch sinker that was in and off the plate, came off the bat at just 83 mph and sailed inches beyond the lunge of shortstop Trea Turner. The next batter, Jake Bauers, stroked an 80-mph ground-ball single just out of Turner’s range, ending Wheeler’s night at 101 pitches.
“It’s kind of a hard one to deal with,” said Wheeler, citing the softly hit balls that led to Milwaukee runs. “It started out really good, but … It was good for these guys to pick me up. It was really cool to see the guys battle back.”
The first-pitch sinker to Contreras really irked Wheeler. He wanted it up and in. It ended up down and in.
“The pitch down is easier to hit,” he said. “That’s the pitch I hate the most this season.”
Wheeler’s seven straight strikeouts to open the game broke the team record of six, set by Brandon Duckworth on August 5, 2001 against the Dodgers.
Wheeler could conceivably start the season finale Sunday against Tampa Bay. But if the Phillies wrap up a postseason berth before then, he would be held out of the start and saved for the postseason opener next Tuesday. If that ends up being the case, Wheeler will finish the regular season with a 3.06 ERA in 27 starts, not bad for a guy who missed the final six weeks of the 2025 season with a blood clot in his right shoulder and a surgical procedure to remove a rib.
And 2,000strikeouts is pretty special for a guy who endured a long and arduous recovery from Tommy John surgery more than a decade ago. Wheeler is just the 96th pitcher in big league history to reach 2,000 Ks.
“Some of the guys asked me if I would ever have thought,” he said. “The answer is no. Getting into the league, you try to get your feet under you, try to stay in the big leagues, figure out how to throw strikes. That was hard for me. Being where I am now is pretty special. I owe a huge thank you to all the catchers I’ve had, the coaches, the guys playing behind me.
“The road back from Tommy John surgery took longer than expected. It was almost like starting over. Then major surgery last year. I really appreciate everybody’s effort around me.”
Wheeler has allowed just six runs in 31 2/3 innings over his last five starts. He is fully back from the six-start slump that ate up most of August.
“I feel like he’s getting better every time out,” manager Don Mattingly said.
The bullpen was exceptional in keeping the game tied after Wheeler left. Tim Mayza, Alex McFarlane and Jose Alvarado combined on 2 1/3 scoreless innings with the rookie McFarlane getting five outs. It was a significant pre-postseason test for the 25-year-old right-hander, who continues to grow in importance.
The bats came alive with three two-out runs in the eighth inning. Luis Arraez and Alec Bohm both had two-out hits before Bryson Stott broke the tie with a single up the middle. A second run scored on an errant throw. Marsh then doubled home the third run, capping his big night. That all gave Jhoan Duran some breathing room as he allowed a run in the ninth while registering his 33rd save.
Before his second-inning homer, Marsh had not gone deep since August 13, a span of 80 at-bats.
“Good for him, good for us,” said Mattingly, knowing there’s just a week to go until the postseason starts.