Zack Wheeler took the hill tonight for Las Vegas, and was locked into cruise control for the majority of the night. He threw 99 pitches, 61 for strikes. Wheeler had seven strike outs and only allowed one walk to his final batter. That last comment is music to a lot of peoples’ ears.
Wheeler looked good the entire night. He gave up a run early in the first inning, but he wasn’t getting knocked around. He settled down after the first, and took control of the game. He did get some help from a couple of guys that swung at pitches after Wheeler got behind them with three-ball counts. One batter swung at a pitch with a 3-0 count which is one of the biggest no-no’s in baseball. If you swing at a 3-0 pitch, it better land on the moon.
Speaking of moonshots, Wheeler gave up a home run to Matt Angle, after Angle jumped all over the first pitch of the seventh inning (fastball). Wheeler showed poise when he retired the side in order after the home run, looking like he wasn’t phased. Regardless of the home run, Wheeler did his job tonight.
Wheeler continues to build on his previous performances, and it really is starting to look as if the mechanical glitch that Wheeler fixed could be the difference. Since the mechanical fix, he has only walked three batters (one in each of his past three starts). He pitched 7.1 innings tonight, which was his longest outing of the season. In his final strikeout in the eighth inning, he was still hitting 96 mph on the radar gun…wow.
Wheeler’s ERA, in a very friendly hitter’s league, is now down to 3.57.
Final Stat Line: 7.1 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 1 HR
We will have even more on Wheeler as Rob Silverman will be sharing his insights from Vegas at the conclusion of the game as well as grab some post game quotes from Wally Backman.
