World Series Game 2: Zack Wheeler, For All Things Holy
One of the hardest things to do during this World Series run by the Philadelphia Phillies is taking a moment to sit back and process what’s happening every night. The most beautiful thing about postseason baseball is the fact that you are on the edge of your seat for 4-5 hours one night, then have to do it all again 24 hours later.
The Phillies stormed back against the Astros in Game 1, scoring six unanswered to stun the Houston Astros in extra innings. JT Realmuto hit a solo home run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Phillies a 6-5 win and a 1-0 series lead.
Now, it’s time to pull ourselves together and turn our attention to tonight, where Zack Wheeler will take the mound looking to give the Philadelphia Phillies a commanding 2-0 series lead before returning to Citizens Bank Park on Monday night for games 3, 4, and 5.
Rob Thomson continues to pull all the right strings and even though last night wasn’t pretty for Aaron Nola, the bats picked him up and the Phillies walked away with a win. The goal throughout the postseason for the Phillies has been to split the first two road games before heading home. It worked against the Atlanta Braves and the San Diego Padres, and with the Fightins winning last night, we’re already set up for the same road to a series win as we were in the NLDS and NLCS.
Zack Wheeler – For All Things Holy
What’s even better is the fact that Zack Wheeler is pitching tonight. Wheeler will start Game 2 on five days rest, which makes sense because when you look at Wheeler’s 10 starts on four days rest, his ERA is 3.66. In 11 starts made on five days rest, his ERA plummets to a 2.57. He has been nothing short of brilliant this postseason, starting in four games while allowing just 10 hits and five earned runs and striking out 25 battings in 25.1 innings of work. He’s walked just three.
Side Note: Of course we can bring up the fact that in Game 2 of the NLDS, Wheeler’s numbers would look even better if there wasn’t an issue at first base that was never ruled an error, but none of that matters anymore.
Opposing Wheeler will be Framber Valdez, who went 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA during the regular season. At home, Valdez is 7-4 with a 3.54 ERA. In the postseason, he is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in two starts, totaling 12.2 innings pitched. Honestly, we could run through all the pitching stats and how the Phillies have fared against Valdez, but I’m not even going that route in this preview because there’s just something special happening with our lineup right now.
The Phillies scored 6 runs on 9 hits last night (nice) with the top six in the order all getting hits.
Phillies Top 6 Last Night:
- Kyle Schwarber: 1-4, R, BB
- Rhys Hoskins: 1-5, R
- JT Realmuto: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, BB
- Bryce Harper: 2-4, R, BB
- Nick Castellanos: 1-5, R, RBI
- Alec Bohm: 1-5, 2 RBI
World Series Game 2: Phillies @ Astros – 8:03PM
| TEAM | SPREAD | MONEY | TOTAL |
| Philadelphia Phillies | +1.5 (-176) | +120 | O 7 (-104) |
| Houston Astros | -1.5 (+146) | -142 | U 7 (-118) |
It’s hard to not enter tonight with the upmost confidence in Zack Wheeler for the Philadelphia Phillies. This entire team is clicking and while they had to use all of their preferred bullpen arms last night, none of which game with high pitch counts.
Rob Thomson and the Phillies will go all-out tonight to do everything in their power to return to Philadelphia with a 2-0 series lead. Last night set the stage, tonight would certainly add an exclamation mark.
By tomorrow morning, we’ll be tailgating the Eagles with a 2-0 World Series lead and the city of Philadelphia will be greasing the poles for a possible mid-week World Series celebration.
RING IT. Â
More on the Phillies
- Game 1 Recap >>
- Nick Castellanos trolls Astros fans >>
- Hot Mic: Diaz Hit By Pitch >>
- Fox29 Roasts Astros Fans >>
