Phillies bullpen blows Zack Wheeler’s historic start in disastrous NLDS Game 1 loss

Do you think Zack Wheeler was pumped up to be taking the ball for the Philadelphia Phillies to start the NLDS?

The ace took the mound in Game 1 against the New York Mets on Saturday in the shadows of Citizens Bank Park and unleashed his best against his former team. If you recall, the Mets infamously refused to let Wheeler sit in the dugout for the playoffs when he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery in 2015, instead making him buy tickets.

Phillies bullpen blows Zack Wheeler’s historic start in disastrous NLDS Game 1 loss

Now, fully entrenched in Philadelphia, Wheeler made sure the Mets had front-row seats for his electric start to the NLDS. It's just unfortunate that the Phillies bullpen wasted his impressive outing.

It was immediately obvious that the right-hander was amped up for his start, dotting a 98 mph fastball at the bottom of the zone against Mets leadoff hitter Francisco Lindor.

It got more impressive from there. He threw 11 first-inning pitches, hitting 98 mph six times and 99 mph three times before finishing off the inning with an 85 mph sweeper to record his second strikeout of the inning against Brandon Nimmo. The last time he touched 99 mph was Game 6 of the 2022 World Series, according to Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.

Over his first three no-hit innings Wheeler generated 14 swings and misses. According to MLB.com’s Paul Casella, that’s his most swings and misses in the first three innings of a game across his 270 career starts, including his postseason starts.

Mets third baseman Mark Vientos got the Mets’ first hit off Wheeler in the fourth inning, landing a soft single into left field. After a walk, Wheeler got out of the jam. He continued through seven innings, holding the Mets to just one hit while striking out nine and walking four with one hit batter.

He finished his outing with 30 whiffs on 111 pitches, the most swings and misses of his career. Per Casella, Wheeler's first postseason start of 2024 was a historic one. He's now the only pitcher in MLB playoff history to have multiple starts of seven-plus scoreless innings without allowing more than one hit.

Jeff Hoffman, Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering implode at worst possible time

It looked like the Phillies would be able to ride a record-setting Kyle Schwarber leadoff home run to a 1-0 win, with their deep bullpen set to close out the final two innings.

But, baseball.

Unfortunately, the Phillies bullpen wasted Wheeler’s historic outing. Jeff Hoffman didn’t record an out against three Mets hitters in the top of the eighth. After Hoffman gave up a game-tying double to Vientos, manager Rob Thomson made the long walk to the mound before a shocked and silent Citizens Bank Park crowd.

The Mets tacked on two more against Matt Strahm for a 3-1 lead, but Thomson had to pull him with just one out in the inning. By the time Orion Kerkering escaped the inning, the Mets had a commanding 5-1 lead. They added another run in the ninth and embarrassed the Phillies in a 6-2 loss that, for Phillies fans, might as well have been 99-1.

After wasting a gem from their ace, the Phillies will turn to Cristopher Sánchez on Sunday in Game 2. The Phillies opted to start Sánchez over veteran Aaron Nola in the second home game due to Sánchez's home/road splits. Now, the Phillies will be hoping the left-hander can help them even the series and escape Philadelphia with a 1-1 tie before heading to New York for Games 3 and 4.