*Photo from CBS Sports*
It was not the Philadelphia Phillies taking on the New York Mets on Sunday afternoon. It was Zack Wheeler taking on everyone. Wheeler threw a shutout, 3 different Phillies homered, and the Phillies shut out the New York Mets 3-0 on Sunday afternoon.
It was only fitting that Wheeler's best outing of the season came this day. Because it was the day that the Phillies rose the late Roy Halladay's number 34 into Ashburn Alley, to forever be retired. At one point, Wheeler had gotten 22 straight hitters out, the most since Halladay, who did it throwing a perfect game on May 29, 2010.
The win also continued a dominant run for the Phillies, who have been on a tear since the trade deadline. They have won 8 straight games, taking over first place in the cutthroat NL East, with just under two months left to play in the regular season. It's the longest winning streak in Phillies history since they won 9 straight in 2011, with Halladay leading the charge.
Phillies manager Joe Girardi said of the winning streak that "That's the thing about this game, you have to stay in for the long haul. You can have bad weeks; we had a bad couple of weeks at one point during the season, but it's a long season. You just have to keep doing your work, every day trying to get better and grinding things out."
In his memorable outing, Wheeler, facing his old team, put on a show. He allowed just two hits, both by Brandon Nimmo, and one walk, drawn by Michael Conforto, in all 9 innings he threw, striking out 11 hitters to bring his record up to 10-6 on the season. The crowd was already excited as Wheeler left the mound after the 8th inning, but roared in delight when he took the mound for the 9th.
Wheeler talked about his incredible start, saying that "It’s what you try to do every game; you try to go out there and throw a complete game every time, no matter what. It just happened to be on Roy's day, and that gave me a little push. I saw his number on the back of the mound every time, so that pushed me a little bit more."
In terms of the offense produced by the Phillies to support Wheeler, two of the 3 runs came in the first inning. Jean Segura got it started with a solo homer to make it 1-0 early. Later that inning, JT Realmuto hit a solo homer of his own, and it was 2-0 Phillies after just one inning. Bryce Harper then added a solo homer in the 6th, which effectively put the game out of reach.
Taijuan Walker got the loss for the Mets as their struggles have continued so far in August, with Walker's record falling to 7-7. He gave up 3 runs on 4 hits and one walk, striking out just one hitter in 6 innings pitched. Entering this series against the Phillies, the Mets were in first place in the NL East. Now, after being swept, they now sit in 3rd place, 2 1/2 games back of the division lead.
Mets first baseman Pete Alonso said "Mets fans, believe in us. And don’t just believe. Know. Because there’s tough times not just in baseball, but in life in general. Know that this is just a speed bump and a challenge. And also, smile. You get to watch baseball. It’s a game. I know we have the most passionate fan base in baseball. I know that. And I understand that it’s frustrating. It’s frustrating for us. But just understand that we’re here together. We’re all in this together, and we’ve got this. We’ve got this. Just smile and know that we’ve got this."
Both the Phillies and Mets return to action on Tuesday, after a day off. The Phillies welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers to town, with Aaron Nola starting as they look to push the win streak to 9 games. The Mets welcome the Washington Nationals to town, with Carlos Carrasco making his 3rd start of the season for the Mets.
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