For the first time in his major league career, Zack Wheeler went seven innings in consecutive starts. While his last appearance – a test of endurance against the Dodgers – saw four earned runs on five hits and three walks, last night’s start against the Pirates may have been his best of the season. The 28-year-old righty went seven scoreless, striking out seven while walking just one and allowing five hits – all singles.

Wheeler lowered his ERA from 4.85 to 4.47 – not the prettiest of numbers – but he now has a FIP of 3.66, a figure much more characteristic of a season that, although once riddled with questions about his control and durability, has slated him into a starting role he lost in Spring Training.

Wheeler’s post-game comments reflected a similar sentiment toward his growth: “You’re just going out there pitching… you’re not really worrying about years past and all that kind of stuff and injuries. I feel healthy and I’m going to try and keep it going.

“You get into a groove and you work off of that,” Wheeler added. “My off-speed is starting to come around… everything feels good right now.”

Of course, to address the elephant in the room, Robert Gsellman and Jeurys Familia allowed a combined five runs over the last two innings, once again disgracefully shattering a remarkable effort by a Met starting pitcher. The bullpen has now lost a league-leading 28 games, all the more concerning given the potential deadline value between Familia, Jerry Blevins, and Anthony Swarzak.

On the other hand, Wheeler’s own value, be it as a young pitcher with an extra year to give or Sonny Gray-flavored trade bait for a contending team looking to add depth, continues to flourish.

Some statistics that perhaps best defined his evening included his pitch count, which featured 75 strikes against just 30 balls. Additionally, of the 26 batters he faced, Wheeler threw 20 first-pitch strikes, and his 55.6% ground-ball rate was the highest we’ve seen in a start since a May 9 contest in Cincinnati that, in all its unlikely glory, saw still a strike percentage 7% lower and 26% fewer off-speed pitches. Wheeler’s pitches by inning kept a healthy range between 11 and 20… 11 and 18 excluding a first inning that was threatened by two conveniently-placed ground ball hits.

After Austin Meadows snuck a bouncer off his glove to reach first, Wheeler duly responded with a three-pitch strikeout of Josh Bell. Wheeler beat every hitter to two strikes up until the sixth inning, when Bell and Josh Harrison both found their way into 2-1 counts, but were both retired nonetheless.

Truth be told, Wheeler’s fifth and seventh innings were the only other frames that presented him any problems, if at all. After a Corey Dickerson single and Gregory Polanco walk put two men on to lead off the fifth, Wheeler pried a weak groundout from Jordy Mercer and struck out his next two hitters: one Ivan Nova (the opposing pitcher) on three pitches, and the other Meadows, who, like his pitcher, had next to no idea what to do with Wheeler’s curveball.

Likewise, a Polanco single with one out in the seventh was rendered null and void as Wheeler got Mercer to bounce into a 5-4-3 double play, capping off an incredible night that, even in a season that has all but collapsed on the Mets this month, deserves recognition as yet another testament to the growth of this year’s starting rotation.