Zack Wheeler brings the heat, drops ERA to 1.64 as the Phillies sweep the Giants for sixth straight win

PHILADELPHIA — Zack Wheeler made his point.

Wheeler doesn’t like extra rest between starts when it’s avoidable. He finds it more inconvenient than restorative. It disrupts his routine. So, when the Phillies pushed back his turn on the mound by one day last week, the ace didn’t feel sharp and said as much after the game.

Back on his regular turn Monday, Wheeler cranked up his fastball and dominated for seven innings in a 6-1 victory over the Giants that completed a four-game sweep, gave the Phillies their sixth victory in a row, and reduced his ERA to 1.64.

You read that right. 1.64.

“Fastball was good. I felt like it was true,” Wheeler said after ceding one unearned run on four hits and a walk and getting 13 — count ‘em, 13! — swings and misses on his heater, the second-highest total of his career. “It’s my bread and butter, throwing the four-seam up in the zone.”

The Phillies won for the 17th time in 20 games and improved their best-in-the-majors record to 25-11. They reached 25 wins in 36 or fewer games for the third time in their 142-season history, following the 1993 (25-10) and 1976 (25-9) clubs, both of which went to the playoffs.

Bryce Harper took care of the offense. Again. He followed his three-run homer on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball by welcoming Scranton native and Lehigh University product Mason Black to the majors with a three-run shot in a four-run fifth inning that broke open the game.

But starting pitching has been the common denominator in the Phillies’ torrid start, with everyone else following the lead of one of the sport’s elite starters.

Upon arriving in spring training, Wheeler actually admitted he wants to win the Cy Young Award. He even developed a splitter to help with getting out left-handed hitters. He sprinkled in his new pitch, along with his sweeper and curveball in seven innings against the Giants.

Mostly, though, Wheeler ratcheted up his fastball to 96.2 mph and let it rip. At one point, he struck out four batters in a row and five of six. He finished with 11 strikeouts and even appeared to crack a smile as he left the field after Tyler Fitzgerald lined his 102nd pitch to second base before 33,408 paying customers at a rare Monday matinee.

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