Wheeler dominates Braves yet again, Phillies achieve important weekend goal originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Zack Wheeler went out Saturday night and pitched the Phillies to their first weekend goal of achieving at least a split in their final series of the season against the rival Braves.
The Phillies’ ace delivered seven scoreless innings in a 3-0 win. He is 13-6 with a 2.63 ERA and 0.98 WHIP and continues to keep pace with Atlanta‘s Chris Sale (15-3, 2.58, 1.02) in the National League Cy Young race.
“Yeah, I hope so,” Wheeler said when asked if he feels he’s positioned himself well to win the award. “You come into the season and that’s one of your personal goals and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with personal goals because if you set them and accomplish them or come even close to it, you’re helping the team a lot and that’s all I try to do every year, be the best I possibly can.”
By winning at least two of their four meetings with the Braves this weekend, the Phillies are guaranteed a division lead of either five or seven games after Sept. 1. With no remaining head-to-head matchups, the Braves will have a difficult time catching up.
Wheeler retired the first six hitters he faced, just like Ranger Suarez on Friday night. But while Suarez unraveled in the third and fourth innings, Wheeler kept hitting spots.
The Phillies’ infield made it tough on him in the top of the third with a Weston Wilson error at third base and a poorly executed double-play try by shortstop Trea Turner and second baseman Edmundo Sosa that resulted in only one out. Wheeler navigated his way out of the inning without damage by popping up Whit Merrifield and rolling Jorge Soler over on a grounder to third.
Sosa, who was honored before the game with the Phillies’ 2024 Heart and Hustle Award, more than made up for his defensive miscue with a 450-foot home run to left-center off Max Fried in the bottom of the third. It was the Phillies’ second-longest homer of the season behind only a Turner 459-footer (also off Fried) in July. Sosa was fired up, flipping his bat and gesturing toward the dugout to hype up his teammates, then hulking up as he crossed home plate.
“The truth is, I felt really good about it, to contribute so early in the game and give us a headstart,” Sosa said. “I connected with the ball and looked at the dugout just to give them that hype, that energy, just to hopefully keep the rally going and score more runs.”
That one run was all Wheeler needed because…