On Saturday evening, the Philadelphia Phillies snapped their painful losing streak by defeating the Atlanta Braves on the road in extra innings. Although they remain far from contention in the NL East with a 9-18 record, the team undoubtedly felt a sense of relief to finally secure a win.
The game also marked pitcher Zack Wheeler’s season debut, after a blood clot scare had kept him off the mound for the early part of the schedule. Wheeler delivered a solid performance, striking out six batters and giving up only two earned runs over five innings. He also eased concerns about his velocity following the blood clot issue.
According to the Associated Press via ESPN, “In his 20-pitch first inning, Wheeler exceeded 95 mph 11 times. Wheeler struck out Ronald Acuña Jr. twice once with a 96.5 mph fastball and the second time with an 82.8 mph sweeper.”
At 35 years old, some had speculated that Wheeler might show signs of decline this season, but based on his Saturday performance in his hometown of Atlanta, that doesn’t appear to be happening anytime soon.
Meanwhile, the Phillies desperately needed a positive turn of events. Coming into Saturday’s matchup, they held the worst record in baseball and had lost ten straight games before this victory. There’s still a long way to go to recover from what has been a disastrous season so far, but Wheeler’s return offers the team a much-needed boost of optimism moving forward.
