Zack Wheeler’s 2-0 shutout completes Phillies’ four-game sweep of Brewers

Joe Girardi walked to the pitcher’s mound Thursday afternoon, finally leaving his perch near the steps of the Phillies dugout. Zack Wheeler was so dominant for the first eight innings of a 2-0 win over Milwaukee that the manager hardly had to move.

But trouble seemed near after Wheeler allowed a pair of one-out singles in the ninth after retiring 18 consecutive batters. A two-run lead no longer felt as comfortable in South Philadelphia and Héctor Neris was ready in the bullpen.

So Girardi left his spot.

“You have to to look people in the eye and make sure they’re telling the truth,” Girardi said. “He said he was good. Knowing that he has an extra day’s rest the next time, I feel pretty good about it. He didn’t throw too many pitches his last time. And his stuff was still good.”

The crowd at Citizens Bank Park, fearing that the manager was making a pitching change, cheered when Girardi returned to the dugout with Wheeler still on the mound. Wheeler threw just one more pitch to retire Daniel Vogelbach on an easy pop-up and complete a three-hit shutout.

Wheeler struck out eight, walked none, and threw 118 pitches to finish off the four-game sweep of Milwaukee. His last pitch before Girardi’s mound visit — pitch No. 117 — was a 97.2-mph fastball. He had plenty left. He overpowered the Brewers with his fastball and came up-and-in with his cutter against the lineup’s left-handed hitters. Wheeler was superb, leaving the Brewers without much of a chance.

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It was the ninth time this season a Phillies starter has thrown more than 100 pitches. It happened just 12 times last season as Girardi appears to be giving his top three starters — Wheeler, Aaron Nola, and Zach Eflin — longer leashes in 2021.

“Coming up all those years and playing all those years, sometimes it frustrates when somebody takes you out when you feel like you weren’t done,” Wheeler said. “So, yeah, I appreciate him. He has been around a while and he has a feel and I think he knows me by now. I’m a pretty honest guy, so if I’m feeling like I’m not on or I might need somebody, I’ll tell him to just have somebody up. Today I felt fine. I kind of breezed through that game and I felt fine all the way through.”

The win put the Phillies two-games above .500. They were set to fly Thursday night to Atlanta with confidence ahead of opening a crucial series on Friday with the rival Braves. The Phillies’ nine-game road trip against the Braves, Nationals, and Blue Jays presents a stiff test.

They’ll start the trip feeling good about themselves. It’ll help to have a rested bullpen, Eflin and Nola pitching two of the first three games, and the likely return on Friday of Bryce Harper and Jean Segura.

“They’ve stepped up when we need them,” catcher Andrew Knapp said of the team’s top three starters. “I mean, that was a huge day, not just for the team, but for the bullpen. Those guys needed a break. For him to go out and complete the game is pretty much perfect for us.”

Billy McKinney’s third-inning double was Wheeler’s only hit allowed until the ninth inning. And McKinney was promptly retired on a double play, allowing Wheeler to face the minimum of 24 batters through eight innings.

He was the first Phillies pitcher to face the minimum through eight innings since Roy Halladay’s perfect game in 2010.

“He’s just a horse,” said Alec Bohm, who homered in the seventh inning to break a scoreless tie. “He wants the ball. He doesn’t care what his pitch count is. He doesn’t care what the score is. He just wants to go out there and put up zeros for us.”

Wheeler dominated the Brewers and Brandon Woodruff was nearly as tough on the Phils. The right-hander walked the first two batters of the game on nine pitches before retiring 19 of the next 20 batters.

And then he threw a low slider to Bohm in the seventh that Bohm watched, thinking it was ball three. The umpire disagreed.

“The difference between 3-1 against that guy and 2-2 is a pretty big difference,” Bohm said. “That’s where my mind was. I had to take a little walk and get back to it and move on to the next pitch. There wasn’t anything I could do about it.”

The next pitch was a fastball down the middle — a mistake, Bohm said — and Bohm drove it to right field. The Phillies finally cracked Woodruff, who struck out 11 in 6 ⅔ innings.

“I served him up. It was not the right pitch. It’s tough, man,” Woodruff said. “Wheeler was on his game today so you have to match him with zeros. I think the pitch I threw right before the home run told me all I needed to know, but I just didn’t listen. Bad pitch and bad execution is what added to that and it was right where he likes to hit the ball. That was all my fault. It stinks.”

The Phillies tacked on another run in the eighth on an RBI double by Rhys Hoskins, providing enough runs for Girardi to extend his trust when Wheeler finally ran into trouble.

He retired McKinney to start the ninth before Lorenzo Cain singled to center and Avisail Garcia dropped a pinch-hit single to left. Wheeler had thrown 109 pitches and then threw eight more to retire Kolten Wong, who fouled off four balls before flying out.

It was a grind and it was time for Girardi to check in. But the visit was brief. Wheeler had a game to finish.

“He asked me if I could get this guy and I said yeah,” Wheeler said. “That was pretty much it.

“It felt good, especially since they got those two hits right there in the last inning. They weren’t anything special, but when your pitch count is up and you’re in the last inning, it makes you a little nervous out there I guess, but you have confidence in yourself and you just have to make your pitches.”

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