LOS ANGELES -- Following his last start, Zack Wheeler said the Phillies' starting rotation is fueled by trying to one-up whoever pitched the previous game.
Unfortunately for Wheeler, his starts have been coming directly after Cristopher Sánchez.
"You always try to beat the guy the day before you, but he's pretty hard to beat right now," Wheeler said after throwing six scoreless innings on Saturday against the Guardians. "It's almost unmatchable.”
Well, if Wheeler thought it was a hard act to follow last time out, good luck this time around when he takes the mound for Friday's series opener against the Dodgers (10:15 p.m. ET on Apple TV). All Sánchez did on Wednesday was shatter a 115-year-old record by extending his scoreless streak to a franchise-best 44 2/3 innings. He hasn't given up a run since April 30.
Wheeler, though, hasn't given up a run of his own since May 12. He's coming off back-to-back scoreless outings, and he's allowed one or no runs in four of his five starts this month.
Overall, Wheeler has a 1.67 ERA through six starts. The Phillies are 6-0 in those games.
While he somehow hasn't missed a beat after undergoing thoracic outlet decompression surgery last September, next up is the toughest test so far for Wheeler. He'll take the mound at Dodger Stadium to face a team that leads the Majors in batting average (.262), on-base percentage (.346) and slugging percentage (.440).
At the same time, Wheeler is holding opponents to a .176/.227/.260 slash line through his first six starts -- each of which is better than his previous single-season best.
Those numbers will be put to the test against a stacked L.A. lineup that features Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts, among others. Two players who will not be in the Dodgers' lineup for this weekend's NLDS rematch are Teoscar Hernández and Kiké Hernández, each of whom sustained an injury this week that will sideline them for this series and beyond.
As for the players who will be in the lineup, there is no hitter Wheeler has faced more throughout his career than Freeman. While Freeman had the upper hand earlier in his career during his time with the Braves, it's been a while since he's gotten a hit off Wheeler.
In 70 career plate appearances against Wheeler, Freeman is 21-for-54 (.389) with two homers, 15 walks, 12 strikeouts and a 1.088 OPS. However, the two have faced each other just six times over the past five seasons -- and Freeman is 0-for-6 in those at-bats.
Ohtani, meanwhile, has reached base in five of his six meetings with Wheeler, collecting a pair of singles and three walks while striking out in the other plate appearance.
And while Mookie Betts is both hitless lifetime against Wheeler (0-for-5) and struggling overall this season (hitting .182 with a .649 OPS), he did put together his best game of the season on Tuesday night when he went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers.